SmartBargains is looking smarter and smarter as it develops into a full-blown electronic clearing house. Started in 2000 as an offshoot of liquidator Gordon Brothers Group, SmartBargains is a giant electronic bargain bin, offering such items as apparel, bedding, home decor, and luggage, at grossly reduced rates, often at costs up to 75% lower than retail. One of the few survivors of the dot-com bubble burst and operating only through its website, the company is a clearing house for closeouts and odd lots. SmartBargains is a division of Retail Convergence, which was acquired by e-commerce powerhouse GSI Commerce in late 2009.

Founded in 1939, RONA generates about 40% of its sales from distribution. RONA has employed an aggressive acquisition strategy to expand throughout Canada. RONA believes a tool belt befits both genders. The company is Canada's top home improvement retailer (ahead of Home Depot of Canada) with about 685 franchised, affiliated, and corporate stores. Looking beyond traditional male customers, RONA stores court women shoppers (more than half of its customers) with features such as decorator boutiques and product displays set for the average woman's eye level. The stores range in format from small RONA L'express shops to RONA L'entrepot big-box outlets and the retailer carries some 2,000 RONA-branded products.

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.

Small Island Trader sells ceramics and crystal objects online to private buyers globally. Its web site contains more than 50,000 items, ranging from Wedgwood china to collectible paperweights and Versace ashtrays and other collectibles. The company secures its merchandise from about 20 leading ceramics manufacturers. Founded in 1997 by husband-and-wife team Alexandra and Jim Murray (managing director and creative director, respectively), the company is still owned by the couple.

BI-LO's stores house pharmacies and some boast in-store WI- FI cafs.Brands include national names, as well as BI-LO's own: Southern Hearth Bakery items,Full Circle natural and organic foods,Top Care health and beauty aids,and Paws Premium pet foods.Founded in 1964 by Frank Outlaw,the chain is majority-owned by allas-based investment firm Lone Star Funds, which acquired BI-LO and its former sister chain Bruno's Supermarkets in 2005.Falling sales, increased competition, and reluctant lenders led BI-LO to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009; it emerged the next year after a reorganization.

Baltimore Door & Frame was founded in 1982. Baltimore Door & Frame is looking to have customers line up at its doorstep -- for its doors. The company makes and markets wood and metal doors, door frames, and related hardware accessories. Baltimore Door & Frame's inventory includes hollow metal doors and frames manufactured by Pioneer, detention doors, wood doors, exit devices, door closers, hinges, Schlage and other locks, door stops, and other goods. As part of its menu of services, the company also offers residential and commercial keying services.

GNC is owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Board Plan, its affiliate Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund II, and management. GNC filed to go public in September 2010.What's good for the customer is good for GNC Acquisition Corporation (formerly General Nutrition Centers). GNC operates the world's leading nutritional-supplements retail chain devoted solely to items such as vitamins and dietary products. The company also makes Rite Aid private-label products. It sells its products online, as well, through a partnership with drugstore.com. GNC has 2,800 company-owned retail stores in the US and Canada; 1,900 store-within-a-store sites in Rite Aid's drugstores; and 2,220 franchised stores in 47 countries.

Independent Pipe and Supply Corp. (IP&S) has risen over the last four generations to become one of the largest family owned industrial pvf houses in New England. As the premier distributor of industrial pipe, we represent the top suppliers in providing a comprehensive product range: pipe, strainers, backflow preventers, steam traps, commercial equipment, valves, instrumentation, fittings & flanges, fire protection and specialties such as gaskets, pipe tools and machines, expansion joints and more. For your convenience, we offer state-of-the-art computerized inventory and search technology directly from the home page of our web site. Our continued growth and success stems from long-term relationships with customers, vendors and employees alike. During nearly six decades in the piping industry, IP&S, which is headquartered in Canton, MA, has expanded into five states. Today, we serve the contractor and distributor markets in the New England area and beyond.IP&S may be an acronym for Independent Pipe & Supply, but it also stands for the three pillars of our business success: Inventory, Price and Service. Our financial leverage allows us to negotiate, purchase and warehouse extensive merchandise - a strategy that has enabled us to supply our customers' needs on time, anytime and at highly competitive prices since the early seventies. In the name of superior service we've nurtured relationships for decades with both vendors and customers, without whom we would not be what we are today: an evolving and expanding family business with a major distribution facility in Canton and branches in five states serviced by over 100 employees. Although IP&S has grown and changed with the times, we believe wholeheartedly in the human method of doing business - in personal attention that provides the best customer service in the industry. No account is too small or too large - we have the trucking capacity, inventory, staff and knowledge to service any account for a lifetime.

There might be a trip to Best Buy for some CDs or a television in your future. Best Buy Canada operates about 210 consumer electronics superstores under the three brands: Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, and Future Shop. The retail outlets offer televisions, computers, and DVD players, as well as cameras, CDs, DVDs, mobile phones, and software. In addition the Future Shop stores, which average 26,700 square feet and are smaller than Best Buy Canada locations, offer home appliances, office supplies, and maintenance services. Best Buy Canada also offers customers in-home and commercial technical support through its Geek Squad services unit. US-based retail giant Best Buy acquired the Future Shop chain in 2002.

TBC Corporation is the nation's largest vertically integrated marketer of tires for the automotive replacement market. The Company's retail operations include Company-operated tire and automotive service centers under the " Tire Kingdom", "Merchant's Tire & Auto Centers", and "National Tire & Battery" brands, and franchised stores under the "Big O Tires" brand. TBC markets on a wholesale basis to regional tire chains and distributors serving independent tire dealers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Through its Carroll Tire wholesale distribution centers, the Company also markets directly to independent tire dealers across the United States. Carroll Tire Company sells a wide variety of proprietary and national brands from 38 distribution centers.TBC markets and sells nine proprietary brands of tires through North America. The Multi-Mile, Cordovan, Sigma, Vanderbilt, Sumitomo, Eldorado, Laramie, Telstar, and Jetzon brands are produced by nationally recognized manufacturers and have a reputation for quality, safety, and value. These brands are distributed through TBC Private Brands and Treadways to independent retailers and wholesalers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In 2005, TBC Corporation was purchased by Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA). SCOA is the largest subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation (SC), one of Japan's major integrated trading and investment business enterprises. TBC Corporation still functions as an independent company of SCOA providing the same services and products it has for many years, but has ended its 22-year stint as a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ.

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