Founded in Boston in 1909 by Edward Filene, the company in 2009 was acquired out of bankruptcy by rival off-price retailer Syms Corp. Syms has maintained long-held traditions, such as the annual "Running of the Brides," at 100-year-old Filene's Basement, as well as the Filene's name and many of the company's employees. You don't have to go underground to get to Filene's Basement. The retailer operates about 25 stores under the Filene's Basement and fbSY banners in Massachusetts, New York, and half a dozen other states and the District of Columbia. The stores sell off-price men's and women's designer and name-brand apparel and shoes, as well as jewelry and home goods.

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.

What do adventurers Ted Baker and J. Peterman have in common? They're both charming, slick, stylish (of course), and sheer fabrications of marketing. British clothier Ted Baker is the official outfitter of trendy lads in the UK. For men on the go, Ted makes a wrinkle-proof suit, an anti-bacterial shirt, and a bed-in-a-box linen set whose pillows contain a special condom pocket. For the birds and the nippers, there are Ted Baker Woman, Teddy Boy, and Teddy Girl. Accessories include skinwear, fragrances, eyewear, and watches. Ted has about 70 retail shops located in the UK and internationally; "his" clothes can also be found in about 125 other stores. CEO Raymond Kelvin owns about 40% of Ted Baker.

The Gymboree Corporation is a specialty retailer operating stores selling high-quality apparel and accessories for children under the Gymboree, Gymboree Outlet, Janie and Jack, and Crazy 8 brands, as well as play programs for children under the Gymboree Play and Music brand. The Gymboree Corporation's history begins with the founding of Gymboree Play & Music in 1976, making it one of the oldest companies in its field. The appeal of the Gymboree brand was so broad that in 1986 Gymboree entered the apparel business—designing, manufacturing and retailing unique, high-quality merchandise for children ages newborn to nine.

Mathis Bros. Furniture Co., Inc operates a handful of Mathis Brothers-branded furniture showrooms: two each in Oklahoma and California. Its 130,000-sq.-ft. Oklahoma City store draws customers from across the state. In addition, Mathis Bros. owns a Thomasville Home Furnishings and a Drexel Heritage Home Furnishings store, both also located in Oklahoma City. The furniture retailer has grown through acquisitions, such as its purchase of Bedtime, a juvenile furniture importer. Brothers Bill and Larry Mathis own and operate the company.

Super A Foods, owned and operated by the Amen family, was founded by its chairman and CEO Louis Amen in 1971.Faster than a speeding shopping cart. More powerful a manager's page. Able to scan grocery items in a single swipe. It's Super A! Super A Foods operates about a dozen grocery stores in and around Los Angeles that cater to Latino and Asian customers. The local supermarket operator offers groceries, bakery and deli items, meat, frozen foods, and fresh produce, as well as beer and wine.

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2009 sales of $23.5 billion. The company operates about 810 Macy’s department stores and furniture galleries in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as macys.com The Bloomingdale’s brand includes 40 stores in 12 states and bloomingdales.com. Macy’s, Inc.’s diverse workforce includes approximately 161,000 employees. Prior to June 1, 2007, Macy’s, Inc. was known as Federated Department Stores, Inc. The company’s shares are traded under the symbol “M” on the New York Stock Exchange.

Quality Food Centers stores offer more than just groceries: Seattle's Best Coffee and Cinnabon serve up goodies at some locations, and many stores offer services such as catering, video rental, in-store banking, pharmacies, floral departments, and film developing. With Kroger's acquisition of QFC's one-time parent, Fred Meyer, in 1999, QFC became a division of one of the nation's largest grocers.If you're sleepless -- and hungry -- in Seattle, consider Quality Food Centers (QFC). The grocery chain operates about 75 stores (most open 24 hours), primarily in the Puget Sound region of Washington (including Seattle), but also including about a half a dozen supermarkets in Portland, Oregon.

Fellow countryman John Scheepers founded the company in 1905; he made the tulip the symbol of spring and came to be known as The Tulip King. John Scheepers isn't sheepish about its specialty. The company sells more than 700 varieties of tulips, narcissi, lilies, amaryllis, and rare and unusual Dutch bulbs through catalogs and online. It also sells bulb food and offers tips and planting information on its Web site. Company president Jan Ohms owns John Scheepers and sister company Van Engelen, a bulb wholesaler. Ohms is a fourth generation bulb specialist from Holland.

Big Lots, Inc. is the nation's #1 broadline closeout retailer, with some 1,360 Big Lots stores (down from a high of 1,500 at the start of 2005) in 47 states. (More than one-third of its stores are located in California, Florida, Ohio, and Texas.) It sells a variety of brand-name products that have been overproduced, returned, discontinued, or result from liquidations, typically at 20%-40% below discounters' prices, as well as private-label items and furniture. Its wholesale division, Big Lots Wholesale, sells its discounted merchandise to a variety of retailers, manufacturers, distributors, and other wholesalers.

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