CEO Sharon DiMinico founded Learning Express, Inc. in 1987. For kids (and parents) who want to get on board the educational entertainment train, Learning Express is the first stop. The specialty toy store franchiser has more than 100 locations in about 25 states. It sell toys for every age group with a focus on educational items. Major brands include Alex Toys (craft kits), Calico Critters (animal figures), Groovy Girls (dolls and accessories), Rokenbok (remote controlled vehicles and construction sets), and Thomas the Tank (wooden train sets and construction toys). It offerings are designed to spark creativity, teach diversity, and encourage development.

Backcountry.com is an online retailer of outdoor and backcountry gear. The company sells products for activities such as skiing, backpacking, camping, snowboarding, rock climbing, kayaking, and mountaineering. Its offerings include more than 400 brands, such as Burton, K2, The North Face, Oakley, and Rossignol. Backcountry.com was founded in 1996 by CEO Jim Holland and president John Bresee. Backcountry.com is a subsidiary of Liberty Media, which owns more than 80% of the online retailer's equity.

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.

W & G Foyle operates about a handful of Foyles bookstores in London. Founded in 1903 by brothers William and Gilbert Foyle as a depot for their own used textbooks, the bookstore has been located at Charing Cross Rd. ever since, though as of 2006 it has three additional retail locations and a retail web site. Besides books, Foyles also stocks such items as printed music, gifts, stationery, and assorted memorabilia. Chairman Christopher Foyle is the third generation of the family (with cousin, vice chairman Bill Samuel) to have a hand in running the company.

3M Nederland finds that Post-it Notes work well in any language. The Dutch arm of US-based conglomerate 3M sells the parent's vast portfolio of consumer, commercial, and industrial products, serving markets such as electro/communications, office, industrial/transportation, and safety. Brands include such household names as Scotch tape, Scotch-Brite household cleaning products, Scotchgard protective products, Nexcare bandages, and Filtrete filters and air purifiers. 3M Nederland operates three manufacturing plants: one in Amersfoort, 3M ECC, which produces heat shrink tubes; another in Breda, 3M Filtrete, which makes filter materials; and a plant in Kerkrade that produces fluorpolymers, elastomers, and resins.

The Forzani Group in 1974. Forzani has since become Canada's largest sporting goods retailer. The company operates more than 330 company-owned stores under such banners as Athletes World, Coast Mountain Sports, Sport Chek, S3, Sport Mart, and National Sports. The company also franchises about 230 stores under names that include Atmosphere, Econosports, Hockey Experts, Intersport, and Sports Experts. It has about a 20% share of the sporting goods retail market in Canada.

Henry Modell & Company sells sporting goods, fitness equipment, apparel (including local team apparel), and brand-name athletic footwear at more than 140 Modell's Sporting Goods stores in 10 East Coast states, the District of Columbia, and online. Best known for offering branded products at reasonable prices, Modell's stores are in malls, regional shopping centers, and busy urban areas, including Manhattan. Founded in 1889 by Hungarian immigrant Morris Modell (who first sold menswear from a Lower East Side pushcart in New York City), the chain is the oldest family-owned sporting goods retailer in the country; it is in its fourth generation of Modell management.

WH Smith PLC (known simply as "WHSmith") is one of the UK's largest book and magazine sellers. Its more than 570 high street stores sell reading materials, stationery, and movies. WHSmith also runs more than 515 travel shops in London and regional airports, railway stations, hospitals, and motorway service areas that offer selected newspapers, magazines, tobacco, and confectionery. Additionally, it operates the Internet site WHSmith Direct (the UK's second-largest online bookseller behind Amazon), and its Smiths News wholesale business is the largest magazine and newspaper distributor in the UK, supplying about 23,000 retailers daily.

Aldeasa S.A. company is owned by Italy's Autogrill, which bought out its joint venture partner Altadis in April 2008. Aldeasa, Spain's #1 operator of duty-free shops, runs about 270 travel shops, gift boutiques, and outlets in museums, historic and cultural centers, and other tourist locations. Most of its stores are in Spain, but it also has operations in about a dozen other countries, including Portugal, Chile, Peru, and the US. Besides the usual tobacco and liquor products, Aldeasa sells cosmetics, watches, food, and more -- much of it brand names; it also sells online. Many of Aldeasa's stores were duty-free until the EU prohibited such trade for intra-European travel.

Guaranty Chevrolet sells new and used cars and trucks from a handful of locations in Oregon and California. Its six RV showrooms offer new and used RVs, as well as repair and maintenance services. With more than 60 brands, Guaranty RV is one of the largest motorhome dealers on the West Coast and its boasts some 500 new and used vehicles in stock. It also has operations in Arizona. In addition to motorhomes, trailers, and vans, the company also offers a travelers club for those who enjoy the RV lifestyle. Guaranty was founded in 1966 by GM and owner Shannon Nil's father Herb Nil.

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