Pier 1 Imports, Inc. operates as an importer and specialty retailer of imported decorative home furnishings and gifts in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates retail stores under the name of ‘Pier 1 Imports’. These stores offer various furniture, decorative home furnishings, dining and kitchen goods, bath and bedding accessories, candles, gifts, housewares, seasonal assortments, and other specialty items for the home. The company’s decorative accessories include decorative wood accents, lamps, vases, dried and artificial flowers, baskets, ceramics, dinnerware, bath and fragrance products, candles, bedding, and seasonal and gift items. Its furniture products comprise furniture and furniture cushions to be used in living, dining, office, kitchen and bedroom areas, sunrooms, and on patios, as well as consists of wall decorations and mirrors. As of August 28, 2010, the company operated 1,048 stores in the United States and Canada, as well as operated 36 locations in Mexico. Pier 1 Imports, Inc. was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

Waxman Industries takes plumbing repairs out of the toilet. Faucets and showers are just a few of the thousands of specialty plumbing and floor- and surface-protection products the company makes and distributes. Customers include do-it-yourself warehouse stores, home improvement centers, and mass merchandisers. Its WAMI Sales division distributes a wide portfolio of products, such as pipes and values, to industrial supply and wholesale operators in the US. Beyond American borders, Waxman operates internationally through its TWI International subsidiary, and its Waxman Consumer Products Group runs more than 10 manufacturing centers in Asia.

Luckily, Ace has John Madden up its sleeve. Despite the growth of warehouse-style competitors, Ace Hardware has remained a household name, thanks to ads featuring Madden, a former Oakland Raiders football coach and retired TV commentator. By sales the company is the #1 hardware cooperative in the US, ahead of Do It Best. Ace dealer-owners operate about 4,500 Ace Hardware stores, home centers, and lumber and building materials locations in all 50 US states and more than 60 other countries. From about 15 warehouses Ace distributes such products as electrical and plumbing supplies, garden equipment, hand tools, housewares, and power tools. Its paint division is also a major paint manufacturer in the US.

Foot Locker, Inc. operates as a retailer of athletic footwear and apparel. Foot Locker, Inc. operates in two segments, Athletic Stores and Direct-to-Customers. The Athletic Stores segment offers athletic footwear and apparel under various formats, including Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Footaction, and CCS. This segment offers footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories, as well as casual wear for various activities, including basketball, running, training, walking, toning, and fitness for young males, women, and children. The Direct-to-Customers segment, through its affiliates, sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, team licensed, and private-label merchandise through catalogs and Internet Websites. As of March 9, 2010, Foot Locker, Inc. operated 3,500 stores in North America, Europe, and Australia. It also franchises its Foot Locker stores in the Middle East and the Republic of Korea. As of January 30, 2010, the company had a total of 22 franchised stores. Foot Locker, Inc. was founded in 1879 and is based in New York, New York.

The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the continental United States. Its casual apparel products include denims, casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, and outerwear. The Buckle also sells its products online. As of March 23, 2010, it operated 408 retail stores in 41 states under the ‘Buckle’ and ‘The Buckle’ brand names. The Buckle was formerly known as Mills Clothing, Inc. and changed its name to The Buckle, Inc. in April 1991. The Buckle, Inc. was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska.

GOME serves China's growing appetite for techno toys, digital doodads, and modern household conveniences. One of China's leading electronics retailers by sales, GOME (formerly China Eagle Group) sells consumer electronics and household appliances from about 860 stores in more than 200 large and medium sized cities. Most locations offer rental and repairs and a handful are completely dedicated to digital electronics. Audio visual products (TVs, DVD and CD players, VCRs, stereos) make up about a third of GOME's sales. The company plans to expand into smaller cities and continue opening its all-digital stores. Kwong Yu Wong and his wife Juan Du, own more than a third of GOME's shares.

Leader's Holding Company (better known as Leader's Casual Furniture) is a small furniture chain that that operates some 20 retail showrooms throughout the state of Florida. The furniture retailer sells such brand names as Capris, Jonathan Taylor, Carlton, Tropitone, Palm Springs Rattan, and Garden Classics. As part of its products portfolio, the company peddles indoor (including wicker and rattan) and outdoor home furnishings and related accessories. The family-owned company got its start as a single retail location in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1971.

The Peacock Group has only just begun to display its full colorful strut, even though it's been fluttering around for more than a century. Founded in 1884 as Peacock's Penny Bazaar, the value-priced fashion retailer operates two chains: Peacock's, with 460 UK stores and about 45 franchised locations in Turkey, the Middle East, Ukraine, and Russia, sells women's and men's apparel and accessories; and about 380 Bonmarche shops that offer women's apparel in sizes 12 to 24. Peacock Group supplies its own stores, as well as several other chains, with branded women's, men's, and children's apparel and footwear. The company was taken private in 2006 in a deal backed by Goldman Sachs, Perry Capital, and Och Ziff.

eXpansys UK Limited began trading on the London-based AIM exchange in 2007. Though the universe may be in constant expansion, eXpansys believes one's collection of gadgets should also be in a state of constant growth. eXpansys UK Limited is an online retailer of wireless technology (PDAs, mobile and wireless phones, iPods, MP3 players, laptop computers). The company has distribution centers in Australia, France, Germany, and the US; its products are sold worldwide through retail divisions in more than 20 countries. eXpansys investors have included 3i Group, Elderstreet Downing, Elderstreet Investments, Triven, and The Wireless Warehouse.

Industria de Diseno Textil (Inditex) makes disposable chic fashions that are here today and gone tomorrow. The Spanish designer-cum-retailer uses technology and an armada of designers to master cheap chic. Inditex sells on a global scale, with some 4,430 shops in 75-plus countries under eight different banners: Zara, Oysho, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Zara Home, and Uterque. Located mostly in Europe, the firm's stores answer to popular trends by telling designers in Spain what customers are asking for locally. Inditex responds in about two weeks with new designs. Amancio Ortega Gaona, Spain's wealthiest businessman, founded Zara in 1975 and later created Inditex as a holding company.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.