Since its founding in 1889, the firm has developed the boysenberry along with varieties of peaches, oranges, roses, and the patented Hotbiscus Hibiscus and Wadda Tomato. In addition to its 100-acre nursery, the company has about 30 retail garden centers that operate under the Armstrong banner in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as about 15 Pike Nurseries locations in Atlanta and North Carolina. Its stores carry shrubs, flowering plants, fruit trees, and vegetables, as well as an assortment of dirt, planters, and garden tools. Company employees own 100% of Armstrong Garden Centers. It's strange to think that any company "invented" a fruit, but Armstrong Garden Centers does just that.

Carter Lumber was founded by Warren E. Carter in 1932, and it continues to be a family-owned business. Carter Lumber has the answer when new home construction has you hollering "timber!" The company owns more than 200 lumber and home improvement stores in 10 states from Michigan to South Carolina. The company caters to both contractors and do-it-yourselfers, supplying them with lumber, plywood, roofing, windows, doors, plumbing and electrical products, heating equipment, tools, siding, and other products. The home improvement retailer also owns Carter-Jones Lumber, which runs a 17-acre lumberyard and custom millwork facilities in Ohio.

Founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman, Barneys New York is owned by an affiliate of Istithmar PJSC, an investment firm owned by the Dubai government. After a tough couple of years for luxury retailers, Barneys has a new leader and is looking to recover. Barneys New York is no purple dinosaur, even if it did have a brush with extinction. The luxury department store chain sells designer apparel for men, women, and children; shoes; accessories; and home furnishings. It operates more than 40 locations including about 10 full-size Barneys New York flagship stores in New York City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, and other major cities; some 20 smaller Barneys Co-Op shops; and about a dozen outlet stores.

The Kitchen Collection, Inc. sells discounted cookware, bakeware, small appliances, cooking tools and gadgets, kitchen products seen on TV, and decorative items through more than 295 Kitchen Collection and Le Gourmet Chef stores in 40-plus states, as well as on its website. It stocks both private-label and brand-name merchandise (including the Hamilton Beach line owned by The Kitchen Collection's parent, NACCO Industries). The company's stores are primarily located in factory outlet malls nationwide.

Shop Direct Home Shopping is one of the UK's largest shop-at-home retailers. Doing business under the Shop Direct Group name, the company sells brand-name apparel, appliances, electronics, jewelry, toys, and more through its websites and catalogs (more than 9 million distributed annually). Its home-shopping operations include about 10 retail brands, including Littlewoods, Woolworths, Great Universal, and Marshall Ward. Shop Direct also peddles overstock merchandise through about 30 Littlewoods Clearance outlets (previously Bargain Crazy). Formerly named Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping, the firm is owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay.

Young Supply, founded in 1935, is owned and run by the Vallan family. Young Supply is an old hand in the HVAC-supply business. The company has more than 15 locations in Michigan and Ohio that sell air-conditioning, ventilation, food-service, heating, and refrigeration equipment and components. Brands include Friedrich, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and many others. Young also sells tools and measurement instruments along with controls and motors. Visitors to the company Web site can check inventory, apply for credit, and use the company's interactive area, energy to work, length, mass, and pressure HVAC conversion tables.

Rite Aid Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates retail drugstores in the United States. Rite Aid Corporation company’s drugstores primarily offer pharmacy services. It provides prescription drugs and front end products, which include over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, beverages, convenience foods, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise, and various other everyday and convenience products, as well as photo processing products. The company sells its products under the Rite Aid brand. It offers its products to customers covered by third party payors, such as insurance companies, prescription benefit management companies, government agencies, private employers or other managed care providers. As of February 27, 2010, Rite Aid Corporation operated 4,780 retail drugstores in 31 states, as well as in the District of Columbia. It has a strategic alliance with GNC to operate GNC stores within Rite Aid stores. Rite Aid Corporation was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Sedano's Supermarkets was founded in Hialeah, Florida in 1962. Our founder, Armando Guerra, was a thriving businessman in Cuba, and it was there where he gained the necessary experience to establish himself in the U.S. In 1971, Guerra brought Manuel Herrán on board to help out with the daily operations of his small business. From its humble beginnings, Sedano's is now the No. 1 Hispanic retailer in the nation.Manuel Herrán was born in Santander, Spain in 1937. In 1951, he moved to Cuba with his family. By 1967, Herrán and his family made their way to Miami where he worked as a salesman before beginning his career with Sedano's. Mr. Guerra passed away in 1979, and Herrán took over the reigns of the company. Agustin Herran, Manuel's son, is the current President and CEO, and Manuel is now Chairman of the Board.This year, Sedano's celebrates its 47th year of operation. From a single store in 1962, the Sedano's chain has grown to more than 30 supermarkets across South Florida. Sedano's has also become the largest member of the Associated Grocers of Florida. The company's plans include opening a new location in 2009 and an expansion to the Orlando market in 2010 where Sedano's will open three stores. Future plans include the ongoing beautification of all existing stores.

Bellacor retails more than 500,000 lighting products and home furnishings from 700 manufacturers through its Web site and Amazon.com's Home & Garden store. The Web site also offers online customers personal shopping, project portfolio, and price quote services. The company sells lighting fixtures such as chandeliers and sconces, and home accessories from bathroom fixtures to mailboxes. Professional builders and remodelers can use the company's Virtual Lighting Showroom, which allows them to customize an online store front under their brand name. The company was a catalog retailer before beginning to sell its wares online in 2000.

Passion Parties, Inc. gives new meaning to the concept of an intimate party. Passion Parties, founded in 1994, sells sensual products to women through home demonstrations, or "passion parties," throughout the US and Canada. Parties are led by more than 28,000 independent sales reps called Passion Consultants and are designed to be confidential, fun, and educational, as organizers peddle some 300 bath products, lingerie, edibles, books, and sex toys. Its primary product line, RomantaTherapy, boasts body lotions, fragrances, and gels. The company, a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, is careful to point out that its products are for enhancing intimacy among couples.

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