Monrovia Nursery Company was founded in 1926 by the aptly named Harry Rosedale. A rose of any color keeps Monrovia Nursery in the black. Monrovia grows more than 20 million container-grown plants in 2,000 varieties at its five nurseries in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon. Among its offerings are camellias, conifers, ferns, perennials, rhododendrons, and trees. The company has introduced some 300 exclusive varieties, holding more than 200 patents and trademarks. Monrovia supplies more than 5,000 garden centers with its plants and also crafts topiary forms, including some at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It has additionally developed more than 40 specialized soil mixtures.

Big Y Foods began as a 900-sq.-ft. grocery at a Y intersection in Chicopee,Massachusetts.It now operates some 60 supermarkets throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. Most of its stores are Big Y World Class Markets,offering specialty areas such as bakeries and floral shops, as well as banking.The rest consist of Big Y Supermarkets and a single gourmet food and liquor store called Table & Vine in Springfield,Massachusetts.Some Big Y stores provide child care, dry cleaning, photo processing, and even propane sales,and their delis and food courts offer to-go foods.Big Y is owned and run by the D'Amour family and is one of New England's largest independent supermarket chains.

LAWSON aims to be the "hot station" in the neighborhood for on-the-go Japanese. Japan's #2 convenience store chain (behind Seven-Eleven Japan), LAWSON operates more than 9,800 outlets throughout Japan and in Shanghai, China. Its stores offer original products including main dishes, prepared noodles, bakery and deli items, and rice balls. (Food and groceries account for about 85% of sales.) Subsidiary Lawson Ticket sells concert, sports, and other events tickets in LAWSON and Daiei stores. Lawson ATM dispenses cash to shoppers in about 6,000 LAWSON shops. Subsidiary Ninety-nine Plus sells perishable foods. Founded in 1975 as Daiei Lawson Co., the chain was spun off by financially troubled Daiei in 2000.

Guess?, Inc. designs, markets, distributes, and licenses lifestyle collections of apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. It offers collections of denim and cotton clothing, including jeans, pants, overalls, skirts, dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, jackets, and knitwear. The company also grants licenses to manufacture and distribute a range of products that include eyewear, watches, handbags, footwear, kids' and infants' apparel, leather apparel, swimwear, fragrance, jewelry, intimate apparel, and other fashion accessories. Guess?, Inc. markets its apparel under various trademarks, including GUESS, GUESS?, GUESS U.S.A., GUESS Jeans, GUESS? and Triangle Design, MARCIANO, Question Mark and Triangle Design, a stylized G and a stylized M, GUESS Kids, Baby GUESS, YES, G by GUESS, GUESS by MARCIANO, and Gc. The company sells its products through retail, wholesale, e-commerce, and licensing distribution channels. As of January 30, 2010, it operated 432 stores in the United States and Canada comprising 191 GUESS? retail stores, 107 GUESS? factory outlet stores, 52 GUESS by MARCIANO stores, 44 G by GUESS stores, and 38 GUESS? Accessories stores. Guess?, Inc. also operated 84 stores in Europe and 13 stores in Mexico. Guess?, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Established in 1953, Damartex opened its first store in Paris four years later. Today it operates about 140 stores (under the name Damart), primarily in France and Belgium. France accounts for nearly two-thirds of Damartex company's sales. Damartex also sells its products via mail order and its Web site. Damartex may not be tres chic with the youngsters, but it is hip to the older generation. Damartex uses thermolactyl fiber to make undergarments, men's and women's apparel, sleepwear, socks and hosiery, and accessories (scarves and footwear), which it sells to the growing senior-citizen market. Its thermal pieces are also marketed to snow skiers.

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.

El Dorado Furniture Corporation sells home furnishings in South Florida through about a dozen retail showrooms in Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach counties. It offers wood, upholstered, and leather furniture for every room in the house, as well as mattresses, bedding, and decorative accents. Stores are designed to look like a small town, with building facades situated along a main street; locations also feature cafes. El Dorado, one of the largest Hispanic-owned retail enterprises in the US, was founded in 1967 and is still operated by the Capó family.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. hasn't outgrown the mall scene, but it's spending more time in other places. Beyond its 850 US mall-based stores, Sears has more than 1,300 other locations nationwide. The company operates more than 900 independently owned Sears Hometown Stores (formerly known as dealer stores) in small towns and about 105 Sears hardware stores and some 85 Orchard Supply Hardware shops. Sears' stores sell apparel, tools, and appliances, and provide home services (remodeling, appliance repairs) under the Sears Parts & Repair Services and A&E Factory brands. It also sells appliances and tools online. Sears was acquired by Kmart Holding Corp. in 2005. The deal formed Sears Holdings, which owns both chains.

Fletcher Building is a supplier to many a Kiwi home. The company makes and distributes concrete, steel, fiberglass insulation, roofing, and panel products for the residential and commercial construction markets worldwide. It runs more than 30 businesses through five divisions: building products, distribution, infrastructure, laminates and panels, and steel. Included in its network are AHI Group (the world's largest maker of stone chip-coated metal roof tiles), The Laminex Group (top producer of decorative surfaces in Australia and New Zealand), and Formica Corporation (manufacturer of the eponymous high-pressure laminate products). Fletcher's operations span North America, Europe, and the Asia/Pacific region.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of home products. It offers culinary and serving equipment, including cookware, cookbooks, cutlery, informal dinnerware, glassware, table linens, specialty foods, and cooking ingredients; and bridal and gift items under the Williams-Sonoma brand name. The company also provides home furnishing categories, including furniture, textiles, decorative accessories, lighting, and tabletop items under West Elm brand; bed and bath products under Pottery Barn brand; and children’s furnishings and accessories under Pottery Barn Kids brand name. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. sells its home products through five retail store concepts, which include Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma Home; seven direct-mail catalogs that comprise Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed and Bath, PBteen, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma Home; and six e-commerce Websites, which consist of williams-sonoma.com, potterybarn.com, potterybarnkids.com, pbteen.com, westelm.com, and wshome.com. As of January 31, 2010, it operated 610 retail stores, including 259 Williams-Sonoma, 199 Pottery Barn, 87 Pottery Barn Kids, 36 West Elm, 11 Williams-Sonoma Home, and 18 Outlet stores located in 44 states of the United States; Washington, D.C.; Canada; and Puerto Rico. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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