SOK is made up of about 35 independent regional cooperative societies that produce the group's services. Food and grocery account for half of SOK's overall business its market brands include ABC!, Alepa, Prisma, S Market, and Sale. The group was founded in 1904.Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta (SOK Corporation) knows a thing or two (or 1,500) about retail. The Finnish group is active in grocery, combination convenience store/gas station, department store, specialty goods, hotel and restaurant, auto trade, and hardware services via 1,590 locations in its home country, throughout the Baltic nations, and Russia.

Borders Group runs more than 500 Borders superstores in about 45 states and Puerto Rico, as well as about 175 small-format shops under the Waldenbooks, Borders Express, and Borders Outlet banners. Its bookstores offer up to 170,000 book, music, and movie titles and regularly host live literary events and musician showcases to attract customers. The chain also peddles products via its website. Faced with declining sales due to the ailing book business, Borders sold its Paperchase stationery and gift business in the UK in 2010.

O'Connell Oil operates about 30 Convenience Plus convenience stores and a half a dozen gas stations throughout western Massachusetts, serving customers with Citgo, Mobil, and Shell brand gasoline. Three O'Connell's Heating Oil & Service locations provide heating oil and air conditioner repair services. The company also runs plumbing and industrial lubricant divisions. Namesake Ralph M. O'Connell founded the company in 1925.

Maner Builders Supply Company was founded in 1951 as the Maner Hardware & Supply Company. You can build a manor house with what Maner Builders Supply Company can offer. It sells and distributes building supplies such as cabinets, doors, fencing materials, gypsum, masonry, roofing, and windows, through about a half dozen locations in Georgia and the Carolinas. Maner Builders Supply company offers free quotes, free delivery, and warranty assistance for its customers. Maner Builders Supply carries products from manufacturers such as Bradley, Buckley Rumford Fireplaces, Ceco Door, Makita, Palmetto Brick, Parex, and Wellborn Cabinet.

In Germany a trip to the corner drugstore is often a trip to Anton Schlecker. Fa. Anton Schlecker company is Germany's largest drugstore operator with about 10,650 discount retail outlets there. It also operates another 3,300 stores in about a dozen countries in Europe, including Austria, France, Italy, Poland, and Spain. Schlecker stores stock more than 4,000 product lines, including branded and private-label items. The shops also feature over-the-counter drugs, cosmetics, baby products, tobacco, photo services, and more. It is owned by German billionaire Anton Schlecker, who opened his first drugstore in 1975.

Waterloo Gardens was founded by James and Anna Paolini, parents of CEO Linda LeBoutillier, in 1942. Waterloo Gardens, Inc. is owned by the LeBoutillier family. Waterloo Gardens will defeat dull lawns and gardens. Waterloo Gardens, Inc. operates two nurseries in Devon and Exton, Pennsylvania, as well as a home-decor and outdoor furniture showroom in Wilmington, Delaware. Waterloo Landscaping by Design is the company's landscaping design and installation subsidiary. Waterloo Gardens offers potted plants, trees, shrubs, edible plants, and all the accessories needed to tend to them. The gardening retailer also sells grills, fountains, gifts, and home-decorating items and hosts gardening seminars and special events.

Schnuck Markets founded in 1939, the company is owned by the Schnuck family and run by CEO Scott Schnuck and president and COO Todd Schnuck.If you'll meet me in St. Louis, then chances are there'll be a Schnucks in sight. The region's largest food chain, Schnuck Markets operates about 105 stores, mostly in the St. Louis area, but also in other parts of Missouri and in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. All stores offer a full line of groceries, and most have pharmacies, video rental outlets, in-store banking, and florist shops. Although most stores operate under the Schnucks banner, the company also runs about a half a dozen Logli supermarkets in Illinois and Wisconsin, and a specialty pharmacy.

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.

YGM Trading Limited company has filled its products portfolio by purchasing many of its brands from foreign companies. YGM spun off Hang Ten as its own publicly traded company in 2003. YGM Trading company offers a frequent buyer's program and its own Visa card. Don't be surprised to find YGM Trading in your closet. The apparel manufacturer, distributor, and retailer offers fashions under the brand names Michel Rene (private label), Aquascutum, Guy Laroche Femme (owns and licenses), Charles Jourdan, Ashworth (golf), and (20% owned) Hang Ten. Its 800 shops are located mostly in China, as well as Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the US. It boasts a presence in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Mallett PLC maintains a stock of about 2,000 pieces of antique (primarily 18th century) furniture, paintings, clocks, glass, textiles, and lighting, selling them to private collectors, museums, and designers. Founded in 1865, Mallett is itself an antique. Today the company operates two showrooms, one in New York, the other in London. Prospective buyers can also view the collection online. The Weinstock Trust Additional Fund holds nearly a one-third interest in the company. Mallet owns a majority stake in the London-based antique furniture restoration company H J Hatfield & Sons Ltd.

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