Founded by Charles F. Orvis in Manchester, Vermont, in 1856, Orvis is America’s oldest mail-order outfitter and longest continually-operating fly-fishing business. Privately owned by the Perkins family since 1965, today Orvis is an international, multi-channel retailer with more than $340 million in sales (2012) and approximately 1,700 employees. In addition to being the world leader in fly fishing, Orvis is the purveyor of the Distinctive Country Lifestyle, offering a wide assortment of men’s and women’s sportswear, fine gifts and home furnishings, luggage and travel accessories, dog beds and other pet items, as well as fine shotguns, gear, and technical apparel for wingshooting and sporting clays. Orvis sporting services also include fishing and shooting schools, an international sporting and eco-travel agency, and the Orvis-endorsed network of lodges, outfitters and guides.