Blish-Mize Co. has distribution centers in Colorado and Kansas. Aside from its wholesaling business, Blish-Mize operates toolmaker Hardware House with House-Hasson. Brothers-in-law David Blish, Edward Mize, and Jack Silliman founded the firm in 1871 to outfit wagon trains. President and CEO John Mize, Jr., represents the fourth generation of the family-owned company. Hardware supplier Blish-Mize distributes more than 52,000 products to hardware stores, home centers, lumberyards, and paint stores in a dozen states in the heartland of the US. Its catalog includes hand and power tools, lawn equipment, hardware, paint, heating and cooling products, housewares, plumbing and electrical supplies, and sporting goods.

Ross Stores, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates two chains of off-price retail apparel and home accessories stores in the United States. Its stores offer branded and designer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions, as well as gift items, linens, and other home-related merchandise. The company’s merchandise offerings also comprise product categories, such as small furniture and furniture accents, educational toys and games, luggage, gourmet food and cookware, watches, and sporting goods, as well as fine jewelry in selected Ross stores. As of January 30, 2010, it operated 1,005 stores, including 953 Ross Dress for Less (Ross) locations in 27 states and Guam, and 52 dd’s DISCOUNTS stores in 4 states. Ross Stores, Inc. was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

The family-run company was founded in 1936 by the late Charles Armstrong. Apparently, Californians can grow more than citrus and palms. Armstrong Brothers Capital Nursery operates retail nurseries in Sacramento, Citrus Heights, and Elk Grove, California. The experienced staff offers plant recommendations, troubleshooting, and professional landscape design and installation. The company's Web site gives relevant weather information, gardening tips, and information on less familiar plants in California for customers. Capital Nursery also airs a weekly gardening show on a local AM radio station to answer questions and speak to special guests.

Royal Ahold also operates Albert Heijn (the 1 food retailer in The Netherlands), as well as stores in Portugal, the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Other interests include the US online grocery service Peapod and a majority stake in Scandinavian food seller ICA AB. A tattered prince of global food retailing, Royal Ahold owns or has an interest in more than 5,200 supermarkets and specialty stores in Europe and the US. While its status as one of the world's largest grocery retailers has been greatly diminished, it still ranks as a leading supermarket operator along the East Coast of the US under names, including Giant Food and Stop & Shop, which account for about 60% of its total sales.

Trendy Zara is the flagship brand for Europe's fastest-growing apparel retailer Industria de Diseno Textil (commonly know as Inditex). Zara, the cheap-chic subsidiary of the Spanish fashion giant, runs about 1,520 stores, including some 230 Zara Kids shops, in more than 75 countries worldwide. Zara has about 40 shops in the US and 60 in Mexico. The chain sells women's, men's, and children's apparel and also offers plus-size and maternity lines to clothe its larger customers. Zara Home, which sells home fashions, has about 250 stores, in about 25 countries. Zara is Inditex's principal chain and accounts for about two-thirds of its parent company's sales.

Rockford Corporation designs, markets, sells, and distributes mobile audio products. It offers digital and analog amplifiers, speakers, and subwoofers, as well as automotive sound systems, connectors, screws, wiring harnesses, and accessories. Rockford Corporation markets its products under the Rockford Fosgate, Lightning Audio, Rockford Acoustic Design, and InstallEdge.com brand names. It sells its products primarily in the audio aftermarket to consumers, who want to improve the existing systems in their cars, trucks, boats, and airplanes, as well as offers its products through original equipment manufacturer relationships with vehicle manufacturers. Rockford markets its products to mobile audio dealers and distributors in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, as well as to mass retailers in the United States and Canada. Rockford Corporation was founded in 1980 and is based in Tempe, Arizona.

Founded in 1952, Interstate Battery System of America, Inc. is owned by chairman Norm Miller. Interstate Battery System of America offers a battery of batteries. Interstate Battery System of Amerian can provide the electrical juice for everything from cell phones and laptops to boats, lawn mowers, motorcycles, and RVs. It also makes replacement automobile batteries for such brands as Ford, Subaru, and Toyota. Consumers can purchase Interstate Battery's products online and at more than 200,000 retail locations, including some 340 Interstate All Battery Centers in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Interstate Battery System of America, Inc. has about 300 distributors throughout North America. Interstate Battery sponsors the Joe Gibbs Racing team on the NASCAR circuit.

Japanese retailer Isetan is more than a century old, but it does try to appeal to the younger generation. Its department stores sell apparel, home furnishings, appliances, jewelry, and personal items. The company also operates restaurants and offers real estate, financial, and travel services. It manages a half dozen stores in Japan; its main location in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo accounts for about half the firm's sales. Among the first Japanese retailers to enter other Asian markets, Isetan oversees store operations in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. The company is a subsidiary of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, created in 2008 when Isetan acquired its more than 300-year-old rival Mitsukoshi.

Material Supply, doing business as MSI HVAC, distributes residential and commercial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products. It also fabricates sheet metal fittings, commercial ductwork, and cut-to-length duct systems and linesets. Through three locations in California and one in Las Vegas, MSI company offers services such as free in-area delivery, made-to-order products, and no rush charges. MSI stocks products from manufacturers such as Chromalox, Fieldpiece Instruments, Honeywell, and Johns Manville.

Kowalski's Markets is struggling to expand while it straps on its leather boxing mitts. The company, which operates about 10 supermarkets in the St. Paul and Minneapolis area of Minnesota, wants to be a heavyweight contender among high-end grocery stores there. However, stiff competition from other grocery chains and discounters have limited Kowalski's share of the Twin Cities market to just under 2%: an eighth-place ranking in the market. Indeed competition led the grocer to close a one-year-old store several years ago. Founded by husband and wife team James and Mary Anne Kowalski as a single supermarket in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1983, the regional grocery chain is still owned and run by the Kowalski family.

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