Residents of the Sun Belt have been known to leave their homes with Beall's on. The retail holding company operates through subsidiaries Beall's Department Stores, Beall's Outlet, and Burke's Outlet Stores in a dozen states. It has more than 560 department and outlet stores (about 200 are in Florida) located throughout states in the southern and western US, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Products range from off-price clothing and footwear for men and women to cosmetics, gifts, and housewares. Each chain has its own online shopping destination. The family-owned company was founded in 1915 by the grandfather of Chairman Bob Beall (pronounced "bell").

US Airconditioning was founded in July 1990 when former Carrier employees John Staples and John Scarsi, now CEO and CFO respectively of US Airconditioning, bought Carrier Los Angeles. US Airconditioning Distributors ended its relationship with Carrier in 2007. US Airconditioning Distributors cools down (and heats up) the West. US Airconditioning Distributors distributes heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning products from such manufacturers as York, Coleman, MagicAire, and Siemens through about 70 locations in California, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and Florida. HVAC products available from US Airconditioning Distributors run from single window units to heating and cooling systems for retailers and offices. It also sells parts and components.

Improvement Direct operates a network of about a dozen online retail stores that sell a wide array of home décor items, bath and kitchen appliances, and furniture. Products include everything from lamps to sinks to beds. It offers such brand names as Bosch, Emerson, Kohler, and Moen. Environmentally-conscious consumers also have their choice of energy-saving appliances, faucets, lighting, and water heaters. Improvement Direct ships from about 50 warehouses and through more than 30 vendor partners. The private company was founded in 2000 by president Chris Friedland and EVP Dave Boctor.

Founded in 1973, A & E Stores also owns Rugby Realty, a real estate investment firm. Working women who have never heard of A & E Stores are more likely to be familiar with its Strawberry and Bolton's retail apparel chains. The company operates about 30 Bolton's and 25 Strawberry stores that sell junior and women's career and casual apparel, shoes, and accessories. The stores are concentrated in prime office districts in Manhattan and elsewhere in New York City. A & E's third chain, Pay/Half, operates some 45 discount family clothing stores in about a half dozen northeastern states and the Chicago area.

Gabriel Brothers sells discounted brand-name clothing through more than 100 stores, under the Gabriel Brothers (commonly called "Gabes") and Rugged Wearhouse banners. Stores are located in about a dozen East Coast and Mid-Atlantic states. The company's offerings include men's, women's, and children's apparel and footwear, as well as housewares, with markdowns as high as 70% off of their original retail prices. It carries such brands as Anne Klein, Kenneth Cole, and Liz Claiborne. The family-run company was established in 1961 by James and Arthur Gabriel.

Lotte Shopping's department stores offer more than the usual shopping experience. The company is a leading retailer in South Korea with some 30 department and discount stores across the nation. It owns one of the largest retail chains in the country with facilities that are part of vast retail complexes that often include cinemas, shopping malls, hotels, theme parks, and wedding halls. It also has a store in Moscow (opened in 2007). In China, where Lotte Shopping is looking to grow, its 2009 purchase of Times Ltd., an operator of 65 hypermarkets and supermarkets in east China, boosted its retail presence there to about 75 stores. Lotte Shopping, which was established in 1979, is looking to grow overseas.

River Island has nearly 300 stores across the UK, Ireland and internationally throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe. River Island is known for its stylish and affordable fashion and the unique touches we bring to our collections, which give us standout from the rest of the High Street. Our customers love us for our great going-out looks, amazing denim and fabulous shoes and bags, as well as being the perfect place to pick up everything you could need to get a complete head-to-toe look. At River Island we try really hard to bring new and original fashion to you, with design at the heart of absolutely everything we do. Almost everything is designed in-house and with one of the largest design teams on the High Street this means we can have fabulous new fashion arriving in-store and online every single week.

Charleston Gardens Ltd, a casual furniture retailer, sells indoor and outdoor furniture (including wicker) and related accessories (fountains, planters, jardinieres). Charleston Gardens also peddles hearth products and tableware through its one retail location in Charleston, South Carolina. The company also sells through a catalog and the company's Web site.

Pilot offers a salve to those suffering from white-line fever. Its Pilot Travel Centers LLC, a joint venture between Pilot and CVC Capital Partners, runs more than 300 truck stops in some 40 states. Each features restaurant chains such as Subway, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. Pilot has fuel islands large enough to service several 18-wheelers at a time and private showers. Pilot Truck Care Centers provide TLC for big rigs. The firm also owns and operates about 45 convenience stores under the Pilot Food Mart banner in Tennessee. James Haslam II got Pilot off the ground in 1958 as a gas station that sold cigarettes and soft drinks; now his son, CEO James Haslam III, pilots the firm. The Haslam family owns the company.

DBL is all about B2B PDQ. The distribution company delivers consumer electronics from warehouses in Pennsylvania and California to retailers nationwide. Its inventory includes more than 17,000 consumer electronics products from batteries to GPS devices to video games from Audio Technica, Plantronics, Garmin, Canon, Hitachi, and others. DBL specializes is serving Internet retailers who need a broad selection but don't often have large warehouse space. Its fulfillment services include special bundling and labeling and custom packaging and insert options. The firm also offers database marketing, inventory management, and order tracking. Ingram Micro owns DBL, operating it under its Consumer Electronics Division.

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