SCA Hygiene, a division of Sweden's Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA), makes and sells a comprehensive line of tissue and personal care products worldwide. It makes products such as baby diapers and incontinence, feminine hygiene, and other absorbent tissue products. In addition to selling its products to home consumers, it sells to hotels, health care facilities, and industrial and service institutions. Hygiene products account for about 50% of the parent company's total sales. Its consumer brands include Edet, Tork, Zewa, and Velvet. The hygiene products operations are conducted through four business groups: SCA Tissue Europe, SCA Personal Care, SCA Americas, and SCA Asia Pacific.

Samas NV (formerly Samas-Groep) specializes in creating furnishings needed for an ergonomic work environment. The company develops and supplies a wide variety of office furniture for customers throughout eastern and western Europe. Samas products include seating, storage, and desktop furniture for individual workstations, as well as meeting spaces. The company serves its clients through about 20 European operating companies. Samas started as a stationery store in the 1920s, expanded through acquisitions, and later changed its focus to office furnishing.

Founded in 1906 to make arch supports, New Balance is known for its selection of shoe widths. Besides men's and women's shoes for running, crosstraining, basketball, tennis, hiking, and golf, the firm offers fitness apparel and kids' shoes and owns leather boot maker Dunham. Chairman Jim Davis bought New Balance on the day of the 1972 Boston Marathon. New Balance Athletic Shoe runs on its everyman (and everywoman) appeal. Unlike its rivals, it shuns celebrity endorsers. By spotlighting lesser-known athletes the company claims to emphasize substance over style. The approach attracts Boomer jock clients who are less fickle than the teens chased by other shoemakers.

Northstar specializes in machine-readable MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) printing for banks and other customers. Using special inks, papers, and print methods, the company makes internal bank forms (teller receipts, process-control documents) and negotiable documents (money orders, official checks). Northstar also makes custom business forms ("snap-apart" forms used for invoices and purchase orders, continuous forms used in high-speed data processing) and offers various form-management services. Ennis bought Northstar in mid-2000.

L'Oreal's success is built on a strong foundation. The world's largest beauty products company, it creates makeup, perfume, and hair and skin care items. Its brands include L'Oreal and Maybelline (mass-market), Lanceme (upscale), and Redken and SoftSheen/Carson (retail and salon). L'Oreal, which owns Dallas-based SkinCeuticals, also conducts cosmetology and dermatology research. With about half of its sales generated outside of Europe, L'Oreal has focused on acquiring brands in those markets. L'Oreal also owns the UK-based natural cosmetics retailer The Body Shop International, which numbers more than 2,550 stores worldwide. The firm's dermatology branch Galderma is a joint venture between L'Oreal and Nestle.

Gunlocke has cared for some famous fannies. The maker of handcrafted wood office chairs boasts that eight US presidents have sat in a Gunlocke chair. Founded in 1902 by a small group of entrepreneurs led by William H. Gunlocke, the company makes and markets wood office furniture -- including chairs, desks, shelves, and conference tables. Its customers include accountants, consultants, and the legal, banking, brokerage, and insurance industries. The company operates showrooms in the US and Canada, including cities Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York City, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington, D.C., among others. Gunlocke is owned by HNI Corporation.

Abbeycrest Plc company was founded in 1979. Abbeycrest's UK jewelry production is officially past its peak. One of the UK's leading jewelry designers and manufacturers, the company's products are sold through retailers, such as discount giant ASDA. In addition to gemsets (gold jewelry inset with gemstones, such as rings, necklaces, and pendants), Abbeycrest makes jewelry parts, including clasps and chains. The company boasts manufacturing facilities in Bangkok, Thailand, and the UK. Abbeycrest has been restructuring its business and transitioning all production to Thailand (named Abbeycrest Thailand Limited or ATL) in order to focus its UK operations on distribution and other functions.

Nikken Global Inc. company is owned by Isamu Masuda, who founded it in Japan in 1975. Nikken Global customers count on the company's magnetism to help them rest and relax. The company markets magnetic therapeutic devices and other wellness products through its global network of independent consultants and e-commerce site. Nikken's magnetic products include sleep masks, bedding, shoe inserts, support wraps, massagers, and jewelry. The firm also offers nutritional supplements, organic skin care items, pet products, air and water filtration systems, and weighted athletic shoes. Nikken serves customers in about 35 countries in the Asia/Pacific region, Europe, and North America.

The Female Health Company (FHC), maker of condoms for women. The polyurethane female condom is the only female contraceptive that is FDA-approved for preventing both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The firm's condoms are sold in more than 115 countries worldwide (under the FC and FC2 names), including South Africa, Brazil, the US, the UK, and Zimbabwe. Outside the US, many of its products bear the Femidom name, among others. FHC also provides low-cost female condoms in Africa through an agreement with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). It sponsors the Female Health Foundation, which provides women with health education.

Founded in 1973 by Chuck West as Pet Circus, the family-owned company changed its name to Pet Supermarket in 1986. Pet Supermarket has it all for your furry friend. The company sells more than 8,000 pet care products, including food, toys, medicine, and clothing, through its Web site and about 110 stores in a dozen states, primarily Florida. Stores also offer vaccinations for dogs, cats, and ferrets, and sell a variety of small animals, such as hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and tropical fish. In addition, Pet Supermarket works with area organizations to host adoptions and related events for cats and dogs. Like its pet superstore competitors, customers can take their pets shopping with them.

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