The year was 1899. Jardine Cycle & Carriage began its life in Kuala Lumpur as Federal Stores, a trader in nutmegs and other sundries, and it became Cycle & Carriage within the same year, selling everything from soap to writing paper and simple machine parts. We soon began to sell bicycles, motorcycles and cars, moving our headquarters to Singapore in 1926.The history of Jardine Cycle & Carriage is inextricably linked to the evolution of the motor car and the emergence of Singapore and Malaysia as independent modern states. Our story reveals fluctuating fortunes as the transportation industry was subject to economic cycles, two world wars and changing government policies.What has stood out through the years despite a rapidly changing environment is the resilience to adapt and grow though our unwavering commitment to achieve excellence in our products and services, and efficiency in our operations, which are still hallmarks of Jardine Cycle & Carriage till this day.

Source Interlink wants to have a hand in the transaction. A major distributor of magazines in the US and Canada, its customers have included Barnes & Noble, Target, CVS, 7-Eleven, and Wal-Mart. In addition to distribution, Source Interlink publishes special-interest magazines, such as Motor Trend, Soap Opera Digest, and Stereophile. It also owns and produces content for about 90 websites. The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 and emerged in June as a privately held company.

Academy is near the head of the class among sporting goods retailers. It is one of the leading full-line sporting goods chains in the US with about 120 Academy Sports + Outdoors stores in Texas and some 10 other states in the Southeast. Academy's low-frills stores carry clothing, shoes, and equipment for almost any sport and outdoor activity, including camping, golf, hunting, fishing, and boating. The company, which also operates a catalog and e-commerce site, dates back to a San Antonio tire shop opened by Max Gochman in 1938. The business moved into military surplus items and during the 1980s began focusing on sports and outdoor goods. The Gochman family still owns Academy and is run by CEO David Gochman.

MBS Textbook Exchange gives college kids around the country some spending cash at the end of every semester. In addition to distributing new and used textbooks to more than 4,000 colleges and universities nationwide, the company also develops and sells the systems that enable bookstores to sell books and buy them back. MBS is organized into MBS Wholesale, MBS Direct, and MBS Systems. The wholesale division supplies campus bookstores, while the direct division provides books to private K-12 schools, vocational schools, teaching hospitals, and community colleges. The company was founded in 1909 as The Missouri Store Company and became MBS Textbook Exchange in 1980.

Fletcher Jones Management Group holds the title as the US's top Mercedes seller. It rolls out Benzes from a 225,000-sq.-ft. superstore in Las Vegas; a 186,000-sq-ft. store in Newport Beach, California; a dealership in Chicago; and another in Honolulu. Fletcher Jones also operates another dealership in Chicago, five more in Hawaii, an another two in California, two more in Las Vegas, and one in Reno, Nevada, selling cars from Audi, Ford, Honda, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen. The company is owned by president and CEO Fletcher Jones Jr., whose father started it in 1954 with one Los Angeles dealership.

Midas, Inc. provides retail automotive services through franchised or company-operated shops primarily in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells Midas, SpeeDee, and Midas-SpeeDee co-branded franchises. Midas company’s retail shops offer automotive repair and maintenance services, such as exhaust, brake, suspension, air conditioning, tires, batteries, and various other maintenance services. As of January 2, 2010, it operated the Midas network of 1,602 shops located in the United States and 9 Canadian provinces; the SpeeDee network of franchised and company-operated shops consisting of 112 shops located in 12 states in the United States; and 776 Midas shops licensed in 14 other countries, and 57 licensed SpeeDee shops in Mexico. Midas, Inc. also involves in the real estate activities, including the development, ownership, and lease of Midas and SpeeDee shops in the United States and Canada; and supply chain activities comprising the provision of value-added merchandising services to franchisees. In addition, it owns, develops, sells, and leases automotive shop management software to Midas franchisees and other third-party automotive service providers. Midas, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois.

In 1959, William Jacobs started Columbus Fair Auto Auction based on excellent customer service and fairness. He recognized that auctions offered a solution to automobile dealers' needs for a source and marketplace for used motor vehicles.Obviously, the financial risk of leasing space at the Ohio State Fairgrounds to run a one-lane auction in 1959 was small, but significant for this startup entrepreneurial endeavor. It, however, pales in comparison to the present multi-million dollar investment in today's 85-acre facility in Obetz. However, the original strategy of offering a marketplace for used vehicles where buyers and sellers would congregate for the benefit of both continues today.

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.

Storr, which was founded in 1914, offers more than 200 products include brands such as Peter Pepper and Steelcase. Change the way you store your employees with the help of Storr Office Environments. The firm is an office furniture supplier to companies in the southeastern US that also provides professional space planning, facility management, and installation services for its clients. Storr operates a warehouse, showroom, and distribution center in North Carolina. It also boasts offices in Florida to extend its reach there. The company provides the usual desks and seating, as well as interior architecture, office technology, and floor coverings.

KMC Music helps to keep amateur and professional musicians plugged in to the latest and greatest. Formerly Kaman Music Corporation, it's the largest independent distributor of musical instruments and accessories in the US. KMC's products portfolio includes Ovation and Hamer guitars, Gibraltar hardware, Latin Percussion, and Toca drums. It also sells Takamine guitars, Gretsch drums, Sabian cymbals, and Genz Benz amps. KMC peddles its products in the US, Asia/Pacific, Australia, Europe, and South America and through wholesale catalogs with more than 36,000 products. KMC was founded in 1966 as Ovation Instruments and in 2007 it was acquired by industry behemoth Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

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