Founded in 1952, Interstate Battery System of America, Inc. is owned by chairman Norm Miller. Interstate Battery System of America offers a battery of batteries. Interstate Battery System of Amerian can provide the electrical juice for everything from cell phones and laptops to boats, lawn mowers, motorcycles, and RVs. It also makes replacement automobile batteries for such brands as Ford, Subaru, and Toyota. Consumers can purchase Interstate Battery's products online and at more than 200,000 retail locations, including some 340 Interstate All Battery Centers in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Interstate Battery System of America, Inc. has about 300 distributors throughout North America. Interstate Battery sponsors the Joe Gibbs Racing team on the NASCAR circuit.

Kowalski's Markets is struggling to expand while it straps on its leather boxing mitts. The company, which operates about 10 supermarkets in the St. Paul and Minneapolis area of Minnesota, wants to be a heavyweight contender among high-end grocery stores there. However, stiff competition from other grocery chains and discounters have limited Kowalski's share of the Twin Cities market to just under 2%: an eighth-place ranking in the market. Indeed competition led the grocer to close a one-year-old store several years ago. Founded by husband and wife team James and Mary Anne Kowalski as a single supermarket in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1983, the regional grocery chain is still owned and run by the Kowalski family.

Trying to catalog all the things this superstore carries could fry your brain. Fry's Electronics is a leading big-box retailer of computers, consumer electronics, and appliances with some 35 stores in about 10 states. The retail chain's extensive inventory includes computer software and components, industry magazines, movies and music, refrigerators, washers and dryers, small appliances, stereo equipment, and televisions. Each store also typically stocks a variety of snacks and other impulse items. The technogeek's dream store began in 1985 as the brainchild of CEO John Fry (with brothers Randy and Dave) and VP Kathy Kolder. The Fry brothers, who got their start at Fry's Food Stores, still own Fry's Electronics company.

Founded in 1982 by two meat wholesalers, Bristol Farms returned to local management in late 2010 when grocery and wholesale giant SUPERVALU sold it to a team of local managers and West Coast investment firm Endeavour Capital. Bristol Farms operates more than a dozen upscale specialty supermarkets in California's Los Angeles,Orange,and Ventura counties, as well as a single store in San Francisco. Smaller than traditional supermarkets(its stores average about 14,000 sq. ft.),more than two-thirds of the company's sales come from fresh products.The grocery chain, which is known for its gourmet items and seasonable edible gifts,also sells wine and spirits.

"Shoppertainment" has been the key to success for Jordan's Furniture. Through four stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the company sells furniture for the bedroom, dining room, living room, and home office, as well as mattresses, rugs, and other decor. Taking furniture sales to the next level, stores feature two IMAX theaters, a laser light hall, and MOM (Motion Odyssey Movie) ride. Founded in 1918 by Samuel Tatelman, Jordan's Furniture is owned by billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

MacBeath Hardwood Company was founded in the early 1950s by K.E. MacBeath. This MacBeath doesn't want to get the spot out. MacBeath Hardwood Company specializes in spotted and striped specialty hardwoods from the US, Mexico, Panama, India, Brazil, and several African nations. With wood from its 300,000 board feet-capacity drying kiln, the company makes furniture squares, lumber, veneer, plywood, maple countertops, and specialty products like hand rails, marine plywood, and wood "blanks" to be used for baseball bats. MacBeath has five distribution centers in California, Indiana, and Utah; it also ships large loads worldwide. It also operates an online store.

Founded in 1973, A & E Stores also owns Rugby Realty, a real estate investment firm. Working women who have never heard of A & E Stores are more likely to be familiar with its Strawberry and Bolton's retail apparel chains. The company operates about 30 Bolton's and 25 Strawberry stores that sell junior and women's career and casual apparel, shoes, and accessories. The stores are concentrated in prime office districts in Manhattan and elsewhere in New York City. A & E's third chain, Pay/Half, operates some 45 discount family clothing stores in about a half dozen northeastern states and the Chicago area.

The CARQUEST group includes a network of about 40 distribution centers serving more than 3,400 distributor-owned and independent jobbers in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The company sells its own line of auto parts (made by Moog Automotive, Dana, Gates, and others) to the jobbers, as well as wholesalers, for eventual resale to professional repair centers, service stations, dealerships, and, to a lesser degree, do-it-yourself (DIY) customers. Searching for a sensor, solenoid, or switches? CARQUEST can steer you in the right direction. The replacement auto parts distribution group is owned by its member warehouse distributors (the largest is North Carolina-based General Parts).

Axfood gives the chilly Nordic region the Willys. Axfood AB is one of the largest food retailers in Sweden (behind ICA and Coop),operating about 110 wholly owned Willys (discount grocery stores),30-plus Willys hemma (neighborhood grocers),and some 165 Hemkp (upscale grocery stores for food enthusiasts) stores. Axfood also operates shops under the Handlar'n and Tempo banners. Its Axfood Narlivs unit is a nationwide wholesaler serving convenience store retailers, restaurants, and foodservice companies through about 20 cash and carry outlets and several distribution centers. Subsidiary Dagab serves as Axfood AB company's logistics arm. Swedish food importer and retailer Axel Johnson owns about 46% of Axfood.

Carls Furniture is a home furnishings retailer with about 20 stores, including more than 10 Carls Patio showrooms, in Florida. Carls offerings include indoor furniture for the living room, bedroom, and dining room (sofas, chairs, dining table sets, occasional tables, entertainment centers, curios), as well as outdoor patio furniture collections (aluminum, wicker, teak). It also sells mattresses under the Sealy and Stearns & Foster brands. Carls' owners Mike Baker, Bob Dragin, and Fred Friedman purchased Carls Furniture in 1974. The company's Carls Patio division plans to continue growing in California through its Berk's and Saddleback of San Diego furniture operations.

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