Ritz Camera & Image (RCI) is updating its image to adapt to changing times. The company, whose chain of about 300 stores has roots reaching back to 1918 as a one-man portrait studio, has expanded beyond cameras to appeal to the digital generation. Operating under the Ritz, Wolf, Kits, Inkley's, and Camera Shop banners, it offers TVs, laptops, MP3 players, cell phones, and other electronic gadgets, as well as cameras and optical supplies and services. RCI acquired the assets of Ritz Camera Centers, which had collapsed into bankruptcy in February 2009 amid the shift to digital cameras. The business emerged later that year, under the leadership of CEO David Ritz, with a smaller footprint and new retail strategy.

Craving Italian fashions? La Rinascente operates more than a dozen upscale la Rinascente department stores in cities across Italy. The company's flagship store near the Duomo in Milan -- Italy's fashion capital -- accounts for about 50% of sales. The retailer also operates the UPIM chain of some 340 company-owned and franchised stores throughout Italy and a single concept store in Rome called Jam. La Rinascente tempts shoppers with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Gucci. Aldo and Senatore Borletti founded La Rinascente in 1917. Today the company is owned by its chairman, the Italian entrepreneur Maurizio Borletti (Aldo's grandson)

Independent Pipe and Supply Corp. (IP&S) has risen over the last four generations to become one of the largest family owned industrial pvf houses in New England. As the premier distributor of industrial pipe, we represent the top suppliers in providing a comprehensive product range: pipe, strainers, backflow preventers, steam traps, commercial equipment, valves, instrumentation, fittings & flanges, fire protection and specialties such as gaskets, pipe tools and machines, expansion joints and more. For your convenience, we offer state-of-the-art computerized inventory and search technology directly from the home page of our web site. Our continued growth and success stems from long-term relationships with customers, vendors and employees alike. During nearly six decades in the piping industry, IP&S, which is headquartered in Canton, MA, has expanded into five states. Today, we serve the contractor and distributor markets in the New England area and beyond.IP&S may be an acronym for Independent Pipe & Supply, but it also stands for the three pillars of our business success: Inventory, Price and Service. Our financial leverage allows us to negotiate, purchase and warehouse extensive merchandise - a strategy that has enabled us to supply our customers' needs on time, anytime and at highly competitive prices since the early seventies. In the name of superior service we've nurtured relationships for decades with both vendors and customers, without whom we would not be what we are today: an evolving and expanding family business with a major distribution facility in Canton and branches in five states serviced by over 100 employees. Although IP&S has grown and changed with the times, we believe wholeheartedly in the human method of doing business - in personal attention that provides the best customer service in the industry. No account is too small or too large - we have the trucking capacity, inventory, staff and knowledge to service any account for a lifetime.

Saks Incorporated began as Proffitt’s, Inc. with just five Proffitt’s stores in metropolitan Knoxville, Tennessee. Proffitt's, Inc. became a public company in June 1987. From 1994 to 1998, we added McRae’s, Parisian, Younkers, Herberger's, and Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (which included Bergner's and Boston Store) as well as 32 additional stores from Lovemans, Hess, Parks-Belk, and Brody’s, which were converted into existing store nameplates.

Hannaford Bros. may have started as a fruit and vegetable stand in 1883, but it has expanded from its Maine roots to become an upscale grocer with more than 170 stores under the Hannaford Supermarkets banner throughout Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, upstate New York, and Vermont. Still, produce continues to be a major focus at the Hannaford supermarkets, as are expansive meat selections and natural food products. More than 75% of the Hannaford stores are combination grocery stores and pharmacies. The stores average about 48,500 sq. ft. Maine's largest supermarket chain, Hannaford Bros. is owned by Delhaize America (parent of Food Lion), which in turn is owned by Belgium's Delhaize Group.

English Gardens Group, Inc. was founded in 1954 by the family of president John Darin and GM of the Troy store, Dean Darin. English Gardens helps the Motor City stay green. The company operates about 10 nurseries in the Detroit area and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Each location includes a nursery, garden center and pharmacy, florist, patio shop, and seasonal items. Stores also host seminars on planting, garden design, lawn care, and flower arrangement creation, among other topics. In addition to its products, English Gardens offers services such as landscape design and maintenance, holiday decorating, custom potting, and delivery.

PCC (stands for Puget Consumers Co-op) today is the largest consumer-owned natural food cooperative in the US, with about 40,000 members. Lifetime membership in the regional cooperative costs $60.PCC Natural Markets operates about 10 organic and natural food stores in Washington. More than 90% of the produce sold by the coop is certified organic, according to USDA rules. It also offers cooking classes featuring guest chefs, natural foods, exotic dishes, and lessons for children. PCC Natural Markets watches out for its customers' health, removing all products from its shelves that contain trans-fats and the like.

Restoration Hardware sells upscale home furnishings, hardware, bathware, garden products, and decorative items through more than 100 retail and outlet stores in 30 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. It also markets products through its catalogs and e-commerce sites. Restoration Hardware's assortment of home and office furniture is supplemented in part by its subsidiary The Michaels Furniture Company. Founded in 1980 by former chairman Stephen Gordon, Restoration Hardware was acquired for $175 million by private equity firms Catterton Partners and Tower Three Partners in 2008.

Maxor National Pharmacy Services provides healthcare and pharmacy services including retail and mail order prescriptions (Maxor Pharmacies), pharmacy benefits management (MaxorPlus), pharmacy consulting (Maxor Pharmacy Consulting Services), and infusion and injection services (IVSolutions). The company operates more than a dozen Maxor Pharmacy stores, mostly in Texas and Washington, but also in Colorado and New York. It also provides services to more than 260,000 offenders in more than 190 correctional facilities in 27 states through direct management contracts or via its pharmacy services division. The first Maxor pharmacy opened in 1926, founded by Howard Guy Maxfield and Samuel Orr.

Young Supply, founded in 1935, is owned and run by the Vallan family. Young Supply is an old hand in the HVAC-supply business. The company has more than 15 locations in Michigan and Ohio that sell air-conditioning, ventilation, food-service, heating, and refrigeration equipment and components. Brands include Friedrich, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and many others. Young also sells tools and measurement instruments along with controls and motors. Visitors to the company Web site can check inventory, apply for credit, and use the company's interactive area, energy to work, length, mass, and pressure HVAC conversion tables.

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