Payless also runs one of the world's largest shoe dying businesses, Dyelights. Payless parent Collective Brands also owns the children's shoe company Stride Rite. Payless ShoeSource helps footwear enthusiasts shop like Imelda Marcos. A unit of holding company Collective Brands, Payless is one of the top shoe retailers in the Western Hemisphere. It has some 4,470 self-service discount stores, mostly in the US, but also in Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Puerto Rico. Payless offers dress, athletic, and casual shoes; slippers; boots; and sandals for men, women, and kids. It targets women age 18 to 49. Its North American stores stock about 6,600 pairs of shoes in 500 styles.

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.

eXpansys UK Limited began trading on the London-based AIM exchange in 2007. Though the universe may be in constant expansion, eXpansys believes one's collection of gadgets should also be in a state of constant growth. eXpansys UK Limited is an online retailer of wireless technology (PDAs, mobile and wireless phones, iPods, MP3 players, laptop computers). The company has distribution centers in Australia, France, Germany, and the US; its products are sold worldwide through retail divisions in more than 20 countries. eXpansys investors have included 3i Group, Elderstreet Downing, Elderstreet Investments, Triven, and The Wireless Warehouse.

The Crawford Group of Companies keeps things warm and flowing in the Great Lakes region. Through about 15 locations in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the Crawford Group distributes heating and plumbing supplies to retailers and contractors. The company operates as Builders Heating Supply, Builders Plumbing Supply, Crawford Supply, Inland Supply, KDA of Wisconsin, and Plumbers Equipment Company. The Crawford Group's Web site allows customers to place orders, sign up for training, register for conferences, and access tools to help small businesses.

ARI Network Services helps the manliest of industries attract smart shoppers. The company markets software for creating electronic parts catalogs and e-commerce websites in industries such as outdoor power equipment, power sports, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, appliances, and agricultural equipment. More than 18,000 dealers, manufacturers, and distributors use its applications. Its PartSmart program allows companies to collect, organize, and maintain product information for their suppliers and dealers, who can access and search the database. In addition, the company's e-commerce and communication applications process orders, product registrations, and warranty claims and perform search engine optimization.

Drugs are merely part of the story at Discount Drug Mart. One of the largest drugstore chains in Ohio, Discount Drug Mart, Inc. offers pharmacy services, medical and home health care supplies, and over-the-counter medications, as well as groceries (including fresh produce), beauty aids, pet supplies, housewares, and hardware. It also provides video rentals and photo developing service. Discount Drug Mart's nearly 70 stores are 25,000 sq. ft. on average, about twice the size of its rivals' locations, but smaller and more convenient than its national big-box competitors, such as Wal-Mart and Target. Chairman and CEO Parviz Boodjeh owns Discount Drug Mart, Inc., which he founded in 1969.

Koch Air is in the business of keeping others cool. As one of Carrier's oldest distributors, Koch supplies and services the company's air-conditioning units and furnaces to dealers and contractors in the commercial, industrial, and retail markets. It has about five locations across Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri, totaling some 260,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, and maintains a fleet of more than 20 delivery trucks. Koch also offers replacement part delivery services, as well as on- and off-site service training. George Koch founded the family-owned company as an HVAC installation and repair business in 1936. It is a subsidiary of Koch Enterprises.

Founded by William Pike in 1958, Pike Nurseries, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2007, blaming the worst drought in Georgia in a century, and put itself up for sale. After closing some of its nurseries, Pike's retail operation was sold to California-based Armstrong Garden Centers (AGC) for $5.2 million in a bankruptcy auction in March 2008. Pike's wholesale businesses were also sold off. Pike Nurseries helps keep thumbs green across Atlanta. Pike Nurseries, Inc. runs about 15 Pike Family Nurseries in the Atlanta area and a single nursery in North Carolina (down from about 20 locations in 2007). Stores sell plants, chemicals, tools, shrubs, trees, and garden furniture.

Saks Incorporated began as Proffitt’s, Inc. with just five Proffitt’s stores in metropolitan Knoxville, Tennessee. Proffitt's, Inc. became a public company in June 1987. From 1994 to 1998, we added McRae’s, Parisian, Younkers, Herberger's, and Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (which included Bergner's and Boston Store) as well as 32 additional stores from Lovemans, Hess, Parks-Belk, and Brody’s, which were converted into existing store nameplates.

USG organized L&W Supply in 1971. At the construction job site A&W can supply the root beer, while L&W can deliver the gypsum wallboard and other building materials. L&W Supply distributes more than 40,000 building products made by its parent company, USG, and other manufacturers through nearly 200 locations in about 35 states. Besides wallboard (which accounts for about 30% of sales), L&W Supply's products include ceilings, insulation, joint treatment and texture products, metal framing, and roofing supplies. It also offers such services as delivery of less-than-truckload quantities, stocking, and lending. The company's customers are primarily builders and contractors.

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