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.

Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy wants to offer far more than the prescriptions, over-the-counter aids, and greeting cards peddled by those other pharmacies. Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Inc. operates about two dozen retail pharmacy and health stores in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Although filling prescriptions accounts for a large portion of the firm's revenues, Pharmaca also offers complementary medicines and products and even has herbalists, naturopaths, homeopaths, and other alternative-care advisors in its stores to help customers find what they need to treat what ails them. Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Inc. is expanding its presence in its established markets, most recently by acquiring Bay Pharmacy in California.

Vermont sells a little bit of everything, from soap to sleepwear, from its Web site and catalog. Products offered by The Vermont Country Store include apparel, cosmetics and skin care products, bed and table linens, sleepwear, swimwear, footwear, baked goods, and candies. Vrest and Ellen Orton opened the company's first store in Weston in 1946. Its Rockingham shop opened in 1967. Today the business is run by their son, Lyman Orton.

Sam Levitz Furniture Company Incorporated sells a variety of furniture through three showrooms and a clearance center in Tucson, Arizona. It stocks brand names such as Bassett, Broyhill, Lane, and Natuzzi. The company has been family-owned and -operated since it was founded by newspaper photographer Sam Levitz in 1953. Today the company is run by Sam's son, Sam R. Levitz. Sam Levitz Furniture in Arizona is not connected to the defunct national Levitz Furniture chain.

Savers depends on thrifty people to make its business a financial success. The resale giant is the largest for-profit thrift store chain in North America. It operates about 225 Savers, Value Village, and Village des Valeurs (in Quebec) stores in more than 20 US states, 10 Canadian provinces, and Australia. The company's retail outlets sell everything from designer and vintage clothing to unique home decor, electronics, hardcover and paperback books, and toys. Savers also partners with 120 charity offices. Founded in 1954 as Salvage Management Corp., Savers is owned by the private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co.

Carter Lumber was founded by Warren E. Carter in 1932, and it continues to be a family-owned business. Carter Lumber has the answer when new home construction has you hollering "timber!" The company owns more than 200 lumber and home improvement stores in 10 states from Michigan to South Carolina. The company caters to both contractors and do-it-yourselfers, supplying them with lumber, plywood, roofing, windows, doors, plumbing and electrical products, heating equipment, tools, siding, and other products. The home improvement retailer also owns Carter-Jones Lumber, which runs a 17-acre lumberyard and custom millwork facilities in Ohio.

Founded in 1922 as a single Phil's Shoes store, Rack Room Shoes is owned by Europe's largest shoe retailer -- Deichmann Schuhe of Germany -- which acquired Rack Room Shoes in 1984. As part of its expansion strategy, the off-price retailer plans to continue opening new stores in the southeastern US; it's focusing specifically on Texas and Arizona. Shoe-a-holics on the hunt for budget-brand names frequent the Rack Room for a fix. Rack Room Shoes sells private-label and brand-name footwear, handbags, and accessories to thrifty customers from some 390 stores in more than 25 states. Rack Room Shoes company also operates some 60 stores under the Off Broadway banner in about 10 states.

The Gap, Inc. operates as a specialty retailing company. The company offers clothing, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, children, and babies under the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta brand names. Its products include wardrobe basics, such as denim, khakis, and T-shirts; fashion apparel; casual apparel and accessories; maternity apparel; women’s underwear, sleepwear, loungewear, and sports and active apparel; and shoes and accessories. The company also franchises agreements with unaffiliated franchisees to operate Gap and Banana Republic stores worldwide. As of March 24, 2010, it operated approximately 3,100 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, and Ireland. The Gap also offers its products through catalogs, as well as gap.com, bananarepublic.com, oldnavy.com, piperlime.com, and athleta.com Web sites. The Gap, Inc. was founded in 1969 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Western Beef consist of 27 high volume warehouse style supermarkets, operating in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Based on the experiences and knowledge acquired over the past 30 years Western Beef has earned the slogan “We know the Neighborhood.” It isn’t just something we say, it is something we strive for in every community we service. It means that each one of our stores is custom tailored to offer the highest quality product at the best value to meet our customers’ needs.We pride ourselves on developing relationships with our customers. The same relationships formed with your neighborhood butcher, baker, deli and fruit market. Everything you love about their specialized services, plus a full line of grocery, dairy and frozen foods, all at discounted prices under one roof.While we carry all major product brands you’ll find that each one of our stores has also been tailored to fit the culture of its community. We’re proud to say that along with your favorite national products, we also offer the very best international brands. Headquartered on an 11 acre facility in New York City, Western Beef operates their own meat, grocery and produce warehouses. The warehouses carry both national and private label brands. Operating these warehouses, allows Western Beef to buy truckloads direct from manufacturers and farmers, cutting out the middle man and then passing these savings to our customers in the form of lower prices.

Euphoria was founded by president and CEO Bob Bury in 1980.Euphoria Chocolate Company makes those little sweets that bring you joy. It prepares its chocolate candy on location at several retail stores and a factory outlet store in Eugene, Oregon. Well known for its wide variety of truffles (available in Grand Marnier, hazelnut, raspberry, and toasted almond flavors, to name a few), the company also offers its chocolates to non-locals through its Web site.

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