A leading home furnishings retailer, Value City Furniture (VCF) is operated by American Signature and is part of its network of some 130 superstores in 20 US states in the East, Midwest, and Southeast. It offers furniture for the bedroom, dining room, and living room, as well as mattresses, bedding, and other accessories. VCF stores feature furnishings from more than 30 manufacturers and even carry American Signature's private-label furniture and bedding. The retailer also peddles its wares online. Founded in 1948, VCF is owned by holding company Schottenstein Stores.

99 Cents Only Stores sells closeout and regular general merchandise for 99 cents or less. With about 275 stores, the company sells name-brand and private-label food and beverages, health and beauty aids, household goods, hardware, toys, and more. Though about 200 of its stores are in California, the company also operates locations in Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. The firm's Bargain Wholesale unit distributes discounted merchandise to retailers, distributors, and exporters. The Gold family owns about 35% of the company and is actively involved in running it. Chairman David Gold is the founder, and his son Jeff is president; son-in-law Eric Schiffer is the firm's CEO.

Japanese take the family to FamilyMart, the country's #3 convenience store chain behind market leader Seven-Eleven Japan and LAWSON. About half of the fast-growing company's 15,000 stores are in Japan. FamilyMart also operates shops in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the US. The chain opened its first store in Shanghai in 2004 and has grown to number about 220 stores in China. FamilyMart entered the US market in 2005 and now operates about 15 upscale convenience stores in the Los Angeles area under the Famima banner. Many more are planned. To further strengthen its retail network, FamilyMart in December 2009 acquired smaller rival am/pm Japan Co. from owner REX Holdings.

Martin McColl is among the leading operators of newsstands and convenience stores in Great Britain. The company has more than 900 newsstands, 300 convenience stores, and 100 high street shops in England, Scotland and Wales. Its newsstands operate under the Martin's banner while its convenience stores operate under the McColl's banner. About 400 stores have post offices, making it the UK's leading owner of regional substations. Martin McColl, originally named TM Retail, was formed in 1998. Following a management-led buyout in 2005, the company changed its name and its business strategy. Its executive team owns about 80% of the company.

Super Center Concepts sell name brand and private label merchandise in the traditional grocery departments (produce, meat, bakery), and offer services such as check cashing and money orders. The first Superior Super Warehouse opened in Los Angeles in 1981.Super Center Concepts is big on superlatives as well as groceries. One of the largest independently-owned grocery supercenter chains in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the company operates more than 30 outlets under the Superior Grocers banner. The regional grocery chain has continued to expand, in spite of operating in the super competitive supercenter market where it competes with national chains including Wal-Mart and Costco Wholesale.

Bison, a Stock Building Supply company, based in Houston, Texas, began modestly in 1962 as Roy W. Bierschwale's small retail store and lumber shed. Over the past four decades, Bison has grown into Texas' single largest independent supplier of lumber, full service millwork and other added value products. The city of Houston grew rapidly during the sixties, and much of this growth occurred to the north of town. Bison saw this as an opportunity to grow, also, and in 1967 the company opened its first facility seven miles south of Conroe, Texas. Bison broadened its offerings with the acquisition of Custom Craft Millwork Company in 1973.Today, Bison operates fourteen divisions in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Florida providing construction packages ranging from form lumber to roof decking, as well as a wide range of commodity and custom doors, columns, cabinet doors, molding, plywood and stair parts, all delivered directly to our clients' jobsites. Proud of our past. Committed to our present. Excited about our future. Our innovation and vision enable us to remain the preeminent resource within the residential construction field, and the model that every competitor strives to emulate.

Fresh Encounter was founded in 1995 by Mike Needler when he purchased CWC Companies from his father-in-law. Today, the business is owned and run by the Needler family.They aren't offering encounters of the third kind, but they can help you out with a carton of milk and a loaf of bread. Fresh Encounter operates 30-plus supermarkets in Ohio and eastern Indiana under the Community Markets, Fulmer Community Markets, Great Scot Community Markets, and Sack 'N Save Supermarket banners. To better compete with larger national chains, such as Kroger and Wal-Mart, Fresh Encounter's stores emphasize personalized service, 10 for $10 items specials, fresh-cut meat, community involvement, and private label products.

Blair Nurseries Inc. is located in Macclenny Florida just west of Jacksonville. Blair was founded in 1945 and has been locally owned and operated for the past 25 years. Our two growers have been with us for over 40 years. They are experienced in both container and field grown plant methods. We are known for our fast, efficient, courteous delivery, top quality, extra large plant material, and competitive pricing. We are also one of the only field grown and container grown nurseries in the Southeast.

Founded in 1907 by Fred Palmer and George Donavin, the company got its start making sheet metal and tinware. Skylights and windows from PALMER -DONAVIN MANUFACTURING help residents of the Hoosier and Buckeye states see a little better. The company operates four divisions -- building materials; heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC); kitchen and bathroom cabinets; and wood and laminate flooring -- through about 10 locations in Ohio and Indiana. Building materials include doors and windows, roofing, siding, insulation, gutters, fences, and decks. PALMER -DONAVIN carries such HVAC brands as Rheem and Armstrong Air, as well as cabinets from Wilsonart, Cardell, and Hartson-Kennedy.

It was M.O. Lee - then president of VF Corporation - who suggested holding a public sale one Saturday morning to clear out excess inventory of Berkshire International. That day, the merchandise completely sold out, even though the only advertising had been word of mouth. The store was so busy that even Lee bagged merchandise and manned the cash register. “You could see his mind working,” said John Jackson, merchandise manager of Intimate Apparel at the time. “He was thinking he could make the store bigger. We just had a drop cloth on the back wall, and we kept moving it back.”Pleased and surprised at the success of the sale, Lee scheduled a bigger one for two weeks later, with merchandise brought in from other VF sources. That sale was even more successful, and the VF Outlet business was launched. Selling Berkshire and Vanity Fair surplus products, the factory store was 5,000 square feet, with only a drop cloth separating it from the manufacturing facility. VF Corporation - which opened the store in 1970 - was one of the earliest outlet operators, and opened the first outlet center in the country, in Reading, Pennsylvania.

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