Darcars was founded in 1977 by chairman and CEO John Darvish, whose family still owns and runs the company. Buying a new vehicle in the Washington, DC, area can expose you to the Darcars side of human nature. Darcars Automotive Group, an automobile dealership holding company, has about 25 automobile dealerships in Maryland and Virginia. They sell new and used automobiles, including cars made by Ford, General Motors, Kia, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. Darcars also offers a full range of automotive services, including collision repair through nearly 10 locations, parts and service departments, and rental cars.

Nebraska Book Company (NBC) can help college students across the US with book learnin'. One of the largest textbook distributors in the nation, NBC sells more than 7 million books annually. It serves a client base of some 2,500 booksellers and operates more than 275 bookstores on or adjacent to college campuses that sell and rent textbooks and other merchandise. In addition, NBC provides educational materials to students in private high schools, nontraditional colleges, and corporate and correspondence classes, as well as store management and e-commerce software. The company was founded in 1915 as a single bookstore near The University of Nebraska. It is controlled by investment firm Weston Presidio.

John Hine Mazda is a founding member of the California Sales Training Academy, a private training program that has become an associates degree program at a local community college. The company was established in 1957. Prior to the discontinuation of the Pontiac brand, the dealership sold Dodge and Pontiac vehicles in addition to Mazdas.John Hine Mazda (formerly John Hine Pontiac) sells new and used Mazda brand vehicles to customers in the San Diego area. The dealership also offers parts, service, and collision repair through its John Hine Auto Body Center. Visitors to its Web site can check new and used inventory, get a quote on a vehicle, schedule service, order parts, and apply for financing.

OEC Business Interiors, Inc. is much more than an ordinary furniture dealership. We are truly a fully integrated interior solutions provider. Our family-owned business has been providing workplace solutions to our customers since 1955. Our comprehensive portfolio of knowledge, products and services is one of the best in the industry; and, as a certified WBE (Woman's Business Enterprise) with over 50 years of consistent leadership, we are a progressive and stable company.It is our philosophy to engage our clients directly to understand their needs, the issues that are important to them, and the goals they wish to achieve. We believe this to be the most effective method of doing business because it allows us to tailor our solutions specifically to each client. More importantly, it gives our clients the opportunity to interact with us and to be confident that they have made the right decision by partnering with us. As a result, over the years we have achieved high levels of customer satisfaction. Financially, OEC Business Interiors is one of the strongest dealerships in the country. In fact, despite today's volatile economic climate, we have maintained our 4A1 Dun & Bradstreet rating while many other dealerships have struggled, have been sold, or have gone out of business entirely. We have structured our company to be both efficient and agile. As an aggressive and stable company, with solid consistent ownership and no long-term debt, we are poised to grow while others scramble to restructure.

Goldsmiths doesn't necessarily turn raw materials into gleaming baubles, but it does deal with the goldsmith's end result: jewelry. The firm, which was founded in 1778 and is the UK's #2 jewelry chain (behind Signet Jewelers' H Samuel) operates about 160 stores. Keeping up with the times, Goldsmiths also sells jewelry online. The chain was the country's first authorized Rolex merchant, and remains a top dealer of Rolex, Omega, Tag Heuer, and other watch brands. Goldsmiths is 70% owned owned by Aurum Holdings, which also owns the Mappin & Webb chain of jewelry shops. Goldsmiths' previous owner, Iceland's Baugur Group, acquired Goldsmiths in 2004 and later bought Mappin & Webb to form Aurum Holdings.

Elegant Illusions, Inc. engages in the retail created gem jewelry business. As of February 7, 2007, it operated 17 specialty stores in the continental United States. Elegant Illusions, Inc. offers fine jewelry and replications of fine jewelry, known as copy jewelry items that are manufactured with synthetic stones set in gold, sterling silver vermeil, or plated brass. Its stores offer a range of jewelry, including rings, pendants, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pearl enhancers, ear charms, sterling silver vermeil, and gold bonded brass or white metal products; and other precious metals set with precious and semi-precious stones and certain gift ware items. The company also sells original oil paintings, lithographs, reproductions, and other art through its art galleries in Sarasota, Florida; Vail, Colorado; and New Orleans, Louisiana. Elegant Illusions, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 and is based in Pacific Grove, California.

Famed toy store FAO Schwarz is a kid pleaser, but as a business it's had its ups and downs. The oldest toy store in the US charms the young (and young at heart) at its landmark store on New York's Fifth Avenue where it sells unique, hard-to-find toys, such as life-size stuffed bears and $50,000 kid-size Ferraris. A major tourist attraction, it hosts more than 3 million visitors each year. Being a kid itself, FAO Schwarz has a sweet tooth, with its sweets shop called FAO Schweetz. After years of unprofitable expansion in an age where mass merchants, such as Wal-Mart, rule toy retailing, it's down to a single location, a catalog, and a website. Toy titan Toys "R" Us added FAO Schwarz to its toy chest in 2009.

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.

Tejas Office Products, founded in 1962, is owned by the Fraga family. Houston-based Tejas Office Products distributes office products throughout the US. Tejas Office Products, Inc. offers a huge portfolio of products from such manufacturers as 3M, Crayola (formerly Binney & Smith), Imation, Fellowes, Hewlett Packard, and Nu-Kote International. Tejas Office Products sells more than 10,000 items including furniture, paper products, desk supplies, computer accessories, and office electronics. Tejas Office Products, Inc. distributes its goods from a 25,999-sq.-ft. warehouse located in the downtown area.

KMC Music helps to keep amateur and professional musicians plugged in to the latest and greatest. Formerly Kaman Music Corporation, it's the largest independent distributor of musical instruments and accessories in the US. KMC's products portfolio includes Ovation and Hamer guitars, Gibraltar hardware, Latin Percussion, and Toca drums. It also sells Takamine guitars, Gretsch drums, Sabian cymbals, and Genz Benz amps. KMC peddles its products in the US, Asia/Pacific, Australia, Europe, and South America and through wholesale catalogs with more than 36,000 products. KMC was founded in 1966 as Ovation Instruments and in 2007 it was acquired by industry behemoth Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

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