It's a good thing Marshall of Cambridge is headquartered at that city's airport, because it needs a hangar-sized container to hold all of its businesses. Among the largest privately held entities in the UK, the Marshall Group comprises several operating subsidiaries. Marshall Aerospace designs, develops, and converts military, civil, and general aircraft, while Marshall Motor Group includes auto dealerships. Marshall Specialist Vehicles designs and supplies specialized commercial vehicles for the military and medical markets. The Marshall Group was founded by David Gregory Marshal in 1909 as a chauffeur drive company; his grandson Michael is now Chairman and CEO.

IBC is a leading wholesale distributor of books, e-books, and audiobooks to more than 70,000 customers worldwide. It is a business unit of recently-formed Ingram Content Group, which encompasses about a dozen companies involved in the wholesale distribution of books, periodicals, music, DVDs, foreign-language products, medical reference titles,children's books, religious titles, and hard-to-find books. Both IBC and parent Ingram Content Group are owned by Ingram Industries.

Fnac is a leading seller of books and music with about 145 stores (some 80 in France) in half a dozen European countries and Brazil. In addition to music, Fnac stores sell books, videos, and other electronic media. The company also runs the French mail-order operation fnac.com and digital download platform Fnacmusic. Fnac's Éveil & Jeux subsidiary operates about 40 toy and game stores for children, and sells toys by catalog and online. While more than two-thirds of Fnac's sales are made in France, the retailer is growing rapidly outside of its home country. It is exiting the Greek market.

Founded in 1932, the firm is majority owned by private equity firm The Carlyle Group. Brentwood Associates owns about a 25% stake. Oriental Trading Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2010 and is reorganizing. Party planners don't have to travel to stock up at Oriental Trading Company. The company sells more than 30,000 products, including party supplies, toys and novelties, arts and crafts, and home decor through its websites and catalogs. It mails about 300 million copies of its seasonal catalogs, which include such titles as Oriental Trading Company, Terry's Village, Crafts, Hands on Fun, and Inspirations. Oriental Trading supplies carnivals, schools, churches, nonprofits, and businesses.

Snow & Rock are two key words constantly rolling in the back of the minds of adrenaline junkies, as well as the name of one of the suppliers of the equipment to satisfy the urge to plunge, climb, or swoop. The company, founded in 1982 by former managing director Mike Browne, operates more than 15 retail stores in the Central and Southern areas of the UK. Snow & Rock's stores specialize in apparel and equipment for skiing, snowboarding, climbing, and alpine hiking. The company peddles several top brands, including Salomon and The North Face. Snow & Rock also sells its products through a pair of catalogs and the Internet. Andrew Browsword, an entrepreneur, bought the company from Mike Browne in 2004.

The House of Harry Winston was established in 1932 by Harry Winston, the son of a New York jeweler. Harry Winston accounts for about 54% of its parent company's overall sales. Diamonds are Harry Winston's best friend. The retail arm of the Canadian mining company Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (formerly Aber Diamond Corp.), Harry Winston buys, designs, and sells premium diamonds and gems. With about 20 salons in locales, including Beijing, London, New York, Osaka, and Paris, the company's clientele includes sultans, starlets, and other affluent types who can afford the average $100,000 price tag for a Winston bauble. Harry Winston Inc. also sells its timepieces through more than 150 locations worldwide and online.

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.

West Marine, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of boating supplies primarily in the United States. It operates in three segments: Stores, Port Supply, and Direct Sales. The Stores segment operates stores that principally offer hardware and other supplies needed for day-to-day boat maintenance and repairs. The Port Supply segment distributes marine supplies to domestic and international wholesale customers, including businesses involved in boat sales, boat building, boat commissioning and repair, yacht chartering, marina operations, and other boating-related activities. This segment also sells its products to government and industrial customers who use the company’s products for boating and non-boating purposes. The Direct Sales segment operates as an e-commerce website and virtual call center, which provides customers with access to a range of products, product advisor tips and technical information, and product videos and customer-submitted product reviews. As of January 2, 2010, West Marine offered its products through 335 company-operated stores in 38 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada, as well as through 2 franchised stores in Turkey. West Marine company also sells its products through its call center channel and on the Internet. West Marine was founded in 1976 and is based in Watsonville, California.

STAEDTLER-Mars is the Canadian distribution arm of Germany-based STAEDTLER Group. The company's inventory includes pencils, pens, markers, sharpeners, and other writing and drawing implements, as well as inkjet cartridges, drawing boards, and rulers. It also distributes Eberhard Faber products. STAEDTLER-Mars, which was incorporated in 1960, has additional sales offices in Quebec and British Columbia. STAEDTLER-Mars Ltd. plans to merge its Canadian and US offices into one unit in 2010. The new team will be headquartered in Canada.

Founded in 1924, Huffines Automotive Group is owned by the Huffines family and run by the third generation in the car business.Many North Texans leave home everyday in a Huffines. Huffines Auto Dealerships sell new and used cars and trucks about eight dealerships in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The auto brands Huffines sells include Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Hyundai, Jeep, Kia, and Subaru. Huffines dealerships, located in cities Lewisville, Plano, McKinney, and Denton, also provide financing, parts, service, and collision repair. Car shoppers can search for new and used cars on the dealerships' Web sites.

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