SNAX 24 operates about 75 combination fuel stations/convenience stores (distributing major oil brands, such as BP and Shell) throughout the UK. SNAX 24 is owned by its chairman, Gerald Rosnon, founder of the Heron International property group and SNAX 24's predecessor, Heron Service Stations, which was started when Rosnon was only 17 years old. Its first service station was opened at St. Albans, England in 1966, and the SNAX 24 concept was introduced in 1992.

T J Morris offers its customers top brands-- of nearly everything-- at bottom-basement prices to value-seeking shoppers in England and Wales. The company operates more than 140 Home Bargains and "halfpriceorless.com" outlets that sell discounted personal care and household products, such as health and beauty items, toys, and designer products. The chain has announced aggressive expansion plans to grow to and manage some 500 stores within the next five years. Managing Director Tom Morris founded the company more than three decades ago.

Spinx Company has turned itself into a small convenience retailing powerhouse. It operates more than 75 convenience stores under the SPINX banner in North and South Carolina. SPINX locations offer gasoline and alternative fuels (including biodiesel and E85), packaged snacks, foodservice outlets, car washes, and DVD rental kiosks. The company also supplies gasoline to more than 60 area convenience stores. CEO Stewart Spinks founded The Spinx Company, which is still family owned and operated.

Vermont sells a little bit of everything, from soap to sleepwear, from its Web site and catalog. Products offered by The Vermont Country Store include apparel, cosmetics and skin care products, bed and table linens, sleepwear, swimwear, footwear, baked goods, and candies. Vrest and Ellen Orton opened the company's first store in Weston in 1946. Its Rockingham shop opened in 1967. Today the business is run by their son, Lyman Orton.

Tuesday Morning offers big discounts every day of the week, but not every week of the year. The closeout retailer sells discontinued merchandise from name-brand manufacturers at steep discounts. Its merchandise typically includes linens, china, cookware, rugs, and collectibles that are not seconds, irregulars, or factory rejects. Tuesday Morning's 850 stores, located in more than 40 states, operate only during monthly "sale events" (with the exception of January and July). The retailer keeps costs down by selling from low-rent locations and using seasonal help -- only about 20% of its workers are full-time employees. Its customers are primarily women from middle- and upper-income households.

United Dairy Farmers (UDF) changed the way Cincinnati bought its milk. UDF -- which buys milk from area dairy farmers, then processes and packages it for sale in its stores -- has grown into a chain of about 200 convenience stores, mostly in Ohio, but also in Kentucky and Indiana. The company, still owned and run by the Lindner family, sells its own milk products, its Homemade brand ice cream and sherbet, coffee, and a variety of other food products at its stores. UDF locations also offer in-store ice cream parlors and sell Mobil brand gasoline.

Variety is not only the spice of life -- it's also a major purveyor of deeply discounted merchandise. With some 425 stores in about 15 Southeastern states, Variety Wholesalers has survived even Wal-Mart's march through rural America. The company, which has aggressively bought other chains while closing poorly performing stores, tends to set up shop in small towns where the retail giants fear to tread. Its retail outlets sell beauty products, housewares, snacks, toys and more, under banners including Bargain Town, Maxway, Roses, and Super 10. Variety Wholesalers was founded in 1949 by James Pope; the Pope family, including chairman and CEO Art Pope, still runs the company.

Wal-Mart Stores is an irresistible (or at least unavoidable) retail force that has yet to meet any immovable objects. Bigger than Europe's Carrefour, Tesco, and Metro AG combined, it's the world's #1 retailer with 2.1 million employees in more than 8,400 stores, including about 800 discount stores, 3,100 combination discount and grocery stores (Wal-Mart Supercenters in the US and ASDA in the UK), and 595 Sam's Club warehouses. Wal-Mart's international division (25% of sales) is growing at a fast pace; it's the #1 retailer in Canada and Mexico and it has operations in Asia (where it owns a 95% stake in Japanese retailer SEIYU), Europe, and South America. Founder Sam Walton's heirs own about 45% of Wal-Mart.

Wallis Companies is a leading gasoline distributor in Missouri and the Midwest. The company's convenience store division operates about 40 locations in the Show Me State and services more than 140 other stores, including Exxon Mobil 's On The Run shops and BP Pump Handle stores. Other businesses include the Hen House restaurant in Bourbon, Missouri, as well as Wallis Lubricants (automotive and industrial lubricants) and the Great River Wash Company (distributes car wash equipment). Wallis Companies was founded in 1968 by Bill Wallis and today is run by his wife, Lynn Wallis, who took control of the company when he died.

WILCOHESS owns and operates more than 360 convenience stores and travel plazas, as well as about 50 restaurants mostly in North Carolina and Virginia, but also in Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Many locations house quick-serve restaurants (Arby's, Dairy Queen, Wendy's). The company's travel plazas cater to truckers with fuel programs and rewards programs. The joint venture company was formed in 2001 by partners A.T. Williams Oil Company and Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess), a leading independent oil company along the East Coast. President Steve Williams is the son of the founder of A.T. Williams Oil Co., A. Tab Williams. Jr.

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