The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) is one of Canada's leading drugstore chains with more than 375 franchised outlets in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec under the PJC Jean Coutu, PJC Clinique, PJC Sante, and PJC Sante Beaute banners. The company dominates the Quebec market but trails rivals Shoppers Drug Mart and Katz Group in overall store count. Its Pro-Doc subsidiary (acquired in 2007) makes generic drugs. In mid-2007 the company sold its troubled US arm, the Brooks Eckerd chain of more than 1,850 drugstores, to Rite Aid in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $4 billion. The sale made PJC Rite Aid's largest shareholder with about 28% of the firm's shares.

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.

In 1915, M.B. Skaggs, an ambitious young man in the small Idaho town of American Falls, purchased a tiny grocery store from his father. M.B.'s business strategy, to give his customers value and to expand by keeping a narrow profit margin, proved spectaculary successful. By 1926 he was opening 428 Skaggs stores in 10 states. M.B. almost doubled the size of his business that year when he merged his company with 322 Safeway (formerly Selig) stores. Two years later M.B. listed Safeway on the New York Stock Exchange. M.B. did not let the difficulties of the Great Depression dilute his pioneering focus on value for customers. In the 1930s Safeway introduced produce pricing by the pound, opening dating on perishables to assure freshness, nutritional labeling, even some of the first parking lots.

The Gap, Inc. operates as a specialty retailing company. The company offers clothing, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, children, and babies under the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta brand names. Its products include wardrobe basics, such as denim, khakis, and T-shirts; fashion apparel; casual apparel and accessories; maternity apparel; women’s underwear, sleepwear, loungewear, and sports and active apparel; and shoes and accessories. The company also franchises agreements with unaffiliated franchisees to operate Gap and Banana Republic stores worldwide. As of March 24, 2010, it operated approximately 3,100 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, and Ireland. The Gap also offers its products through catalogs, as well as gap.com, bananarepublic.com, oldnavy.com, piperlime.com, and athleta.com Web sites. The Gap, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is based in San Francisco, California.

C.K. Tang Limited is a story of how the vision, fortitude and integrity of a young Chinese immigrant helped create one of Singapore’s premier retail companies today.From its humble beginnings, C.K.Tang Limited has established itself as a prominent leader in Singapore’s vibrant retail scene. Its continued existence can be attributed to its ability to adapt well to changing consumer trends by recognising the need for focused marketing and diversity in business.

Replacement Parts works Bumper to Bumper. Replacement Parts company's subsidiary Crow-Burlingame operates about 160 stores under the Bumper To Bumper banner in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Replacement Parts also distributes auto parts through three Parts Warehouses in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The company was founded in 1919 by grocer J.G. Burlingame and candy salesman William Robert Crow, grandfather of president Fletcher Lord Jr. The duo first entered the auto business by purchasing new cars in St. Louis and driving them around Little Rock to attract buyers. Employees own about 15% of Replacement Parts through its stock ownership program.

O'Connell Oil operates about 30 Convenience Plus convenience stores and a half a dozen gas stations throughout western Massachusetts, serving customers with Citgo, Mobil, and Shell brand gasoline. Three O'Connell's Heating Oil & Service locations provide heating oil and air conditioner repair services. The company also runs plumbing and industrial lubricant divisions. Namesake Ralph M. O'Connell founded the company in 1925.

First Supply has been owned and operated by the Poehling family since it was founded in 1897. Why bother with the second or third, when you can buy through First Supply? With about 25 locations in the upper Midwest, First Supply distributes a large inventory of building, fluid-handling, heating and cooling, plumbing, refrigeration, and waterworks supplies to industrial customers and contractors. Several of the locations feature Gerhards Showrooms, which display kitchen and bath wares from manufacturers such as Delta, Kohler, Moen, and Jacuzzi. First Supply LLC also provides such services as pipe and hydraulic-hose fabrication and valve actuation.

Founded by Tom Singh in 1969, New Look was taken private in 2004 by the private equity firms Apax Partners and Permira, who've twice failed to sell it. Growing as fast as its teen customers, New Look sells apparel, lingerie, shoes, and accessories at about 660 New Look stores in the UK and Ireland and 300-plus Mim shops in France and Belgium. Most New Look shops are in the UK but the chain has a growing presence in Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and now Russia. The retailer also sells apparel online. New Look targets tweens (pre-teens), teen girls, and their mums (if they're hip) with value-priced clothing. Most of its products are private label and the stores sell plus-sized and maternity apparel.

Founded in 1960 by the Libman family, Pennsylvania-based Hajoca Corporation acquired Able in 2005. President Barry Libman still runs the business. This company is ready, willing, and, well, you get it. Able Distributing Company supplies contractors with plumbing and heating products through a half-dozen locations in Arizona and Wisconsin. Its locations include showrooms with mock kitchens, bathrooms, and custom installations showcasing fixtures, pipes, tubing, and other items from such brands as Kohler, Delta Faucet Company, and Axor, among others. The company also provides related products and services through subsidiaries Able Technology and Able Field Services.

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