Spiegel added a home-furnishings division to Eddie Bauer in 1991 and moved to expand the chain, which now has 590 stores, 400 of them in North America. "We felt it was a great marriage," Koopman said.

Since taking the helm July 9, Fiske has placed all his chips on fixing Eddie Bauer on Eddie Bauer, the outdoorsman from Orcas Island who started the company in downtown Seattle in 1920.