Before Old Navy, there was the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM). Active-duty military personnel, reservists, retirees, and their family members can shop and gas up at more than 100 NEXCOM retail stores (brand-name and private-label merchandise ranging from apparel to home electronics), more than 155 NEXCOM Ships Stores (basic necessities), and its 100-plus Uniform Support Centers (the sole source of authorized uniforms). NEXCOM also runs about 40 Navy Lodges (motels) in the US and about half a dozen foreign countries. NEXCOM receives tax dollars for its shipboard stores, but it is otherwise self-supporting. Most of the profits fund morale, welfare, and recreational programs (MWR) for sailors.

Camfour is taking careful aim and hopes to hit its target bottom line. Catering to independent retail sporting goods stores and gun dealers in the US, the company distributes firearms, ammunition, and related shooting accessories, as well as military surplus items. Product categories include air guns, new and used handguns and long guns, scopes and sights, reloading supplies, and powder. Camfour stocks products from such brands as Glock, Smith & Wesson, Beretta, and Colt. The firm got its start in 1952 when Al Ferst bought a fishing and tackle distribution business in Massachusetts and renamed it Camfour.

Shelton-Keller Group, Inc. company has furnished airport waiting areas, call centers, outdoor dining space, and large college libraries and has contracts with the state of Texas and several US municipalities. The people at Shelton-Keller Group are cube city architects. The company plans, designs, installs, maintains, and repairs office furniture systems including tables, desk, shelving, cases, and executive office accoutrements. Most of the company's salesmen have backgrounds in interior design or architecture; Shelton-Keller makes a good deal of its revenue from designing, planning, and reconfiguring office plans. Its hip, high-end designer brands include Knoll, Bretford, Thonet, and Vitra.

Book Wholesalers, Inc., known as BWI, keeps the libraries stocked with both books and children. The company is a full service provider of children's and young adult books, e-books, and audiovisual items to more than 2,200 public library systems. BWI is a subsidiary of retail and wholesale textbook distributor Follet Corporation. Some of the company's services utilized by libraries include electronic materials ordering, cataloging and processing, collection development support (of books, not money), book binding, and opening day activities organization. Founded in 1987, BWI was acquired by Follet in 1997.

VOW Europe pledges to be the UK and Ireland's one-stop shop for workplace essentials. VOW Europe Ltd. is a wholesale distributor of office supplies to dealers and resellers. Its offerings total more than 20,000 products, including stationery, toner, planners, business machines (calculators, printers), office furniture, and break room supplies. Besides brand-name office necessities, VOW Europe Ltd. markets supplies from Q Connect, a brand of the InterACTION distributors alliance in Europe; VOW is a member of the alliance. Chairman Richard Martin led a buyout of the firm, formerly known as Kingfield Heath, in 2007. It was merged with ISA Wholesale to form VOW. VOW Europe Ltd. is a unit of the Vasanta Group.

Topps Tiles Plc was founded by current chairman Barry Bester, who used the proceeds from his wife's hairdressing business to purchase the original shop in 1981. So tell them what you want, what you really really want. That's reportedly just what former Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham, did when she called upon Topps Tiles to outfit the bathroom in her Cheshire home. Topps sells ceramic tiles and wood flooring for homes and businesses throughout the UK and in Holland. Topps operates about 320 retail stores under the Topps Tiles and Tile Clearing House banners in Britain, and 20-plus Topps Floorstore shops in Holland. Its products are sourced directly from suppliers in China, Italy, Spain, South America, and Turkey.

Edible Arrangements has about 940 franchised locations in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, the UK, the Middle East, Italy, Turkey, and Hong Kong. CEO Tariq Farid started Edible Arrangements in 1999 after doing software consulting for a similar business. "Please don't eat the daisies" simply doesn't apply here. Edible Arrangements creates bouquets of hand-sculpted fresh fruit that are blooming with flower-shaped pineapples, shoots of melon slices, sprigs of skewered grapes, and an assortment of apple wedges, bananas, oranges, and strawberries. Customers can also add chocolate-dipped fruit to their arrangements. In addition to bouquets, the company offers smoothies and fruit salads at some shops.

Michaels Stores is pretty crafty. The nation's #1 arts and crafts retailer owns and operates about 1,040 Michaels Stores canvassing the US and Canada. Michaels sells more than 40,000 products including art and hobby supplies, decor, frames, needlecraft kits, party supplies, seasonal products, and silk and dried flowers. Michaels also operates about 140 Aaron Brothers stores in California, Texas, and about half a dozen other states, which provide framing and art supplies. The retailer's Artistree subsidiary manufactures frames and molding for Michaels and Aaron Brothers stores. Michaels Stores was taken private in 2006 by the investment firms Bain Capital Partners and The Blackstone Group.

DSGE Companies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, buys and sells jewelry, bullion products, and rare coins in the United States. The company offers finished jewelry, gem stones, and gold jewelry components, and makes custom jewelry to order; and provides jewelry repair services. It also provides precious metals products, including the United States and other government coins, medallions, art bars, and trade unit bars; and makes pawn loans on the pledge of tangible personal property, primarily jewelry, as well as conducts regular online auctions. In addition, the company makes collateralized loans to individuals in the state of Texas. Further, DSGE Companies, Inc. operates a retail store under the name Dallas Gold & Silver Exchange. The company markets its products and services through its facilities in Dallas and Euless, Texas; Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina; and Woodland Hills, California, as well as through its Internet Web sites DGSE.com, CGDEinc.com, SGBH.com, SuperiorPreciousMetals.com, SuperiorEstateBuyers.com, USBullionExchange.com, Americangoldandsilverexchange.com, and FairchildWatches.com. It operates 8 primary Internet sites and approximately 900 related landing sites. The company serves individual consumers, dealers, and institutions. DSGE Companies, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Cole's was founded in 1986. Cole Office Products challenges the idea that big-box stores have the lowest prices. The independent retailer distributes about 3,000 workplace essentials, including business cards, forms, filler paper, writing implements, computer peripherals, office furniture, and maintenance and break room supplies. It features products from such makers as Avery, Safco, and Xerox. Orders can be placed by phone, fax, or through Cole's e-commerce site. As a veteran-owned small business, Cole Office Products, Inc. is an authorized supplier for the government.

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