W.S. Badcock Corporation sells furniture for every room in the house through more than 300 Badcock Home Furnishing Centers and Badcock &more stores in about 10 southeastern states as well as online. Badcock stores also carry appliances, lawn equipment, electronics, mattresses, floor coverings and rugs, bedding, lighting, wall art, and other decorative accessories. Founded in 1904 as a general mercantile store by Henry S. Badcock, the company is in its fourth generation of family management.

J. Front Retailing fronts the retail operations of leading Japanese department stores The Daimaru and Matsuzakaya Holdings. The holding company was created by the merger of the two ailing rivals in 2007. The Daimaru, founded as a drapery shop in 1717, operates about 15 upscale shops in western Japan. Matsuzakaya, founded in 1611 as a kimono retailer, runs eight department stores in central Japan, including its flagship location in Nagoya. J. Front's Peacock Stores unit operates some 90 supermarkets in the Chubu, Kansai, and Tokyo districts of Japan. The company's other activities include construction, credit services, direct marketing, furniture making, restaurants, and wholesale textiles.

Quality Food Centers stores offer more than just groceries: Seattle's Best Coffee and Cinnabon serve up goodies at some locations, and many stores offer services such as catering, video rental, in-store banking, pharmacies, floral departments, and film developing. With Kroger's acquisition of QFC's one-time parent, Fred Meyer, in 1999, QFC became a division of one of the nation's largest grocers.If you're sleepless -- and hungry -- in Seattle, consider Quality Food Centers (QFC). The grocery chain operates about 75 stores (most open 24 hours), primarily in the Puget Sound region of Washington (including Seattle), but also including about a half a dozen supermarkets in Portland, Oregon.

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.

Auchan's mammoth markets make room for more than meals. France's second-largest food retailer (behind Carrefour), Auchan operates some 740 supermarkets and about 515 hypermarkets (French for supercenters) in about a dozen countries. France represents 47% of Auchan's sales, but the firm has stores throughout Europe and in China, Dubai, Russia, and Taiwan. (Auchan exited the US, Mexico, and Morocco in recent years.) Its hypermarkets carry up to 100,000 products, including groceries, apparel, consumer electronics, and fast food. They also provide travel services. Auchan's other core businesses include banking (Banque Accord), and shopping mall development (Immochan). The founding Mulliez family controls Auchan.

Keller Supply was founded by Howard Keller in 1945 and is still owned and run by the Keller family, including CEO Nick Keller. If you're building a house in the Pacific Northwest, Keller has the supplies you need. Through about 55 locations in Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, Keller Supply distributes residential and commercial HVAC, plumbing, and pool and spa products from more than 1,000 manufacturers including Kohler, Honeywell International, Rheem, Porter-Cable, and Pentair . Customers include contractors and home improvement retailers as well as international customers in Canada and farther afield.

King Soopers customers can also shop online (kingsoopers.com) with home delivery service. Its supermarkets offer online prescription refills. King Soopers is a division of Dillon Companies, which is owned by The Kroger Co., the #1 pure grocery chain in the US.King Soopers operates about 140 combination food and drug stores mostly in Colorado but also in Wyoming. About half of the stores are in the Denver area. In addition to traditional supermarket fare, the regional grocery chain offers bulk and natural and organic foods to compete with Whole Foods, which acquired King Soopers' local rival Wild Oats Markets in 2007. It also sells private-label goods under the King Soopers and other Kroger brand names.

Bidz.com combines the markdowns of a dollar store, the format of an auction house, and the convenience of the Internet to bring sparkling deals to shoppers. The company buys closeout merchandise and sells it using a live-auction format, with $1 opening bids. It mostly sells jewelry, including gold, platinum, and silver items set with diamonds, as well as precious and semi-precious stones. Visitors can also find deals on electronics, apparel, and a range of collectibles (such as fine art, antiques, coins, and sports cards). In addition, the company operates Buyz.com, a fixed-price e-commerce site that offers similar items being listed for auction.

Max Mara Fashion Group is taking leading-edge apparel design to the max. Max Mara Fashion Group S.r.l. clothes some of the finest women in the world (including ESPN Monday Night Football's female reporters). It touts more than 20 labels, including the flagship Max Mara (high-end contemporary career, bridal, and sportswear); Marina Rinaldi (plus-sized fashions); and iBlues, Marella, and Penny Black (lower-priced lines). One of Italy's largest fashion firms, Max Mara Fashion Group S.r.l. company operates more than 2,300 boutiques in 90 countries worldwide, and it sells through such retailers as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Barneys. Started in the 1950s, Max Mara is owned and run by the family of founder Achille Maramotti, who died in 2005.

MPS Builders and Merchants Ltd. company was founded in 1995 by officers Iain Melvin, Dale Potts, and Martyn and Erica Smith. MPS is really into hitting the bricks-- and other heavy building construction supplies. Through three depots in England, MPS is a merchant distributor of bricks, concrete products, ducting, grates and manhole covers, pipes and plumbing supplies, septic tanks, walls, and other building materials. Customers include civil-engineering firms, groundwork contractors, and residential and commercial builders. Deals include nationwide (UK) delivery of goods.

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