Arnold Clark Automobiles Scotland's biggest auto dealer and one of its largest private companies, operates more than 145 retail new- and used-car franchises that sell more than 200,000 cars a year. The company also runs auto parts and accessories stores throughout the UK. Arnold Clark Automobiles additionally offers maintenance and repair services, car and van rental, and auto insurance. Founded in 1954 as a single dealership, Arnold Clark began in Glasgow shortly after Sir Arnold Clark (he was knighted in 2004) the man retired from his position as a motor mechanics instructor in the Royal Air Force.

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.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of plush animals and related products. The company’s merchandise includes various styles of animals to be stuffed; and clothing, shoes, and accessories for the stuffed animals. It also licenses its Build-A-Bear Workshop brand to third parties to manufacture and sell merchandise to other retailers. As of January 2, 2010, the company operated 345 company-owned Build-A-Bear Workshop retail stores, including 291 stores in the United States and Canada, 51 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and 3 stores in France. In addition, its franchisees operated 65 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores in other international locations. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. also sells its products through a Web store. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

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.

Kable Media Services (KMS) distributes more than 400 magazines and periodicals for about 200 publishers throughout North America and, to a lesser extent,overseas. It prints and distributes publications such as Archie Comics and Ms. Magazine. Its Kable Fulfillment Services division provides magazine subscription services and merchandise fulfillment for publishers and marketers. The Kable Distribution Services division is a leading full service international periodical distributor. KMS has offices in New York, Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, California, and the UK. The company is a subsidiary of the AMREP Corp.

Sensational Beginnings (SB) helps kids start having fun early. The catalog and online merchant sells educational toys, furniture, and safety and child care items for infants and toddlers. (SB also operates a single store in Michigan.) Toy categories include science and nature, ride-ons, musical instruments, indoor active play, travel kits, and seasonal items. SB also offers gift-giving and parenting advice, a gift registry, and an online photo gallery of children using company products. Customers can shop by brand, category, or age group or get advice on age-appropriate toys and games. President Debra Shah, a former nurse specializing in mother and child medical care, founded Sensational Beginnings, Inc. in the early 1990s.

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.

Holt's Cigar Company gets stoked about stogies. The company sells more than 170 brands of premium cigars, including its Ashton and Holt's brands, and related smoking accessories (cases, humidors, lighters, ashtrays). Almost half of its sales are from wholesale distribution through a direct sales force. It also sells cigars through a catalog, its Web site, a pair of stores in Philadelphia, and a club in Philly's Wachovia Complex arena. Dominican Republic-based Fuente Cigar supplies two-thirds of the company's smokes. HCH Acquisition, controlled by Holt's Cigar CEO Robert Levin and the Fuente family, took the company private in December 2000.

Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of fabrics and crafts in the United States. It operates retail stores under the names of Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, and Jo-Ann, which offer a range of merchandise used in sewing, crafting, and home decorating projects, including fabrics, notions, crafts, frames, paper crafting material, artificial floral, home accents, finished seasonal, and home decor merchandise. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. also sells its products through its Web site, Joann.com. As of January 30, 2010, it operated 746 retail stores in 48 states. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. was founded in 1943 and is based in Hudson, Ohio.

Global Imaging Systems (GIS) is a leading provider of business technology solutions. GIS companies sell and service Document Management Systems including printers, multifunction devices and copiers; Network Integration Services; Software Solutions; and Audio Visual & Video Conferencing Systems. Our solutions incorporate products from Xerox, Konica Minolta, Kyocera Mita, Sharp, Panasonic, Muratec, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, InFocus, Equitrac, eCopy, Sony, and other leading companies. We also offer a variety of service contracts, including maintenance, supply, network management, technical support, and training. We currently operate in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Since our founding in 1994, we have acquired more than 95 businesses within the United States. Our operating companies are organized into core companies in key markets across the U.S. The remaining businesses operate as satellites of the core companies. Under the Company philosophy of “Think Globally, Act Locally” and a decentralized structure, core companies operate under their pre-acquisition names and management, preserving and building upon existing customer relationships.

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