Founded in 1941, KI was bought in the 1980s by its managers, who later allowed the company's employees to buy its stock. KI is now 100% owned by its employees. Formerly known as Krueger International, KI makes ergonomic seating, cabinets, and other furniture used by businesses, health-care organizations, schools, and other institutions. KI offers everything from desks to daybeds, not to mention tables, filing systems, and even trash cans. KI operates manufacturing facilities in Canada and the US, and markets its products through sales representatives, furniture dealers, architects, and interior designers.

Celebrating more than 40 years in business, Mary Kay is in the pink as one of the top direct sellers of beauty products in the US. It offers more than 200 products in six categories: body care, color cosmetics, facial skin care, fragrance, nail care, and sun protection. More than 1.8 million independent sales consultants demonstrate Mary Kay products in the US and some 35 other countries. Consultants vie for awards each year, ranging from jewelry to the company's trademark pink Cadillac (first awarded in 1969). The company also founded the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation in 1996 to fund cancer research and domestic violence programs. The family of founder Mary Kay Ash owns most of the company.

The firm was founded in 1950 by Leonard Nemschoff. Nemschoff company makes not only high-end chairs, but tables, casegoods, and other furniture for use in hospitals and various healthcare facilities nationwide. Its seating options span styles for patient, lounge, guest, and bariatric settings. Its Foxxman line caters to healthcare customers with its Lancaster recliner and Beaumont sleep settee. For children, Nemschoff makes furniture, playhouses, and wall activities under the Playscapes brand. Nemschoff operates three manufacturing facilities out of Wisconsin and Iowa.

Alstyle Apparel company makes clothing under several labels, including AAA Alstyle Apparel & Activewear, Gaziani, Diamond Star, Murina, A Classic, Tennessee River, D Drive, and Hyland Headware, as well as private labels. It makes more than 50 unique items, including fleece products, hats, pants, shorts, and T-shirts. Alstyle Apparel operates more than a handful of manufacturing facilities in the US (California) and Mexico, and distributes its products from locations in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Its customers include mass marketers, but also screen printers and embellishers. The company is a subsidiary of business forms maker Ennis.

ErgoGenesis company's ergonomically-friendly office furniture and accessories include stools, chairs, chair attachments, keyboard trays, and monitor holders. They're made under the BodyBilt and ErgoFusion names. ErgoGenesis operates a showroom and manufacturing facility in Navasota, Texas, outside Houston. Its products are sold through sales representatives around the world. President and CEO Mark McMillan started the business in 2002 after buying the assets of BodyBilt.

C&J Clark International Ltd. company is one of the largest makers of casual shoes in the world, manufacturing and selling its notoriously homely Clarks, Bostonian, and K Shoes brands for men, women, and children in department stores in more than 150 countries, as well as online. C&J Clark also operates some 550 Bostonian, Clarks, Hanover, and K company-owned stores, mostly in the UK, but also worldwide. C&J Clark is the UK market leader in shoes, ahead of Marks and Spencer. Founded in 1828 as a sheepskin tannery, about 70% of C&J Clark is now owned by the 500 living descendants of co-founder James Clark.

Founded in 1949, Frazier Industrial is owned by CEO William Mascharka. Frazier Industrial Company makes structural, as opposed to roll-formed, steel storage racks in about a dozen mini-mills in the US, Canada, and Mexico that can adapt production to demand and receive just-in-time delivery of raw materials. Customers use Frazier Industrial's storage racks in warehouses, factories, farms, and other industrial and commercial facilities. Among the company's storage products is the Glide 'N Pick pallet cart that automatically rolls out for greater ease in retrieving items.

Meaning "Danish shoe," Dansko helped to rejuvenate the popularity of the wide-toed, arch-supporting shoe, which has fueled the company's growth since its founding in 1991. Brand names include Golden Gate, Beacon Hill, Left Bank, Next Gen, Chelsea, and SoHo, among others. Dansko distributes its shoes to more than 3,500 retail locations. Shoes are sold through specialty retailers and online through such etailers as backcountry.com, uniform retailer Uniforms 4 You, and equestrian site The Horse and Pony Collection.

Kiehl's Since 1851 makes natural hair and skin care products and lipstick and sells them strictly by word of mouth. Pretty strictly, anyway. Kiehl's doesn't advertise much or go door-to-door, and its rigid marketing policy keeps its products out of all but a few exclusive retailers -- stores such as Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman. The company's East Village location in Manhattan is frequented by celebrity hairdressers, entertainers, and others willing to brave long checkout lines. Its products are also available at Kiehl's stores nationwide and overseas. Customers can order through its catalog and by phone.

ASICS America is the North American arm of Japanese athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories maker ASICS Corporation. Its shoe collection -- featuring a trademarked stripe design -- includes footwear for basketball, cheerleading, court and training, running, track and field, volleyball, walking, and wrestling. Its Budokan label represents one of its "sportstyle" products that targets a hip crowd. ASICS products, which were introduced in the US in 1977, are sold at regional and national retailers throughout the country, as well as through online vendors. In October 2009, ASICS opened its first freestanding store in the US.

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