Coldwater Creek is a women's apparel and accessories retailer based in Sandpoint, Idaho, United States. The company was founded in 1984 by Dennis and Ann Pence. Coldwater Creek sells its products in stores, through catalogs and online. The company had 304 stores in operation at the end of the 2007 fiscal year.

Banana Republic is an American clothing brand founded by Mel and Patricia Ziegler in 1978 as a travel-themed clothing company. It was bought by The Gap in 1983. The company has over 500 stores located internationally.

The original Banana Republic was founded by Mel and Patricia Ziegler in 1978. It was a two-store safari and travel-themed clothing company. The majority of sales came from its eccentric, hand illustrated catalog, which presented high-end and unique items with chatty, usually fictional back stories from exotic locations, as well as more pedestrian high-volume products deliberately spiced up with a similar treatment. As Banana Republic expanded its retail operation, it became known for the themed decoration in its stores, often featuring authentic elements, such as real Jeeps and foliage, as well as atmospheric elements, such as fog and steam.

The Gap, Inc. acquired Banana Republic in 1983, eventually re-branding it as a mainstream luxury clothing retailer. The eccentric tourist-oriented items were phased out and were replaced with more luxurious items for which the brand is currently known. To set itself apart from Gap as a more upmarket brand, Banana Republic occasionally buys and refurbishes historic buildings for its retail locations.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by Mark and Jerry Silverman as a subsidiary of Retail Ventures, Inc., a company which also owned and operated Silverman's Menswear. The Silvermans sold their ownership interests in 1991.

American Eagle (also stylized as Am. Eagle, A.E.O, Amer. Eagle, A.E., æ, and A.E. Outfitters) targets teens and young adults. Some of the best selling products of American Eagle Outfitters are Low-rise jeans, Polo Shirts, Graphic T-shirts (with the AE logo and year established), and swimwear.

When the Silvermans first opened an American Eagle Outfitters store in 1977, they were looking to diversify their menswear business. Stores were set up in shopping malls and a catalog was established. The chain grew for much of the 1980s. In 1989, the owners decided to refocus their business on American Eagle Outfitters, selling their other retail chains. At this time, there were 137 American Eagle Outfitters stores including 37 in the United States.

Despite the plans for quick growth after the reorganization, American Eagle Outfitters opened only 16 new stores by 1991 and the company was losing money. At this point, the Schottensteins, who had been 50% owners of the chain since 1980, bought out the founding Silverman family's interest. This change in leadership resulted in American Eagle finding its present niche: casual clothing for men and women selling private label clothes. AE opened the first Canadian store in 2001.

When the company began trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the second quarter of 1994, it had 167 stores and a healthy cash flow. With the cash infusion from the IPO, the company opened more than 90 new stores within the next year. Several new executives joined the company in 1995 and '96, leading to another change in the target demographic. The company now wanted to reach more women and focus on people between the ages of 15 and 25.

The strategy worked[citation needed], and over the next five years, revenues quintupled to $1 billion by 2000. American Eagle claimed 1101 stores across three brands (American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie, and Martin + Osa) in November 2008 and $3 billion in revenues for the most recent fiscal year.

Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) is an American group of specialty apparel retail chain stores for women, headquartered in New York City, (7 Times Square Tower, New York, NY 10036). The stores offer classic styled suits, separates, dresses, shoes and accessories. The brand is marketed under four divisions, Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor LOFT, Ann Taylor Factory and LOFT Outlet.

Richard Liebeskind, the founder of Ann Taylor Stores Corp., opened his first store in 1954. The first Ann Taylor store (Store 0001) was opened two years later in New Haven, Connecticut. "Ann Taylor" was the name of a best-selling dress at the founder's father's store. Both the best-selling dress and the name "Ann Taylor" were given from the father to his son, Richard Liebeskind, for good luck. Liebeskind decided to go with the name Ann Taylor because "Ann" was considered a very New England name, and "Taylor" evoked the image of tailored clothing. The name created the ideal identity of classic woman's apparel.

As of the end of fiscal 2008, Ann Taylor had 935 stores consisting of 320 Ann Taylor stores, 510 Ann Taylor LOFT stores, 91 Ann Taylor Factory stores, and 14 LOFT Outlet stores. Total revenue was $2.4 billion, of which $1.09 billion came from the company's Ann Taylor Loft division, $689 million from Ann Taylor, and $417 million from Ann Taylor Factory Store.