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.

Big 5 Sporting Goods has outgrown its name. The company, which started out with five army surplus shops in California in 1955, is a leading sporting goods retailer with about 385 stores in a dozen mostly Western states, including California, Washington, and Arizona. The company sells brand-name (adidas, Coleman, Easton) and private-label equipment, apparel, and footwear for indoor and outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing, tennis, golf, and snowboarding. Big 5 has stuck with a neighborhood-store format (averaging approximately 11,000 square feet) instead of opening massive superstores. Big 5 Sporting Goods is run by its chairman and CEO Steven Miller, the son of company co-founder Robert Miller.

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.

Austin Business Furniture (ABF) just wants everyone to be comfortable at work. The company sells office furniture manufactured by such companies as HON, Humanscale, and La-Z-Boy to businesses, schools, and government agencies in Central Texas. From its distribution center, ABF delivers chairs, desks, conference tables, filing cabinets and storage units, shelving, and other modular furniture pieces. It also offers ergonomic evaluations, space-planning, and furniture installation services. ABF is owned by president Jay Femal.

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.

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.

Helzberg Diamonds is into hard rocks. Helzberg Diamonds sells a wide selection of diamonds and precious gems -- mostly set into rings, but also set into other jewelry; Helzberg Diamond Shops also sells men's and women's watches. One of the largest national jewelry chains, Helzberg Diamonds operates about 235 stores nationwide. The mall-based chain also sells jewelry online. Helzberg Diamonds was founded in 1915 by Morris Helzberg and remained in his family until 1995, when it was acquired by investment guru Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (owner of jewelry chains Ben Bridge Jeweler and Borsheim's). Helzberg Diamonds offers a 60-day return or exchange option and free jewelry repairs for 12 months after purchase.

Founded in 1937 with a $35 investment, Stuckey's operated more than 350 stores at its zenith in the 1970s. The Stuckey family, including Bill Stuckey (chairman and son of the founder), is the company's majority owner. Once as integral to a road trip as the destination, Stuckey's owns or franchises about 175 stores located along interstates in some 20 US states, mostly in the Southeast. Its store concepts include the traditional blue-roofed stand-alone locations and Stuckey's Express, in which a Stuckey's outlet is located inside other convenience stores and travel centers. Stuckey's sells primarily candy (taffy, peanut brittle, and its famous pecan logs) and souvenirs (T-shirts, postcards, and trinkets).

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.

Founded as Galpin Ford in 1946, Galpin Motors is owned and run by the Boeckmann family.Galpin Motors will do just about anything to get you to buy a car, even jolt you with joe at the full-service Starbucks shops attached to its luxury car dealerships. Claiming to have sold the first Saturn and ranking as the top Ford dealer in the world, it also sells Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, and Volvo models, as well as used cars, from four dealerships and a Web site. It also rents and customizes -- or "Galpinizes" -- vehicles, such as the Tailgate Party Truck with a built-in stainless steel barbecue, blender, DVD/TV combo, and refrigerated beer kegs.

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