HMV Group plc,the entertainment retailer sells recorded music, videos and DVDs, books, and electronic games online and through some 400 HMV stores in five countries and from about 315 Waterstone's bookshops in the UK and Ireland. HMV has been closing stores amid a prolonged slump in sales caused by upheaval in the music business. To compensate for declining retail sales, HMV is going after the live music and ticketing market through the purchase of its former joint venture partner in live music MAMA Group. Sales at the company's Waterstone's bookstore chain are also down as shoppers buy fewer books.

Christy Sports isn't some girly group of ponytailed cheerleaders. It's the largest specialty ski and snowboard retailer in the Rocky Mountains. With more than 40 retail stores in skiing hot spots like Snowmass, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, and Vail, the company sells skiing, snowboarding, snow-shoeing, mountain biking, and golf equipment along with shoes, shirts, gloves, and bags to carry it all. Stores also carry patio furniture, grills, hammocks, and other accessories for the outdoor life and rent skiing and snowboarding gear. Christy's staff are all serious skiers and snowboarders who use the equipment they sell. The company was founded in 1958 by avid skiers Ed and Gale Crist.

Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy SA largest of its kind in Poland, leases both commercial and passenger vehicles, as well as industrial machinery and IT equipment. It is also expanding into leasing agricultural equipment and real estate, and is becoming a major lender for car loans. The Polish arm of France-based Crédit Agricole owns EFL. Fellow Polish firm Lukas Bank, also under the Crédit Agricole banner, teams with EFL to offer car loans. EFL was formed in 1991.For the times when it's better to lease than to buy, Europejski Fundusz Leasingoway (EFL) has the right vehicle and/or a loan to secure it.

Chesswood Group owns cars4U.com (launched in 2000), which operates an online auto dealership (the first of its kind in Canada), where hassles like haggling for price are removed from the equation. The car dealer also provides leasing services through its Lease-Win subsidiary. Chesswood's other holdings include an Acura dealership in Toronto (Acura Sherway) and Pawnee Leasing Corp., a Colorado-based lending and finance company serving US clients. Founded as cars4U, the firm changed its name to Chesswood Group in 2011 upon its conversion from a trust to an corporation.

AcuSport Corporation is a leading distributor of firearms and related outdoor products through seven regional offices, including Atlanta; Arlington, Texas; Bellefontaine, Ohio; Billings, Montana; Philadelphia; and Sacramento, California. It sells only to recognized dealers online and through its distribution centers. In addition to guns and ammunition from names like Beretta, Colt, and Winchester, the company sells knives, sighting scopes, fishing tackle, game calls, and crossbows. AcuSport began in 1965 as a small company that sold clay shooting targets to gun clubs.

Founded in 1898 as a rubber stamp company, W.B. Mason is one of the largest private office products dealers in the US. It operates about 20 showrooms, including five Whatta Bargain locations that carry furniture and business equipment, in some 10 northeastern states. The company also sells via its online catalog to its base of small and midsized businesses. A well-known entity on the East Coast, the firm stokes its "company next-door" image with old-fashioned ads on TV and in prominent places, such as Fenway Park's manual scoreboard. W.B. Mason is owned by members of senior management, including chairman Steve Greene and CEO Leo Meehan.

Mikimoto opened its first freestanding store on New York City's famous Fifth Avenue in 1975. In addition to its Fifth Avenue location, Mikimoto operates retail stores in Beverly Hills and Costa Mesa, California, as well as in Las Vegas. The jeweler also operates an online store. Mikimoto company also distributes non-Mikimoto brand pearls to jewelry chains including Fred Meyer Jewelers, Kay Jewelers, and Zales. Kokichi Mikimoto was among the pioneers of the cultured-pearl industry. While a diamond may be "forever," a Mikimoto pearl is nothing to sneeze at. Mikimoto (America) is the US arm of Japanese pearl manufacturer, K. Mikimoto & Co., a leading creator of cultured pearl jewelry that is sold worldwide.

Luxottica Group S.p.A. and its subsidiaries design, manufacture, and distribute luxury, fashion, and sport/performance eyewear worldwide. It operates in two segments: Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution, and Retail Distribution. The Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution segment engages in the design, manufacture, wholesale distribution, and marketing of house and designer lines prescription frames and sunglasses. It offers performance optics products, including sun and prescription eyewear, ski goggles, and electronically-enabled eyewear, as well as apparel, footwear, watches, and accessories. This segment offers its products under various brands, including house brands, such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Arnette, Eye Safety Systems, K&L, Luxottica, Mosley Tribes, Oliver Peoples, Persol, Revo, Sferoflex, and Vogue; and licensed designer brands comprising Anne Klein, Brooks Brothers, Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, D&G, Donna Karan, DKNY, Fox, Miu Miu, Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Chaps, Club Monaco, POLO, RALPH, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, PRADA, Salvatore Ferragamo, Stella McCartney, Tiffany & Co., Tory Burch, Versace, and Versus. It serves retailers of mid to premium-priced eyewear, such as independent opticians, optical retail chains, specialty sun retailers, and duty-free shops, as well as independent optometrists and ophthalmologists, and department stores. The Retail Distribution segment operates optical and sun glass stores under the LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, ILORI, The Optical Shop of Aspen, OPSM, Laubman & Pank, Budget Eyewear, Bright Eyes, Oakley ‘O’ Stores and Vaults, and David Clulow names, as well as licensed brands, such as the Sears Optical and Target Optical. As of March 31, 2010, this segment operated 5,809 corporate stores and 536 franchised or licensed locations. Luxottica Group S.p.A. has a strategic alliance with Drugstore.com Inc. Luxottica Group was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.

Spicers is nothing to sneeze at -- the company is a leading office products and equipment wholesaler in the UK and France, where most of its 20-plus distribution centers are located; it also holds strong market positions in Ireland, France, and the Benelux countries, and is developing its business in Germany, Italy, and Spain. The company's 18,000 products, which are sold to office products dealers via its numerous catalogs and Web site, include office equipment, furniture, and janitorial supplies sold under major manufacturers' brands as well as its own brand, 5 Star. Spicers accounts for about one-third of the revenues of its packaging and paper parent company, DS Smith.

AutoFair Automotive Corporation a leading New Hampshire car dealer, AutoFair sells new Ford, Honda, and Hyundai brand cars in Manchester. In early 2007 the firm sold its Toyota and Lexus dealerships there to Ira Motor Group, a subsidiary of Group 1 Automotive. AutoFair Automotive also provides parts, service, and collision repair. Visitors to the company Web site can check inventory, apply for financing, schedule a service appointment, or order parts. Founded in 1991, AutoFair Automotive has expanded beyond New Hampshire by purchasing dealerships, including a Hyundai dealership in Indiana and a Chevy dealership in Tennessee.Products sold by AutoFair Automotive often carry a venerable message: Live free or die.

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