consumer-discretionary
(24)
Forty Outdoor Brands, One Dragonfly, and a $1.125 Billion Bet on Craftsmanship
Fox Racing, CamelBak, Bushnell, Simms - Revelyst is the maker collective quietly running the gear behind your weekend. Here is how a Vista Outdoor spinoff became a $1.125 billion private-equity prize, and what it is building next.
The $5 Thrill That Built a 1,970-Store Retail Machine
Five Below turned pocket-money prices, pop-culture timing and the pleasure of the unexpected into a national retail system. Its real product is not any one squishy toy or charging cable - it is permission to say yes.
Portillo's
How a $1,100 hot dog trailer in Villa Park became a $730-million restaurant company that still refuses to franchise, put chocolate cake in a milkshake, and ships Italian beef to your door.
Dollar Tree Stores
For 39 years the whole store cost a dollar. Now the trip costs $1.25 - and Dollar Tree is wagering that a price you can do in your head still beats a coupon you have to hunt for.
Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc.
The Virginia furniture house that built a town, survived the offshoring of an entire industry, and now sells you a made-to-order sofa in 30 days.
Sportsman's Warehouse
How a single Utah outfitter turned camo, cartridges and reloading powder into a $1.2 billion business - and why its edge is the stuff Amazon can't ship.
CAVA
A Rockville sit-down spot run by three childhood friends turned into a Mediterranean chain worth billions - and it did it selling harissa and whipped feta to people who a decade ago could not pronounce either.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is a Columbus, Ohio-based global specialty apparel retailer that operates a family of brands - Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids, Hollister, Gilly Hicks, Social Tourist and the YPB activewear line - across roughly 840 company-operated stores, a franchise network and a digital business that accounts for close to half of revenue. Founded in 1892 as a Manhattan outfitter that supplied Theodore Roosevelt's safaris and counted Ernest Hemingway among its customers, the company spent the 2010s dismantling the exclusionary teen-mall identity it had built in the 1990s and 2000s. Under CEO Fran Horowitz, who took over in 2017, it split its two flagship brands into distinct demographic lanes - Abercrombie for millennials in their twenties and thirties, Hollister for teenagers - shrank store footprints, and rebuilt merchandising around a lean-inventory 'chase' model that reads early demand signals and reorders fast. The approach produced record fiscal 2025 net sales of $5.27 billion, a third straight year of double-digit operating margin, and one of the more complete reputational reversals in modern American retail.
BJ's Wholesale Club
BJ's Wholesale Club is a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the eastern United States, offering members up to 25% savings on groceries, fresh food, household essentials, general merchandise, and fuel through a paid-membership model. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the company runs more than 250 clubs and 190-plus gas stations across roughly 20 states, blending bulk warehouse value with everyday grocery frequency, private-brand depth, and a fast-growing digital and same-day delivery business.
Burlington Stores, Inc.
Burlington Stores, Inc. is one of the largest off-price retailers in the United States, selling brand-name apparel, footwear, accessories, baby gear, and home goods at prices well below full-price department stores. Founded in 1972 as Burlington Coat Factory, the company built its business on opportunistically buying excess and closeout merchandise from thousands of vendors and passing the savings to shoppers through a rotating, treasure-hunt assortment. Headquartered in Burlington, New Jersey and trading on the NYSE under the ticker BURL, it operates more than 1,200 stores and is pursuing an aggressive small-format expansion toward a long-term target of 2,000 doors.
FIGS
FIGS is a direct-to-consumer healthcare apparel brand that reinvented the medical scrub. Founded in 2013 by Heather Hasson and Trina Spear, the Santa Monica company sells comfortable, technical scrubs, lab coats, footwear and lifestyle wear made from its proprietary FIONx fabric, sold almost entirely online to nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals. FIGS reached $631 million in revenue in 2025, serves roughly 2.9 million active customers, and trades on the NYSE under the ticker FIGS after a landmark 2021 IPO.
Foot Locker
Foot Locker, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories, connecting sneaker culture and sports lifestyle to consumers through roughly 2,400 stores across about 20 countries plus digital channels. Founded in 1974 as a division of the Kinney Shoe Corporation, the company operates a portfolio of banners - Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS, and atmos - and built its reputation on exclusive product launches, close ties to brands like Nike, and its striped, referee-styled store associates. In September 2025, Foot Locker was acquired by DICK'S Sporting Goods in a roughly $2.4 billion deal, becoming a subsidiary while retaining its brand banners.
Gap Inc.
Gap Inc. is the largest specialty apparel company in the United States, a San Francisco-based house of brands that includes Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta. Founded in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher as a single Levi's jeans store, the company now operates roughly 3,500 stores plus a large e-commerce business, serving customers across value, core and premium price points. Under CEO Richard Dickson, Gap Inc. is executing a turnaround built on brand reinvigoration, a stronger operating platform and a diversified, more resilient supply chain.
Genesco Inc.
Genesco Inc. is a Nashville-based, footwear-focused retailer and brand operator founded in 1924. Trading on the NYSE as GCO, it runs more than 1,200 stores and a portfolio of retail and lifestyle brands - Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Little Burgundy, Schuh, and Johnston & Murphy - alongside a wholesale and licensed-brands business (Dockers, Levi's, Bass and others). The company generates roughly $2.3-2.4 billion in annual revenue and pairs physical stores with branded e-commerce across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.
Kohl's
Kohl's is one of the largest department store chains in the United States, operating roughly 1,100 off-mall stores across 49 states plus Kohls.com. Founded in Wisconsin, it sells moderately priced apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, and home goods to value-conscious families, anchored by its Kohl's Cash and Kohl's Rewards loyalty programs. In recent years it has leaned on partnerships - hosting Sephora shops inside its stores and accepting Amazon returns - to drive traffic while working to reverse a multi-year sales decline.
Macy's
Macy's is one of America's best-known department store chains, founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy in New York City and now the flagship nameplate of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE: M). The company sells apparel, accessories, beauty, cosmetics, footwear and home goods across roughly 450 stores and macys.com, and also operates the higher-end Bloomingdale's and the beauty specialty chain Bluemercury. Anchored by its Herald Square flagship and cultural touchstones like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Fourth of July fireworks, Macy's is executing a multiyear turnaround called the 'Bold New Chapter' under CEO Tony Spring.
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is the world's largest athletic footwear and apparel company, headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and his former runner Phil Knight, it was renamed Nike in 1971 after the Greek goddess of victory. Nike designs, markets and sells footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories under the Nike, Jordan and Converse brands, reaching consumers through wholesale partners and a growing direct-to-consumer business of retail stores, apps and Nike.com. With roughly $46.3 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue and about 80,000 employees, Nike sits at the center of global sport culture, backed by decades of athlete endorsements, the Swoosh logo and the 'Just Do It' slogan.
On
On is a Swiss performance sportswear company founded in Zurich in 2010 that designs premium running shoes, apparel, and accessories. Built around its patented CloudTec cushioning - a sole of hollow rubber pods engineered to feel like 'running on clouds' - On grew from a specialty-running startup into a NYSE-listed brand (ticker ONON) with roughly $3.3 billion in projected 2025 revenue. Backed by tennis great Roger Federer since 2019, it competes with Nike, Adidas, and Hoka through design-led innovation, a fast-growing direct-to-consumer business, and manufacturing bets like robot-sprayed LightSpray uppers.
Steve Madden
Steve Madden (Steven Madden, Ltd.) is a New York-based, publicly traded fashion company that designs, markets and sells trend-driven footwear, handbags and accessories at accessible price points. Founded in 1990 by designer Steve Madden with roughly $1,100, the company built its reputation on translating runway trends into affordable, fast-moving styles for young women. Today it operates a portfolio of owned and licensed brands - including Steve Madden, Dolce Vita, Betsey Johnson, Madden Girl and, following its 2025 acquisition, Kurt Geiger - across wholesale, retail and direct-to-consumer channels, generating over $2.5 billion in annual net sales.
The TJX Companies, Inc.
The TJX Companies, Inc. is the world's largest off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions, operating more than 5,200 stores across nine countries under brands including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense, Sierra, TK Maxx, and Winners. Headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, TJX buys excess inventory, closeouts, and canceled orders from thousands of vendors and sells brand-name and designer merchandise at prices typically 20% to 60% below full-price retailers, creating a rotating 'treasure hunt' assortment. The Fortune 100 company surpassed $60 billion in annual sales in fiscal 2026.
Torrid
Torrid is a California-based direct-to-consumer retailer of plus-size women's apparel and intimates, designing trend-driven clothing in sizes 10 to 30. Launched in 2001 as a Hot Topic concept and public on the NYSE since 2021 under ticker CURV, the brand pairs a digitally led e-commerce business with a fleet of specialty stores, and builds fit authority by developing garments on live plus-size fit models rather than grading up smaller patterns.
Walmart
Walmart is the world's largest retailer by revenue, operating a global network of supercenters, discount stores, neighborhood markets, Sam's Club warehouse clubs and a fast-growing e-commerce business. Founded in 1962 by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas, the company built its scale on an 'everyday low prices' model powered by a highly efficient supply chain. Today it blends roughly 10,500 stores worldwide with digital commerce, retail advertising, a growing marketplace and AI-driven shopping tools, serving hundreds of millions of customers each week while employing about 2.1 million people.
Wolverine Worldwide
Wolverine Worldwide is a Rockford, Michigan-based footwear and apparel company that designs, markets and licenses a portfolio of global brands including Merrell, Saucony, Wolverine, Hush Puppies, Cat Footwear, Chaco, Bates, Harley-Davidson Footwear, HYTEST and Sweaty Betty. Founded in 1883 as a leather tannery and shoe maker, the company today sells performance, work, casual and lifestyle footwear and apparel to consumers in roughly 170 countries through wholesale, e-commerce and direct-to-consumer channels, generating about $1.87 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is a San Francisco-based, vertically integrated specialty retailer of premium home furnishings and cookware. From a single 1956 cookware shop in Sonoma, California, it grew into a portfolio of in-house-designed brands - Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, West Elm, Williams Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation, Mark and Graham, and GreenRow - sold through e-commerce, catalogs, retail stores, and a growing B2B business. It is one of the largest digital-first home retailers in the United States, with roughly $7.7-7.9 billion in annual revenue.