Beautifully engraved $25,000 Bond Certificate from the
Spiegel Corporation issued
in 1976. This historic document was printed by the Security-Columbian Bank Note Company and has an
ornate border around it with a vignette of three Roman women. This item is hand signed by the Company's Chairman of the Board ( Modie Spiegel ) and Secretary ( Albert R. Bell ) and is
over 30 years old.
Certificate Vignette
Spiegel, Inc. and its predecessors date
from 1865. The Company was incorporated under the laws of Delaware in 1965.
Spiegel Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, currently holds 99.9
percent of the Company's Class B voting common stock, affording SHI control of
the Company.
In 1988, the Company acquired Eddie Bauer, Inc. and certain related Canadian
assets (collectively, "Eddie Bauer").
In 1990, the Company acquired First Consumers National Bank ("FCNB"). FCNB is a
special-purpose bank specializing in the issuance of credit cards.
In 1993, the Company acquired New Hampton, Inc. ("New Hampton"). In 1995, New
Hampton's name was changed to Newport News, Inc. ("Newport News").
In 1997, the Company incorporated its Spiegel Catalog division ("Spiegel") as a
separate subsidiary parallel to Eddie Bauer and Newport News. This was done to
provide greater clarity between the Spiegel brand name and the corporate entity.
The Spiegel Group is a leading, international specialty retailer that offers
merchandise and credit services through a merchandising segment and a bankcard
segment.
The merchandising segment is
an aggregation of the Company's Eddie Bauer, Spiegel and Newport News
subsidiaries which distribute apparel, home furnishings and other merchandise
through catalogs, e-commerce sites and retail stores. These businesses are
supported by the Company's FCNB Preferred charge programs. In 1999, revenue
related to the sale of merchandise comprised approximately 95 percent of the
merchandising segment's total revenue. The remainder was contributed by finance
revenue generated from FCNB Preferred charge programs, including net gains
recognized in conjunction with the securitization of customer receivables.