The company, which currently operates 18 stores in 12 states, said it plans to open new stores in New Jersey, Louisiana and Illinois in the third quarter of 2007 followed by Connecticut, Indiana, Nevada, Idaho and the Pacific Northwest by the end of the year. A ninth store, the firm's first in Canada, will open in Montreal by the spring of 2008, the company said. The company opened three destination outlets in the third quarter of 2006 in Arizona, Idaho and Wisconsin in a move that increased the firm's total square footage by 29%. The eight new store openings in 2007 will increase that square footage by an additional 45%, company officials said.

News of the Sidney, NE-based firm's aggressive expansion efforts comes as the company announced record third quarter revenue of $490.5 million, a 14.1% increase over the $429.8 million in revenue during the same quarter of 2005. Net income for the quarter was $15 million, or 23 cents per share, compared to $16.3 millon, or 25 cents per share, earned during last year's third quarter. Same store sales for the quarter were up by 3.1% while financial services revenue was up 29% to $37.4 million during the period.

"We had strong top line growth across all business segments," Dennis Highby, Cabella's president and chief executive officer, said in a conference call with analysts and investors. Highby said the firm's growth was driven by strong performance throughout the firm's three operating segments, including its retail, catalog and online operations