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.

Richer Sounds stands behind its name. Founded by then-19-year-old Julian Richer, Richer Sounds PLC today is Britain's biggest hi-fi and electronics retailer, selling audio and video electronics gear from more than 40 stores throughout the UK. Stores sell such products as CD and DVD players, home theater systems, plasma and LCD TVs, speakers, turntables, amplifiers, and more. It also sells its wares from its retail company web site (Mr. Richer guarantees that prices in the two media will always match.) Richer Sounds PLC is owned by chairman Julian Richer, who opened his first store at London Bridge in 1978.

The only soft rock you'll find at Southwest Boulder & Stone is on the radio. Southwest Boulder & Stone Inc. provides natural stone, manufactured stone, and masonry products to the building trade in Southern California. Its products include boulders (real and manufactured), stones, bricks, pebbles, and assorted other sized rocks. Paving stones, crushed sand, and decomposed granite are available for paths between the boulders. Southwest Boulder & Stone Inc. also supplies a range of big equipment for transporting and placing large rocks and offers landscaping seminars. Operating from three locations in California, Southwest Boulder & Stone was founded in 1989.

Boise Cascade has a proven track record of providing quality wood products and a nationwide building materials distribution network for our customers, helping them to enhance their own businesses. We manufacture engineered wood products, plywood, lumber, and particleboard and distribute a broad line of building materials, including wood products manufactured by the company’s wood products division. Boise Cascade Holdings, L.L.C. is privately owned and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

Kooperativa Förbundet (KF) is a smorgasbord of Swedish retailers. The organization (aka the Swedish Co-operative Union) is a federation of more than 45 consumer cooperative societies with more than 3 million members throughout Sweden. KF's core grocery retail group, with about 20% of the Swedish grocery market, is run by subsidiary Coop Sverige and includes Sweden's largest hypermarket chain, Coop Forum, as well as Coop Konsum, Daglivs, the Mataffären online store, and other chains. Other businesses include: Kooperativa Forbundet Fastigheter, which develops shopping centers; Kooperativa Forbundet Media, involved in book selling (Akademibokhandeln bookstores and bokus.com) and publishing (P.A. Norstedt & Söner); finance; and other activities.

Wallis Companies is a leading gasoline distributor in Missouri and the Midwest. The company's convenience store division operates about 40 locations in the Show Me State and services more than 140 other stores, including Exxon Mobil 's On The Run shops and BP Pump Handle stores. Other businesses include the Hen House restaurant in Bourbon, Missouri, as well as Wallis Lubricants (automotive and industrial lubricants) and the Great River Wash Company (distributes car wash equipment). Wallis Companies was founded in 1968 by Bill Wallis and today is run by his wife, Lynn Wallis, who took control of the company when he died.

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.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc., through its subsidiary, J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc., operates a network of department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. It sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products, and home furnishings. The company also provides various services, such as styling salon, optical, portrait photography, and custom decorating. It sells its products through department stores and catalogs, as well as through the Internet at jcp.com. As of January 30, 2010, the companys distribution network included 13 merchandise distribution centers, 5 regional warehouses, and 4 direct fulfillment centers. As of March 29, 2010, it operated 1,100 department stores. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Plano, Texas.

Colorado Springs-based MSPS was incorporated as Mountain States Pipe & Supply in 1955. MSPS is committed in it's mission to provide superior services and solutions, and quality products in the utilities industry. MSPS is known for longevity, stability, and the knowledge and experience, to provide you with a complete solution for a wide range of utility applications. In 2002 MSPS established a meters division, US Metering & Technology, or USM&T, to position ourselves as a trusted leader in Automated Meter Reading and technology. AMR is an interesting and growing industry as more goverments, municipalities, and utilities services managers look for ways to cut down on costs and improve customer service for their utilities customers. USMT&T has built long-term relationships with Acalara Hexagram, Elster, Itron and Tropos - all leaders in Automated Meter Reading and Advanced Metering Infrastructure technology solutions.

Benetton Group S.p.A. engages in the manufacture and marketing of fashion apparel in wool, cotton, and woven fabrics for men, women, and children primarily in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Benetton Group S.p.A. also provides leisurewear. It sells its apparel products under the brands of United Colors of Benetton Adult and Children, Undercolors, Sisley, Sisley Young, Playlife, and Killer Loop. In addition, the company produces and sells raw materials, such as fabrics, yarns, and labels; and semi-finished products, as well as offers industrial services. It operates a network of approximately 6,000 stores. Benetton Group S.p.A. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Ponzano, Italy. Benetton Group S.p.A. is a subsidiary of Edizione S.r.l.

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