Before Old Navy, there was the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM). Active-duty military personnel, reservists, retirees, and their family members can shop and gas up at more than 100 NEXCOM retail stores (brand-name and private-label merchandise ranging from apparel to home electronics), more than 155 NEXCOM Ships Stores (basic necessities), and its 100-plus Uniform Support Centers (the sole source of authorized uniforms). NEXCOM also runs about 40 Navy Lodges (motels) in the US and about half a dozen foreign countries. NEXCOM receives tax dollars for its shipboard stores, but it is otherwise self-supporting. Most of the profits fund morale, welfare, and recreational programs (MWR) for sailors.

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.

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.

Sam Ash Music has been instrumental in many a musician's livelihood. The #2 musical instrument retailer in the US (behind Guitar Center), Sam Ash Music (SAM) operates about 45 stores in more than 15 states including California, New York, and Texas. Besides instruments, SAM sells sheet music, recording equipment, lighting, computers, and music software. It also sells online. SAM also sells vintage guitars, offers custom-built instruments and music clinics, and buys used musical instruments. It also runs a pro services and parts division, Sam Ash Professional, and an Educational Division serving schools. The company was founded in 1924 by Sam and Rose Ashkynase, whose descendants still own and run the company.

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.

IKON was acquired by Japan's Ricoh, a key supplier, in 2008 for $1.6 billion. IKON Office Solutions works to ensure that when it comes to buying business equipment, customers say, "I can and I will." A subsidiary of office equipment giant Ricoh, IKON sells and services its parent's brand of office equipment, including copiers, printers, scanners, fax machines, and more, throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. IKON Office Solutions, Inc. also offers such services as document management outsourcing, electronic file conversions, facilities management, and training. Customers are primarily large and small businesses and government agencies.

Tattered Cover Book Store, an independent seller of new books in Denver. Tattered Cover stocks some half a million titles in three locations: inside the Lowenstein Theater on Colfax Avenue, historic lower downtown (LoDo) Denver, and suburb Highlands Ranch. Each store encourages customers to linger by offering overstuffed chairs and reading lamps. Tattered Cover attracts customers with activities such as book groups for adults and children and author readings and signings. The company was founded by owner and CEO Joyce Meskis, a former librarian, in 1974.

Retail Ventures, Inc. through its subsidiary, DSW Inc., operates as a specialty branded footwear retailer in the United States. Retail Ventures, Inc., through DSW stores and dsw.com, offers a selection of branded dress, casual, and athletic footwear and accessories for women and men. As of January 30, 2010, it operated 305 DSW shoe stores in 39 states. Retail Ventures, Inc. also supplied shoes to 356 locations for non-related retailers. Retail Ventures, Inc. was founded in 1917 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.

Contract Associates, Inc. was founded in 1988 by president and CEO Maria Griego-Raby. If you need furniture for your office, you can contact Contract. Contract Associates sells commercial and office furniture at two retail outlets located in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The company also manages a store in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Contract Associates sells office furniture, desks, filing systems, and flooring from Haworth, Intellaspace, Workrite, La-Z-Boy, and other major suppliers. It also offers space planning, installation, furniture brokerage, and project management services.

Tourneau tells time with style. A leading wholesaler and retailer of luxury watches for more than a century, Tourneau has several stores (including the Tourneau TimeMachine, its flagship location which opened in 1997 and covers 16,000 sq. ft.) in New York City and more than 30 others in about a dozen states across the US, including California and Florida. The stores sell watches and vintage timepieces under more than 100 well known brand names, including its namesake brand (Tourneau). Tourneau also operates Watch Gear (launched in 1999), a chain targeted at younger (ages 18 to 35), less affluent consumers. Watch Gear offers more than 30 watch brands both in stores and online at Watchgear.com.

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