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Orvis
Orvis is an American family-owned retail and mail-order business specializing in fly fishing, hunting and sporting goods. Founded in Manchester, Vermont, in 1856 by Charles F. Orvis to sell fishing tackle, it is the oldest mail-order retailer in the United States.
Orvis operates 40 retail stores and 1 outlet/warehouse locations in the US and 1 retail store and one outlet store in the UK. The firm produces high quality flies and fly-tying tools, employing professional tyers like A.K. Best and Tom Rosenbauer to create new versions for sale. Owned by the Perkins family since 1965, the company has changed hands twice and has had five CEOs in its history.
Charles F. Orvis opened a tackle shop in Manchester, Vermont, in 1856. The C.F. Orvis Company operated in close proximity to the Equinox House, a hotel opened by his brother in 1853. Business did well enough that the brothers built a trout pond for the hotel. By 1870, Charles was able to devote his full attention to the rod business, and moved into a factory building on Union Street. He also began sending out catalogs, which predated more famous ones from Sears, Roebuck by more than 20 years.
Orvis was known for its quality product at a surprisingly low price when compared to its competition. In 1874, he received his first patent for a new reel design. His fly reel was described by reel historian Jim Brown as the "benchmark of American reel design," the first fully modern fly reel. In 1880, outdoor writer Ned Buntline named the Orvis bamboo rod the best of its weight in the world. The company introduced its glass minnow trap in 1885.
Charles's daughter, Mary Orvis Marbury, took charge of the Orvis fly department in the 1870s and helped standardized fly lures. By 1890, the company's catalog included a full line of Orvis Superfine Flies, including over 400 different patterns. In 1892, she published Favorite Flies and Their Histories, an encyclopedic reference book on fly patterns made up of letters from Orvis customers The book proved to be so popular, it went through nine reprints by 1896. The illustrations were exhibited at the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, which put the Orvis brand in front of millions of visitors.
Following Charles's death in 1915, sons Albert and Robert managed the company. They automated the process of splitting and planing the bamboo used to make rods. By the 1920s, the company was producing four grades of rods and 500 varieties of flies. However, the company financially collapsed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Following the death of Robert in 1939, Orvis had just two remaining employees.
Investors, led by Philadelphia businessman-sportsman Dudley Corkran, purchased Orvis in 1939 for US$4,500 (equal to $101,724 today), and quickly revitalized the business. Under Corkran, the company began to offer other product lines, including clothing.
It opened its first retail location in 1941. During World War II, Orvis was contracted to produce ski poles for US ski troops in Alaska. Food rationing and German harassment on saltwater fishing fleets also made freshwater fishing popular again, helping the company to survive on the sales of its traps. Corkran hired master bamboo rod builder Wesley Jordan to head up the company's production efforts. In 1946, Jordan had developed a Bakelite impregnation process that made Orvis bamboo rods uniquely impervious to weather, rot, and other perennial perils.
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Orvis
Orvis is an American family-owned retail and mail-order business specializing in fly fishing, hunting and sporting goods. Founded in Manchester, Vermont, in 1856 by Charles F. Orvis to sell fishing tackle, it is the oldest mail-order retailer in the United States.
Orvis operates 40 retail stores and 1 outlet/warehouse locations in the US and 1 retail store and one outlet store in the UK. The firm produces high quality flies and fly-tying tools, employing professional tyers like A.K. Best and Tom Rosenbauer to create new versions for sale. Owned by the Perkins family since 1965, the company has changed hands twice and has had five CEOs in its history.
Charles F. Orvis opened a tackle shop in Manchester, Vermont, in 1856. The C.F. Orvis Company operated in close proximity to the Equinox House, a hotel opened by his brother in 1853. Business did well enough that the brothers built a trout pond for the hotel. By 1870, Charles was able to devote his full attention to the rod business, and moved into a factory building on Union Street. He also began sending out catalogs, which predated more famous ones from Sears, Roebuck by more than 20 years.
Orvis was known for its quality product at a surprisingly low price when compared to its competition. In 1874, he received his first patent for a new reel design. His fly reel was described by reel historian Jim Brown as the "benchmark of American reel design," the first fully modern fly reel. In 1880, outdoor writer Ned Buntline named the Orvis bamboo rod the best of its weight in the world. The company introduced its glass minnow trap in 1885.
Charles's daughter, Mary Orvis Marbury, took charge of the Orvis fly department in the 1870s and helped standardized fly lures. By 1890, the company's catalog included a full line of Orvis Superfine Flies, including over 400 different patterns. In 1892, she published Favorite Flies and Their Histories, an encyclopedic reference book on fly patterns made up of letters from Orvis customers The book proved to be so popular, it went through nine reprints by 1896. The illustrations were exhibited at the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, which put the Orvis brand in front of millions of visitors.
Following Charles's death in 1915, sons Albert and Robert managed the company. They automated the process of splitting and planing the bamboo used to make rods. By the 1920s, the company was producing four grades of rods and 500 varieties of flies. However, the company financially collapsed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Following the death of Robert in 1939, Orvis had just two remaining employees.
Investors, led by Philadelphia businessman-sportsman Dudley Corkran, purchased Orvis in 1939 for US$4,500 (equal to $101,724 today), and quickly revitalized the business. Under Corkran, the company began to offer other product lines, including clothing.
It opened its first retail location in 1941. During World War II, Orvis was contracted to produce ski poles for US ski troops in Alaska. Food rationing and German harassment on saltwater fishing fleets also made freshwater fishing popular again, helping the company to survive on the sales of its traps. Corkran hired master bamboo rod builder Wesley Jordan to head up the company's production efforts. In 1946, Jordan had developed a Bakelite impregnation process that made Orvis bamboo rods uniquely impervious to weather, rot, and other perennial perils.