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.

Menard is owned by president and CEO John Menard, who founded the company in 1972. If sticks and stones break bones, what can two-by-fours and two-inch nails do? That is what Menard is wondering now that its biggest rivals (#1 home improvement giant The Home Depot and #2 Lowe's) are hammering away at its home turf. One of the largest home improvement chains in the Midwest, Menard has more than 250 stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The stores sell home improvement products, such as floor coverings, hardware, millwork, paint, and tools. Unlike competitors, all the company's stores have full-service lumberyards.

Founded in Boston in 1909 by Edward Filene, the company in 2009 was acquired out of bankruptcy by rival off-price retailer Syms Corp. Syms has maintained long-held traditions, such as the annual "Running of the Brides," at 100-year-old Filene's Basement, as well as the Filene's name and many of the company's employees. You don't have to go underground to get to Filene's Basement. The retailer operates about 25 stores under the Filene's Basement and fbSY banners in Massachusetts, New York, and half a dozen other states and the District of Columbia. The stores sell off-price men's and women's designer and name-brand apparel and shoes, as well as jewelry and home goods.

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.

Restoration Hardware sells upscale home furnishings, hardware, bathware, garden products, and decorative items through more than 100 retail and outlet stores in 30 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. It also markets products through its catalogs and e-commerce sites. Restoration Hardware's assortment of home and office furniture is supplemented in part by its subsidiary The Michaels Furniture Company. Founded in 1980 by former chairman Stephen Gordon, Restoration Hardware was acquired for $175 million by private equity firms Catterton Partners and Tower Three Partners in 2008.

Today, more than 87 years after opening its first off-price apparel store in Brooklyn, NY, Loehmann’s continues to distinguish itself as a preeminent, upscale, off-price specialty retailer for name brand designer fashions. Couture and designer fashions plus current, in-season merchandise and frequent new arrivals, all at prices 30% to 65% less than department store prices, still serve as hallmark features of Loehmann’s, attracting generations of fashion-savvy women and men to a shopping experience unlike any other. Loehmann’s carries a wide spectrum of looks favored by customers with classic to contemporary lifestyles. Store departments include ladies sportswear, dresses, career and casual collections; shoes, accessories including handbags and jewelry plus men’s, juniors and children’s. Loehmann’s continues to feature its famous “Back Room” where shoppers are privy to a select yet ever changing and surprising array of high end designer and couture clothing at lower prices. With an exclusive selection of colors and sizes represented, the thrill of “getting a deal” on something special and unique is as exciting today as it was when Frieda Loehmann started the Company in 1921.Now, more than 45 stores strong in 12 states and Washington, DC, the stores are filled with collections from today’s top designer names such as Calvin Klein, Diane Von Furstenberg, Kenneth Cole, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, Nicole Miller, Anne Klein, Donna Karan, Michael Kors and more! Loehmann’s has grown to include a large flagship store in Manhattan and one in Beverly Hills, as well as a “Size Search” in-store service that helps find and ship appropriate sized items to customers; plus, in select large stores, free personal shopping service. Loehmann’s also has an Insider Club for their customers, which gives members extra savings opportunities, advance notice of sales and new designer arrival updates. Plus, Insider Club Gold members enjoy additional exclusive benefits, including 10% off purchases every day for a low annual fee of $25.

Delhaize Group formed Delhaize America in 1999. The international food retailer bought the rest of Delhaize America in 2001.Belgian food retailer Delhaize "Le Lion" has one big cub -- Delhaize America. With some 1,600 supermarkets and discount grocery stores from Maine to Florida, the holding company is the third-largest supermarket operator on the East Coast. Banners include: Food Lion (some 1,330 stores located mainly in the Carolinas and Virginia, but also in eight other eastern seaboard states); the Hannaford Bros. supermarket chain (about 170 stores in New England and New York); and 70 Harveys supermarkets. In Florida, the firm has converted all of its grocery stores to the Sweetbay format.

Euro Car Parts is dedicated to an auto's performance once it drives down the road a pace. The company is the largest independent supplier of auto parts for the UK aftermarket. The company has a catalog of more than 100,000 parts for European vehicles, including brands such as Audi, BMW, Citroen, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, and Volvo. Euro Car Parts Limited company operates about 70 branches throughout the UK and offers delivery services to repair shops through its own fleet. Euro Car Parts Limited company's roots date back to 1978.

Rockler Companies, Inc. company was founded in 1954 as a mail-order supplier of woodworking materials. Rockler Companies, a nationwide retail chain specializing in woodworking supplies, operates about 30 Rockler stores in about 20 states under the Rockler Woodworking and Hardware banner. The stores sells hardware (hinges, drawer slides), hand and power tools, finishes, wood and supplies, and shop equipment -- primarily to do-it-yourselfer types. It also sells cabinets; closet, kitchen, bath, and TV organizers; and TV and computer mounting equipment. In addition, Rockler operates a catalog business, six Web sites (including one for women in woodworking), and distributes its products through more than 60 independent partner stores.

Simply Amazing (which does business as Amazing Savings) operates about a dozen closeout retail stores in New York and New Jersey. The company offers overstocked and discontinued goods (such as apparel, housewares, and appliances) purchased in bulk from manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. Begun as a single shop in 1989, Simply Amazing operated 14 stores in three states when it bought ailing Odd Job Stores in 2003. Post-acquisition, it ran about 85 stores in nine states. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in early 2005 and shuttered 69 stores as part of the reorganization that led within a few months to its emergence from bankruptcy.

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