Kohler Mira went from dreaming in the shower, to dreaming about the shower. Founded in the 1920s, Kohler Mira is a leading UK bathroom products company. The company's offerings, which include showers, faucets, enclosures, trays, and brassware, are sold through bath and housewares specialty retailers in more than 40 countries worldwide. Its names include Mira Platinum, Biocote, and Mira Eco. Mira developed the world's first thermostatic shower, which gained popularity in the 1960s. Then called Mira Showers Group (which included its Rada, Meynell, and Alstone brands), Kohler Mira Limited company was acquired by US-based Kohler Co. in 2001 and became Kohler Mira.

Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg founded the employee-owned firm in 1930. It takes its name from a combination of its founders' names.Give Hy-Vee a high five for being one of the largest privately owned US supermarket chains, despite serving some modestly sized towns in the Midwest. The company runs more than 200 Hy-Vee supermarkets in eight Midwestern states: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. About half of its stores are in Iowa, as are most of its two dozen Hy-Vee drugstores. It distributes products to its stores through several subsidiaries, including Lomar Distributing (specialty foods) and Perishable Distributors of Iowa (fresh foods).

Groupe Samse (formerly Society Samse SA) is helping build France. Samse is one of the country's top wholesale distributors of building and do-it-yourself materials, with about 250 outlets, serving some 260,000 customers across two dozen French provinces. It operates two commercial business segments: multi-specialists (supplying technical solutions to building professionals) and specialists (targeting building and public works professionals). Its third segment, do-it-yourself, caters to individual rather than commercial clients. Through La Boite a Outils and and Entrepot du Bricolage retail stores, Samse sells a variety of home building and improvement products similar to The Home Depot and Lowe's in the US.

Gruppo Coin will take your coins -- and your cash. It owns and franchises about 500 department stores throughout Italy and abroad that sell apparel, accessories, perfume and cosmetics, and home decor. In addition to carrying apparel from well-known Italian and international brands, the firm designs and offers its own lines, including JCT (sportswear), Koan (urban apparel), Twiddy (children's clothing), and Melina (lingerie). Its stores operate under the Coin and Oviesse banners. The company's beginnings can be traced to 1916, when founder Vittorio Coin began selling fabrics. PAI Partners controls the firm with about an 80% stake, of which the Coin family has a nearly 50% interest.

Founded in 1990 in Southern California, Genica Corporation provides customers a better way to buy computer products and consumer electronics. At that time, the company's founders saw a significant business opportunity in the excess personal computer and electronics industry. The two entrepreneurs launched their direct computer supply business based on the philosophy that buying low and selling low would be a fruitful business model. A strong commitment to service was included in their philosophy. Today, the company has continued to flourish through reinvestment in its own technology, company resources and ever-expanding product offerings which include items untapped by competitors. Genica Corporation, from its inception, was designed to foster a business culture providing exemplary service through dedicated team members and long-term customer relationships. This strategy has proven to be very successful and remains a key component of Genica Corporation's current mission. Genica Corporation has adopted several industry programs to keep pace with change and stay ahead of its competition.

Falkland Islands to and from the UK and Chile and provides other port services, including the "squishy" trade of squid fishing licenses. Its Momart International arm serves the fine art logistics market. FIH is also active in commercial and residential property development on the island as well as oil and gas exploration.Falkland Islands Holdings (FIH) does a little bit of Falkland everything. Through its Falkland Islands Company it runs about half a dozen retail (apparel, DIY, home furnishings, grocery, and building and office supplies) outlets, a hotel, and a pair of auto dealerships (Land Rover and Ford); its highly-evolved Darwin Shipping and Portsmouth Harbour Ferry Company.

ASDA is the UK's second-largest food seller (behind Tesco).It operates about 370 stores (including about 25 ASDA Living stores) that primarily sell groceries and apparel.The stores also sell CDs, books, videos, and housewares. It offers American, Chinese, and Mexican take-away meals.Since being bought by Wal-Mart in 1999, ASDA has set off a price war in the UK by initiating Wal-Mart's aggressive "price-rollback" program and converting stores to Wal-Mart's supercenter format under the ASDA-Wal-Mart banner.ASDA.com sells goods online.

Jewson first began operating as a provisions store in 1836. Jewson, a part of the Saint-Gobain Building Distribution division, operates more than 500 branches throughout the UK and is Britain's #2 building materials merchant behind Wolseley UK. Jewson stores supply timber and building materials (bathrooms, doors and windows, drains and foundations, dry lining and insulation, flooring, hardware, ironmongery, landscaping, masonry, painting and decorating, plumbing and heating, roofing, and tools) to mostly small contractors and do-it-yourselfers. About half the company's stores offer tool and equipment rentals, and reservations can also be made online.

Meijer (pronounced "Meyer") is a giant of retailing in the Midwest. The company's huge grocery and general merchandise stores average 200,000 to 250,000 sq. ft. each (or about the size of four regular grocery stores) and stock about 120,000 items, including Meijer private-label products. Meijer operates about 195 locations; about half are in Michigan, while the rest are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Customers can choose from 40-plus departments, including apparel, electronics, hardware, and toys. Most stores also sell gasoline, offer banking services, and have multiple in-store restaurants. Founder Hendrik Meijer opened his first store in 1934; the business is still family owned and run.

From 1946 to 1974, the Skogen family acquired a number of small IGA stores and eventually, in 1979, a Red Owl store in Holmen, Wisconsin. Paul Skogen passed away in 1976 at which point his son Dave, along Dave’s wife Barb, oversaw company operations.In 1990, the Skogen family realized a shifting trend in consumer buying habits and decided a change of store format was best for future growth of the company. On June 28, 1990, they opened their first Festival Foods store in Onalaska. In 1992 Dave’s son Mark joined the company full-time. Together, Dave and Mark lead Festival Foods to experience unprecedented growth by opening additional stores across Wisconsin in Marshfield, Green Bay, Bellevue, De Pere, Suamico, Oshkosh, Eau Claire, and Holmen.Dave transitioned to Chairman of the Board in 2006 and continues to be active in the company. With that change, Mark became CEO and President and has carried on the tradition of success built by his father and grandfather. Since 2006, Festival has opened stores in La Crosse, Appleton Darboy, Appleton Northland, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc and Suamico.

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