Buckle (NYSE: BKE) puts a denim-based, Midwestern twist on teen apparel. The company sells its own private label merchandise along side popular brand name apparel and accessories to young men and women between the ages of 12 and 24 years. The company's stores share the name of the firm, Buckle, and the company operated 375 stores^[1] throughout the continental U.S. at the end of the first quarter in 2008.

The company is one of the smallest players in the youth retail market^[2] as its $620 million of sales places Buckle far behind the major players in its niche like Abercrombie & Fitch ($3.75 billion of sales in 2007^[3]) and American Eagle ($3.0 billion^[4]). However Buckle differentiates itself from these larger competitors, which sell only their own private brands, by offering other company's brands as well as its own in Buckle stores. Thus Buckle is able to profit from the image of brands such as Guess, Quiksilver and Lucky Brand Jeans to appeal to young consumers, while at the same time earning high profit margins from its own private label merchandise.

(Read more at Wikinvest )