Hudson Group operates some 600 newsstands, bookstores, cafes, and specialty shops in about 70 airports and other transportation terminals throughout North America. The group's flagship Hudson News format is North America's only national newsstand brand. The shops offer travelers books, magazines, apparel, souvenirs, snacks, and beverages for their journey. Other formats include Hudson Booksellers, Kids Works, and Euro Cafe. Private equity firm Advent International acquired Hudson Group in 2007 and in 2008 merged it with Swiss travel retailer Dufry AG.

Chastang Enterprises which does business as Bayou City Ford, sells new and used cars, trucks, SUVs, from a dealership in Houston, aka The Bayou City. The dealership also offers fleet sales, financing, vehicle maintenance, and parts. Chastang's Web site allows users to search new and used inventory, apply for financing, schedule service, and order parts. The company is owned by the founding Chastang family.Son of a gun, Chastang Enterprises has big fun selling Fords on the bayou.

Blackwell UK (known as Blackwell's) operates about 50 bookshops throughout the UK under the Blackwell's and Heffers names, as well as Blackwell's Online Bookshop. Blackwell's Book Services (headquartered in the US, with offices in the UK) supplies books and bibliographic products to some 3,500 research, academic, and specialty libraries around the world. The original B.H. Blackwell's store was opened in Oxford on New Year's Day 1879, and today it is one of the company's flagship locations. The Blackwell family still owns and runs Blackwell's. The family also owns academic publisher Blackwell Publishing.

Retail Ventures, Inc. through its subsidiary, DSW Inc., operates as a specialty branded footwear retailer in the United States. Retail Ventures, Inc., through DSW stores and dsw.com, offers a selection of branded dress, casual, and athletic footwear and accessories for women and men. As of January 30, 2010, it operated 305 DSW shoe stores in 39 states. Retail Ventures, Inc. also supplied shoes to 356 locations for non-related retailers. Retail Ventures, Inc. was founded in 1917 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.

The Bradford Exchange was founded by J. Roderick MacArthur in 1973. In need of a figurine to complete your latest collection? The Bradford Exchange can help. The company, doing business as CollectiblesToday.com, is the e-commerce arm of The Bradford Group, one of the world's largest trading centers for collectibles. The company also sells products of affiliated companies, including The Hamilton Collection (plates, dragon collectibles), Hawthorne Village (villages, trains), Ashton-Drake Galleries (dolls), and Ardleigh Elliot (music boxes), as well as Precious Moments decorations, Elvis memorabilia, personalized jewelry, and works from artists such as Norman Rockwell and Thomas Kinkade.

Brown & Brown Chevrolet became part of AutoNation in 1998, but retained the Brown & Brown Chevrolet local market brand.Customers hope air conditioning comes standard on Brown & Brown Chevrolet's vehicles. Located in Mesa, Arizona, the company is part of the AutoNation family and markets new and used cars and trucks. Brown & Brown Chevrolet offers customers a chance to research (through a link to Kelley Blue Book), search, and get a free quote using its brownandbrownchevy.com Web site. The auto retailer peddles some 30 Chevrolet models, including SUVs, coupes, hatchbacks, vans, wagons, trucks, convertibles, and others.

Founded in 1919 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by three brothers, the family-owned firm is directed by Mark Adlestone, the founder's grandson. Beaverbrooks the Jewellers has more of the quintessential obsession with shiny objects than it does with gnawing wood or building dams. The company designs, produces, and markets platinum, gold, and silver jewelry for men, women, and children, as well as engagement rings, wedding rings, and watches. Items range in price from about $20 to more than $8,000 and are distributed through more than 60 UK-based retail stores and a Web site.

Business is "floor"ishing at CCA Global Partners. Formerly named Carpet Co-op, the company operates more than a dozen independent businesses and more than 2,700 locations in North America and abroad. Its largest units are flooring retailers Carpet One, with more than 1,000 locations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US, and Flooring America, with about 550 stores in the US and Canada. CCA Global's other specialty retail operations include The Bike Cooperative, with some 300 memeber stores, and lighting products seller Lighting One. In addition to its retail lines, the company provides mortgage banking and business services. Chairman Howard Brodsky and Alan Greenberg founded the co-op in 1984.

Emerging Vision, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a chain of retail optical stores and franchises optical chains in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer eye care products and services, such as prescription and non-prescription eyeglasses, eyeglass frames, ophthalmic lenses, contact lenses, sunglasses, and a range of ancillary items, as well as provide professional eye examinations to the public. The company and its franchisees operate retail optical stores under the trade names of Sterling Optical, Site for Sore Eyes, Kindy Optical, and Singer Specs. As of December 31, 2009, it owned and operated 135 Sterling stores, including 6 company-owned stores and 129 franchised stores located in 14 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition, the company engages in the optical purchasing group business that offers its members with vendor discounts on optical products for resale. Further, it provides eye care benefits to covered participants under the Insight Managed Vision Care name; and operates a specialized health care maintenance organization, which employs licensed optometrists to provide services in offices located in Sterling stores situated in California. Emerging Vision, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Alliance Entertainment, LLC distributes music and video CDs, DVDs, games, and related products to some 3,000 merchants, including Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, and Borders, as well as Internet retailers such as Amazon.com. Alliance also provides fulfillment, e-commerce, and related support services through its AEC Direct division. Its NCircle Entertainment unit licenses and distributes family entertainment titles based on such characters as Super Mario Bros. and My Little Pony. Alliance Entertainment was founded in 1990. Today it is owned by investment firms Platinum Equity and The Gores Group.

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