Pilot offers a salve to those suffering from white-line fever. Its Pilot Travel Centers LLC, a joint venture between Pilot and CVC Capital Partners, runs more than 300 truck stops in some 40 states. Each features restaurant chains such as Subway, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. Pilot has fuel islands large enough to service several 18-wheelers at a time and private showers. Pilot Truck Care Centers provide TLC for big rigs. The firm also owns and operates about 45 convenience stores under the Pilot Food Mart banner in Tennessee. James Haslam II got Pilot off the ground in 1958 as a gas station that sold cigarettes and soft drinks; now his son, CEO James Haslam III, pilots the firm. The Haslam family owns the company.

Bi-Mart Corporation retailer operates about 70 general merchandise membership stores throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.(About 20 are in the Portland area.) Just $5 buys a lifetime membership to the deep-discount chain, which has enrolled more than 1 million members to date. Stores offer automotive departments, clothing and shoes, food and alcohol, housewares, full-service pharmacies, and photo departments, with a focus on national brands. A pioneer in membership-based retail, Bi-Mart was started in 1955 by a group of investors in Yakima, Washington. The firm was bought by CEO Marty Smith and other senior managers from Rite Aid Corp. in 1997. Today, the company is employee-owned.

Collective Brands, Inc. primarily engages in the wholesale and retail of footwear and related accessories worldwide. Its Payless ShoeSource stores offer footwear, including athletic, casual and dress shoes, sandals, work and fashion boots, slippers, and accessories, such as handbags, jewelry, and hosiery for women, children, and men. The company’s Payless ShoeSource stores provide its products under the Airwalk, American Eagletm, Champion, Christian Siriano for Paylesstm, Dexter, and Lela Rose for Paylesstm brand names. It also involves in the wholesale of footwear in various retail formats, including premier department stores, specialty stores, and independent shoe stores primarily in North America. In addition, Collective Brands, Inc. markets its products directly to consumers by selling children’s footwear through its Stride Rite Children’s stores; and a selection of its footwear and apparel through its Stride Rite Outlet stores and e-commerce sites.

Allied Building Products Corp. was founded in 1950 as a family-operated roofing and custom sheet metal fabrication business. Allied Building Products counts home builders and contractors as part of its circle of friends. Serving the commercial and residential construction markets, the company distributes exterior and interior building materials, including roofing, siding, drywall, and acoustical tile, from major manufacturers. Allied also markets products under its own Cutting Edge and Tri-Bilt brands. The firm operates about 180 branches in 30 states, and it maintains a fleet of more than 2,700 vehicles, including cranes and delivery trucks. Allied is a subsidiary of Oldcastle (itself a subsidiary of CRH).

Netto has all of the ingredients for you to create your favorite omeletto or bruschetto, or to feed your hungry housepetto. The UK arm of Denmark's Dansk Supermarked, Netto Foodstores operates some 195 hard-discount grocery stores throughout England, all easily recognized by their trademark black Scottie. Netto's no-frills stores sell a limited range of food and non-food products (only 1,100 items) at deeply reduced prices. Its parent company has agreed to sell its UK subsidiary to grocery giant ASDA to better concentrate on its supermarket business in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. The $1.2 billion deal is expected to close in late 2010. Dansk Supermarked is 68% owned by Marsk Group.

IGA grocers are independent, but not alone. The world's largest voluntary supermarket network, IGA has 6,200 stores in more than 40 countries worldwide, including about 1,350 in the US. Collectively, its members are among North America's leaders in terms of supermarket sales. IGA (which stands for either International or Independent Grocers Alliance, the company says) is owned by about 35 worldwide distribution companies, including SUPERVALU. Members can sell IGA-brand private-label products (over 2,300 items) and take advantage of joint operations and services, such as advertising and volume buying. Some stores in the IGA alliance, which primarily caters to smaller towns, also sell gas.

Torrington Supply Company headquartered in Waterbury, CT is the largest independent Connecticut based wholesale distributor of residential, commercial, and industrial plumbing, heating and air conditioning equipment, pumps, and industrial piping supplies serving contractor, industry, and institutions throughout Connecticut. We operate from eight locations in Connecticut. Our 72,000-sq-ft headquarters, showroom, and distribution center is located in Waterbury with branch points of sale in South Windsor, Danbury(2), New Haven, Stratford, Bristol and Stamford. We have dedicated the resources of our company to provide the best combination of hassle free service at the lowest price. We do everything we promise. Our goal is to eliminate non-value-added costs and pass the savings along to our customers in the form of lower prices and increased services. We will do what it takes to become our customer’s supplier of choice.

Business at Roofing Wholesale doesn't have to be complicated, but it should be over your head. Roofing Wholesale Company (RWC) distributes residential and commercial roofing, stone flooring, and stucco to contractors, builders, and do-it-yourself home owners through ten locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico. It also operates an online store. Products include asphalt shingles, cedar shakes and shingles, clay tiles, fasteners, marble floors, and slate roofs. John Lisherness, father of current president Harley Lisherness, founded the family-owned company in 1958.

Lotte Shopping's department stores offer more than the usual shopping experience. The company is a leading retailer in South Korea with some 30 department and discount stores across the nation. It owns one of the largest retail chains in the country with facilities that are part of vast retail complexes that often include cinemas, shopping malls, hotels, theme parks, and wedding halls. It also has a store in Moscow (opened in 2007). In China, where Lotte Shopping is looking to grow, its 2009 purchase of Times Ltd., an operator of 65 hypermarkets and supermarkets in east China, boosted its retail presence there to about 75 stores. Lotte Shopping, which was established in 1979, is looking to grow overseas.

Lehman Hardware & Appliances has all you need to live life unplugged. The company sells appliances and other items, such as toys and tools, which require little or no electricity. It has long served the Amish at its store in Kidron, Ohio, but the company also fills orders through a toll-free number and its Web site, and sells many Amish-made items. Lehman Hardware's traditional products include grain mills, oil lamps, treadle sewing machines, wagons, wood ovens, and weathervanes. It also sells equipment to harness solar energy as well as efficient electric appliances. National anxiety about terrorism has benefited Lehman Hardware's sales. Owner and retired president Jay Lehman founded Lehman Hardware and Appliances, Inc. in 1955.

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