Garb-Ko is thanking heaven for the continued success of c-stores nationwide. The company operates and franchises more than 90 convenience stores, under license from 7-Eleven since 1968, in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. (About half of its retail outlets are located in Michigan.) Most of the company's stores operate through a partnership between Garb-Ko and the franchisee, typically a resident in the community where the 7-Eleven store is situated. President and CEO Dan Abraham has led Garb-Ko since 1983, when his family acquired the firm.

Tuesday Morning offers big discounts every day of the week, but not every week of the year. The closeout retailer sells discontinued merchandise from name-brand manufacturers at steep discounts. Its merchandise typically includes linens, china, cookware, rugs, and collectibles that are not seconds, irregulars, or factory rejects. Tuesday Morning's 850 stores, located in more than 40 states, operate only during monthly "sale events" (with the exception of January and July). The retailer keeps costs down by selling from low-rent locations and using seasonal help -- only about 20% of its workers are full-time employees. Its customers are primarily women from middle- and upper-income households.

Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermarkte serves do-it-yourselfers and other practical types. Praktiker (practitioner or enthusiast in English) is Germany's #2 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement retailer with about 340 Praktiker, Max Bahr, and extra BAU + HOBBY stores in Germany and another 90 Praktiker shops in eight mostly Eastern European countries (it goes by batiself in Luxembourg). Germany accounts for two-thirds of Praktiker's sales but growth comes from international locations. The discount stores sell name brand and private label items and host DIY classes. Praktiker offers bathroom fixtures, building materials, electrical and gardening items, hardware, paint, tools, wallpaper, and wood products.

Worsley Operating Corporation (formerly Worsley Companies) operates about 210 convenience stores in North and South Carolina under the Scotchman, Youngs, S&E Food Mart, and Li'l Cricket banners. The stores sell fuel under the BP, Exxon, Shell, Mobil, and Sunoco brands as well as Worsley's own Carolina Petro brand. To fuel the body, many of its convenience stores offer Subway, Quiznos, and Blimpie fast food as well as the firm's own brand of breakfast and lunch items. Worsley also operates two truck stops in North Carolina. The company was founded in 1923 by W. C. Worsley Sr. Worsley Companies was acquired by an affiliate of the private investment firm Sun Capital Partners in 2008.

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.

Ryan Automotive was founded in 1998 by owners Greg Ryan and John Kokladas. Ryan Automotive brings steel belted radials to the home of the Steelers. The Goodyear tire dealership has four locations in the Pittsburgh area: Moon Township, Kennedy Township, Crafton, and Pleasant Hills. The company offers a wide range of automobile services including air conditioning work, batteries, belt replacement, brake jobs, oil changes, shocks and struts, and transmission maintenance. It also performs vehicle inspections and service to insure compliance with Pennsylvania's auto emissions laws.

Delhaize Group formed Delhaize America in 1999. The international food retailer bought the rest of Delhaize America in 2001.Belgian food retailer Delhaize "Le Lion" has one big cub -- Delhaize America. With some 1,600 supermarkets and discount grocery stores from Maine to Florida, the holding company is the third-largest supermarket operator on the East Coast. Banners include: Food Lion (some 1,330 stores located mainly in the Carolinas and Virginia, but also in eight other eastern seaboard states); the Hannaford Bros. supermarket chain (about 170 stores in New England and New York); and 70 Harveys supermarkets. In Florida, the firm has converted all of its grocery stores to the Sweetbay format.

RaceTrac Petroleum hopes it's a popular pit stop for gasoline and snacks in the Southeast. The company owns some 545 gas stations and convenience stores in about a dozen states under the RaceTrac and RaceWay names. (RaceWay stores are operated by independent contractors.) The chain plans to grow by expanding its store count by about 10% a year. Carl Bolch founded RaceTrac in Missouri in 1934. His son, chairman and CEO Carl Bolch Jr., moved the company into high-volume gas stations with long, self-service islands that can serve as many as two dozen vehicles at one time. RaceTrac's convenience stores sell fresh deli food and offer some fast-food fare. The Bolch family owns the company.

Founder and president Bill Meadows began his business in the mid-1960s by growing produce and selling it on roadsides. He incorporated Meadow Farms as a nursery in 1974 and discontinued his produce business. Meadows Farms can help turn your lawn into something more like a meadow, if that's what you want. The company operates about two dozen nurseries in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. The nurseries sell plants, garden tools and accessories, gifts, housewares, seeds, soils, and other garden related merchandise. The company also offers landscaping and ground maintenance services. Meadows Farms also includes the Meadows Farms Golf Course, which features the Longest Hole in the US at 841 yards.

Mingledorff's, Inc., is a wholesale distributor specializing in equipment and parts for heating, ventilating and air conditioning. It is a total support organization dedicated to meeting the overall needs of the HVAC industry. The company has been a distributor of Carrier equipment for over 60 years. It began as a contracting firm that designed and installed air conditioning systems. It became a strictly wholesale distributorship in 1958, when Carrier realized the need for an extended network of dealers and contractors to handle Georgia's rapidly expanding economy and population. Mingledorff's, Inc., was asked by Carrier to help develop this customer base. At that time the company relocated from Savannah to Atlanta so it could better serve its distribution area. Mingledorff's, Inc. is now a major distributor for Carrier, Bryant, Payne, and over 150 other manufacturers of heating and air conditioning equipment and accessories with a sales territory covering most of GeorgiaThroughout our 17 locations in Georgia, we carry in inventory around 120,000 items. The company has roughly 4,000 retail customers. Of those, 1,000 are very active accounts, and the rest are occasional customers who maintain a charge account with us. Our services to customers include: equipment sales, sales assistance, advertising and sales promotion programs, engineering aid, product and service training, business management assistance, technical assistance and parts supply. Because the HVAC industry is constantly evolving with more technologically advanced equipment, it's crucial for Mingledorff's to assist our staff and customers in keeping pace by offering excellent, on-going training. Credit for the success and growth of the company can be given to the support and training received from Carrier and other vendors, a well-trained staff with knowledge of new technology, new equipment and new parts, and a solid base of good, knowledgeable customers. In order to provide fast and efficient order processing and management information, in 1998, the company made the substantial investments required for the latest in modern computer systems specifically designed for distributorships. All locations are networked on a computer system that can be accessed from all sales and parts locations. Customers can place orders with our staff, or be quickly provided information on order status, product availability, pricing, etc. Engineering support plays a vital role in the application of much of the highly specialized equipment the company distributes. A completely staffed engineering department assists customers in every phase of equipment application, and in the design of controls and energy saving programs.

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