V.F.Corporation (VF) is enaged in branded lifestyle apparel and related products. The Company owns a portfolio of brands in the jeanswear, outerwear, packs, footwear, sportswear and occupational apparel categories. These products are marketed to consumers shopping in specialty stores, upscale and traditional department stores, national chains and mass merchants. It derives 30% of its revenues from outside the United States, primarily in Europe, Asia, Canada and Latin America. VF products are also sold in some countries through licensees and distributors. The Company’s businesses are organized into product categories and brands called coalitions and consist of Outdoor and Action Sports, Jeanswear, Imagewear, Sportswear and Contemporary Brands. Some of its lifestlye brands include, Vans, Reef, Kipling, Napapijri, 7 For All Mankind and lucy.

Bally International got the boot from Swiss conglomerate Oerlikon-Buhrle a decade ago, but the shoe designer still clings to its ballyhooed haute brand name. Bally focuses on selling its premium-priced shoes (50% of revenues). Other products include accessories (briefcases, handbags, neckwear, scarves) and apparel. Bally sells its products at about 200 company-owned stores worldwide. The firm has updated its image from fancy shoes to luxury goods and complete collections on par with Gucci and LVMH. Europe-based luxury goods holding firm LABELUX Group bought Bally from investment firm TPG Capital in 2008. LABELUX is owned by Joh. A. Benckiser.

Gio! Giorgio Armani Corporation is the American arm of Italian fashion house Giorgio Armani S.p.A. The US operation, which generates about a quarter of its parent's revenue, makes and retails upscale apparel for men, women, juniors, and babies. It boasts a retail network of about 50 Armani Exchange stores, a dozen Giorgio Armani boutiques, and a pair each of Armani/Casa and Armani/Cafe outlets. The firm also has a dozen Emporio Armani shops and is expanding the banner in Hawaii. Giorgio Armani licenses its name to manufacturers of perfume, cosmetics, watches, eyewear, jewelry, and accessories. Its Giorgio Armani Cosmetics unit operates within its own stores, as well as through Nordstrom and Saks.

Prestige Cosmetics makes cosmetics under the Prestige and Prestige Studio Make-Up brand names, as well as under private labels for retailers. Its products include lipstick, cosmetic pencils, lip gloss, powder, eye shadow, blush, concealers, mascara, foundation, and nail polish. Prestige markets its products to mass merchandisers (including Sears and Wal-Mart), drugstores, and supermarkets in the US and about 45 other countries. It operates a plant in Florida and sells its products to distributors in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, and South America. Co-founders and brothers Jacques and Gabriel Cohen own the company.

Kong Company knows dogs can chew their favorite toys to bits so it makes sure its pet chew toys are virtually indestructible. The rubber snowman-shaped pet toy line Kong, was developed by president and CEO Joe Markham as a substitute for his dog's love of eating rocks. The Kong was first produced in 1976 and is sold through pet products retailers. More than 50 million have been sold worldwide. The Kong toy allows owners to fill up the toy with treats, which the dog then has to work to get out of the toy. The line -- primarily for birds, cats, dogs, and ferrets -- also includes grooming, holiday, and pet care items.

St. John Knits International has clothed some of the nation's most couture-worthy women, including Hillary Rodham Clinton and Diane Sawyer. St. John makes brightly colored, classically styled knitwear under the St. John, St. John Sport, and St. John by Marie Gray names and sells them in upscale department stores worldwide. It also operates more than 15 boutiques, about 10 outlet stores, and sells its pricey apparel online. In addition, the company offers accessories, jewelry, shoes, and home accessories through its own stores. Vestar/Gray Investors LLC, a partnership between the Gray family and Vestar Capital Partners, owns a majority of the company.

Rock-Tenn was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Norcross, Georgia. Rock-Tenn Company manufactures and sells packaging products, recycled paperboard, containerboard, bleached paperboard, and merchandising displays worldwide. Rock-Tenn Company's Consumer Packaging segment offers folding cartons for packaging applications; express mail envelopes for the overnight courier industry; coated recycled and bleached paperboard for folding carton and other paperboard product manufacturers; and market pulp. This segment employs printing technologies, and supports customers with new product development, graphic design, and packaging systems services. Its Corrugated Packaging segment manufactures linerboard and corrugated medium, corrugated sheets and packaging, and preprinted linerboard for industrial and consumer product, and corrugated box manufacturers; converts corrugated sheets into corrugated products; and provides structural design and engineering services.Rock-Tenn's Merchandising Displays segment produces temporary and permanent promotional point-of-purchase displays for consumer products companies; offers contract packing services; and produces lithographic laminated packaging. Its Specialty Paperboard Products segment sells specialty recycled paperboard to solid fiber interior packaging, tube and core, and other paperboard product manufacturers; produces gypsum paperboard liner; and converts specialty paperboard into book cover and laminated paperboard products for use in furniture, automotive components, storage, and industrial products. This segment also offers fiber partitions, such as solid fiber partitions for glass container manufacturers and producers of beer, food, wine, spirits, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals; die-cut paperboard components; and specialty agricultural packaging for fruit and vegetable markets, and sheeted separation products, as well as sells recovered paper to paperboard, tissue, newsprint, roofing product, and insulation manufacturers.

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.

The firm generates most of its sales from women's wear, including its Koret and Sag Harbor lines. It also produces men's and children's clothes and accessories. Its other brands include My Michelle, Baby Phat, Phat Farm, Rewind, Vince, and XOXO. The company is a major supplier to department stores, as well as mass retailers, specialty boutiques, and catalogs. Kellwood also operates Vince and Sag Harbor brand outlet stores across the US. Kellwood has gained a foothold in new niches and grown through acquisitions, including Vince, Briggs New York, and Phat Fashions. It was taken private in 2008 by Sun Capital Partners and has been restructuring.

Martignetti Companies has been family-owned since its founding in 1908. Martignetti Companies owns both retail and wholesale outlets for selling wine and spirits in New England. The company also offers its wine and spirits for sale online. Its 435,000-square-foot temperature-controlled warehouse in Massachusetts offers more than 3,500 varieties of wine. Brands and wineries include Coldstream Hills, Fairvalley, and Moet & Chandon. Martignetti Companies also owns subsidiaries such as Carolina Wine And Spirits, Classic Wine Imports, and United Liquors.

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