In 1953, a single modest store began operating in Portland, Oregon to serve the needs of local contractors. That first Johnstone Supply may have been small, but it operated with a commitment to finding the best products for its customers and servicing them like nobody else. Today, Johnstone Supply is the top cooperative wholesale distributor in the country and a recognized national leader in the HVACR industry. With regional distribution centers based in Portland, Oregon, Memphis, Tennessee, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Jacksonville, Florida, the company boasts over 350 independently-owned stores throughout the United States and beyond, totaling over a billion dollars in annual sales. Unbeatable service, support, product knowledge and competitive pricing remain Johnstone’s core values. An expanding regional distribution network means even better product availability and delivery times for local contactors, and ongoing improvements to our distribution and operations systems means Johnstone is poised to remain a true “one-stop-shop” for contractors nationwide. We offer superior customer service, technical advice and training seminars and feature the industry’s most respected catalog (available both in print and online) featuring more than 50,000 quality parts, supplies and equipment.

The regional home improvement center chain was founded in 1962. A management group led by chairman and former CEO Charles Bender acquired the company in 1988 and now owns about one-quarter of Busy Beaver, which is facing heavyweight competition from big-box chains, such as Home Depot and Lowe's. They're busy as, well, you know what kind of animals at Busy Beaver Building Centers. The company has 15 stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia selling ceilings, flooring, lumber, plumbing fixtures, and other building materials, along with garden supplies, hardware, power equipment, and tools. Busy Beaver serves the professional contractor as well as the do-it-yourselfer.

The firm was founded by Bill Crutchfield in 1974 and was one of the first electronics retailers to launch an e-commerce site. In 2009 it launched a mobile version of its site. Crutchfield's catalog is mailed to about 6 million households. Crutchfield wants you to lean on it when choosing consumer electronics. The company sells high-tech wares via its website, catalog, and two retail stores in Virginia. Its products include TVs, DVD players, stereos, gaming systems, digital cameras and camcorders, and MP3 players. Crutchfield also sells automotive audio and video products, such as speakers, amplifiers, overhead screens, and navigation systems. It carries major brands, including Sony, Bose, Pioneer, and Kenwood.

The Officers Club wants its customers to feel more like gentlemen, even if they aren't dressed that way. The company is a discount retailer of men's apparel, including such products as jeanswear, jackets, leatherwear, shoes and accessories, and office attire. Operating under the names The Officers Club, Petroleum Casualwear, and Blakes Menswear, the company has about 150 stores around the UK and sells merchandise through its Web site. The Officers Club recently faced allegations of misleading advertising by Britain's Office of Fair Trading. A pared-down version of the chain remains operational after CEO David Charlton purchased the majority of its assets from administrators in early 2009.

Thrifty White Drug Stores is big on small towns. The pharmacy chain operates about 85 traditional drugstores in rural Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin. While most stores are located in shopping centers or strip malls, about 10 pharmacies operate in supermarkets and health clinics. Thrifty White Drug Stores is employee-owned and typically locates its shops in towns with populations of 1,000 to 90,000 people. Thrifty White Drug Stores also has several tele-pharmacies in North Dakota to serve communities that are too small to support a full-scale retail pharmacy. Thrifty White Drug Stores traces its roots to a single store opened in the Dakota Territory of Jamestown in 1884.

Delhaize Group formed Delhaize America in 1999. The international food retailer bought the rest of Delhaize America in 2001.Belgian food retailer Delhaize "Le Lion" has one big cub -- Delhaize America. With some 1,600 supermarkets and discount grocery stores from Maine to Florida, the holding company is the third-largest supermarket operator on the East Coast. Banners include: Food Lion (some 1,330 stores located mainly in the Carolinas and Virginia, but also in eight other eastern seaboard states); the Hannaford Bros. supermarket chain (about 170 stores in New England and New York); and 70 Harveys supermarkets. In Florida, the firm has converted all of its grocery stores to the Sweetbay format.

Founded by the husband-and-wife team Tom and Gun Denhart in 1983, it sells its premium apparel -- as well as backpacks, baby toys and gifts -- online, by catalog, and more than 25 retail and outlet stores throughout the US. Unhappy with the cotton apparel available after their son's birth, the Denharts started their own mail-order business and named it after Gun's grandmother: Hanna Andersson. The apparel company is owned by Sun Capital Partners (SCP). Hanna Andersson brings a whole new meaning to the concept of having your own MiniMe. The Swedish-inspired firm makes and sells colorful 100% cotton and organic cotton clothing and sleepwear for the whole family, specializing in mother-daughter ensembles.

Intermountain Orient, Inc. has been a leading and respected marketer of forest products since 1974. Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with an additional location in Phoenix, Arizona, Intermountain Orient has created a niche in supplying specialty wood products throughout the United States and abroad. Intermountain Orient promotes the highest level in product quality and customer service while working with many of the nation’s premier suppliers of wood fiber.Intermountain Orient offers a wide range of products, specializing in cedar decking and fencing products, railroad ties and bridge timbers, mining materials, log home timbers and accessories, as well as a full line of low grade material for dunnage and pallet stock.

Furniture.com sells furniture online through its partnership with major furniture retailers in North America, including RoomStore, The RoomPlace, and Leon's Furniture. Product lines include bedroom, dining room, and living room furniture, as well as entertainment centers, lighting, and bedding. Furniture.com also offers branded sites and other e-commerce services to retail partners. It is operated by Blueport Commerce, an e-commerce firm formed by Furniture.com's management. Furniture.com has been in business since 2002, when CEO Carl Prindle acquired the assets of the failed e-tailer by the same name.

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.

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