Regency Enterprises, Incorporated company was founded in 1981 by CEO Ron Regenstreif and COO Mike Goldstone. Regency Enterprises (which operates as Regency Lighting) distributes lighting products, including lamps, ballasts and transformers, industrial and commercial fixtures, emergency lighting, and ceiling fans. The company also offers construction and maintenance services, energy conservation consultations, lighting replacement, and recycling programs. Customers include architects, contractors, designers, and engineers. Regency has a sales office and distribution center in six major cities throughout the US, allowing for rapid shipping to any part of the country. It carries products from Lightly, Osram Sylvania, Philips and Ushio.

In 1923 Frank McCoy founded a roofing company, which his son, Emmett, combined with McCoy Supply to form the McCoy Corporation. Today the firm is still family owned and led by CEO Brian McCoy, Emmett's son. Even though it's battling home-improvement giants The Home Depot and Lowe's, McCoy still has time for a day off. The company owns and operates about 80 McCoy's Building Supply Centers, which are concentrated primarily in Texas but also in Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. In keeping with its Texas roots, McCoy's also stocks farm and ranch products, and it runs two millwork facilities. The retailer adheres to a steadfast tradition of closing stores on Sundays.

Formed by the 1997 merger of Cotter & Company (which supplied the True Value chain) and ServiStar Coast to Coast, the retailer-owned hardware cooperative serves more than 5,000 retail outlets in some 55 countries. Stores offer home improvement and garden supplies, as well as appliances, housewares, sporting goods, and toys. In addition to the flagship True Value banner, members operate under the names of Taylor Rental, Grand Rental Station, Home & Garden Showplace, and Induserve Supply, among others. True Value also manufactures its own brand of paints. To survive against home improvement giants such as The Home Depot and Lowe's, True Value (formerly TruServ) is relying on the true value of service.

Showerlux UK became a subsidiary of Swiss-based Duscholux Group in 1973. Showerlux wants its customers to luxuriate in the shower as often as they possibly can. The company manufactures and installs its own high-design, high-end bathroom fixtures. In addition to its primary product offering, which features shower enclosures, doors, and trays, its selection also includes shower seats, baths, cabinets, furniture, mirrors, and a hydrotherapy collection, all ready to fit into bathrooms of a variety of sizes. Customers are even able to design their own custom bathrooms on the company's Web site.

GN Hello Direct, Inc. was acquired in 2000 by GN Netcom, a Denmark-based maker of hands-free telecom equipment. Ah, the poetic justice GN Hello Direct delivers. The company sells telephones and accessories (including headsets and amplifiers) to small and midsized businesses and the very telemarketers who ring you just when dinner is served. It also sells the phones that screen those annoying telemarketer calls, as well as recording, distance-conferencing, mobile navigation, and VoIP products. More than 50 major brands are represented in the firm's inventory, including AT&T, Panasonic, and Motorola, plus its own Hello Direct and GN Netcom labels. Products are sold through GN Hello Direct's catalog and website.

Variety is not only the spice of life -- it's also a major purveyor of deeply discounted merchandise. With some 425 stores in about 15 Southeastern states, Variety Wholesalers has survived even Wal-Mart's march through rural America. The company, which has aggressively bought other chains while closing poorly performing stores, tends to set up shop in small towns where the retail giants fear to tread. Its retail outlets sell beauty products, housewares, snacks, toys and more, under banners including Bargain Town, Maxway, Roses, and Super 10. Variety Wholesalers was founded in 1949 by James Pope; the Pope family, including chairman and CEO Art Pope, still runs the company.

Precision Data Products likes to get it right. Precision company sells electronics such as computers, printers, audiovisual equipment, and accessories directly to customers via telephone and its Web site. Through Precision Data Products' online catalog, customers can view purchasing history, real-time inventory and prices, and product descriptions and white pages on more than 250,000 products. Corporate customers can request custom catalogs with negotiated or contract prices. Precision company carries brands from manufacturers such as Apple, D-Link, Exabyte, Hewlett-Packard, and Symbol Technologies. It also offers on-site or ship-in repair services for computers and printers.

1800Mattress.com offers mattresses from Sealy, Serta, Simmons, King Koil, and Tempur-Pedic, as well as its own private-label brand. Customers can order over the phone or on the Internet, 24 hours a day. Those who prefer to feel the merchandise before buying, however, can visit 1800Mattress.com's more than 100 showrooms in California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. It also ships products throughout the US and internationally. Founded in 1976, the company was originally named Dial-A-Mattress. In 2009 rival retailer Sleepy's acquired 1800Mattress.com out of bankruptcy for $25 million.

Mattress Holding Corp. operates some 530 company-owned and franchised Mattress Firm stores in about 20 states. The company sells conventional (Sealy, Simmons) and specialty (Tempur-Pedic, Sleep Number) mattresses, bed frames, and other bedding accessories, and is the #1 seller of Sealy mattresses in the country. From its humble beginning in 1986 when three friends pooled their resources to purchase a downtrodden spot in a Houston strip center, the Mattress Firm chain has grown into a leading US bedding retailer. The company was acquired in 2007 by investment firm J.W. Childs Associates (JWC).

GULFEAGLE is a full line distributor of residential and commercial roofing and building products that offers jobsite delivery to our customers. The company was originally founded as Gulfside Supply, Inc. in 1973 by Mr. Jim Resch. Mr. Resch remains as the current owner and CEO. The company started in Tampa, Florida with one branch and has grown to over 50 locations nationwide. This growth has come from acquisitions, start-up locations, and diversity of products. The first acquisition was Service Lumber in Jacksonville in 1975. Others include Southern Diversified in Miami, Sun Supply in Melbourne, United Wholesale in Pompano, Ft. Myers and Sarasota and Stringfellow Supply in Gainesville. In 1995 a major step was taken by acquiring American Wholesale which included locations in Huntsville, Montgomery, Dothan, Mobile, Pensacola and Panama City. The Standard/ Bieler acquisition further expanded into South Florida. In 1997 the company acquired Roofline Supply in Macon, Georgia. New start-ups over the years include Orlando, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, Daytona, Tallahassee, Decatur, Alabama, St. Petersburg, Ft. Pierce, Palm Coast and Buda, TX.

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