Owner Charlie Clifford founded Tumi, Inc. in 1975 after a Peace Corps stint in Peru. Tumi company is named after an Incan god of medicine, and has been a unit of Doughty Hanson & Co. since 2004. The high-end designer and manufacturer of such travel accessories as prestige suitcases, backpacks, garment bags, totes, and travel kits, specializes in corporate travelers whose cargo is arguably precious (the company has its own tracking system for retrieving lost bags). Tumi distributes its luggage in the US and abroad through some 50 of its own retail stores, its Web site, other specialty stores, and partnerships with hotel chain Starwood and luxury cruise line Seabourn.

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.

Energizer Holdings was founded in 1999 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri. Energizer Holdings, Inc. manufacturers and sells primary batteries, portable lighting, and personal care products worldwide. The company offers carbon zinc, alkaline, rechargeable, and lithium primary batteries. Its flashlights and other battery-powered lighting products include flashlights and lanterns for home, work, and outdoors; and novelty and impulse flashlights. The company markets its batteries, and flashlights and other battery-powered lighting products under Energizer and Eveready brand names. In addition, Energizer Holdings offers wet shave products, including razor systems, such as razor handles and refillable blades, and disposable shave products for men and women; skin care products, including sun care products; feminine care products; and infant care products, such as bottles, cups, mealtime products, pacifiers, and diapers. The company sells its wet shave products under the Schick and Wilkinson Sword, Edge, and Skintimate brand names; skin care products under the Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones, and Playtex brand names; and feminine care and infant Care products under the Playtex and Diaper Genie brand names. It markets its products through a direct sales force, distributors, and wholesalers.

Pretika Corporation makes it easy to bring the spa home. The company manufactures non-prescription skin and cosmeceutical personal care products, such as skin care and spa items. Its products are sold through the company Web site, and include acne medicine, anti-wrinkle therapies, facial masks, microdermabrasion kits, and facial regimens designed for teens. Pretika also offers services for private labels, including laboratory formulations and testing, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and warehousing.

kate spade's story is one of simplicity, like the bags it sells. Begun by designer Kate Spade and her husband, Andy, in 1993, signature kate spade bags were an instant success because of their uncomplicated design. Since then, the manufacturer has expanded into stationery, various functional bags (think diaper bags), and licensing -- with lines of homewares (sheets, tabletop items, and wallpaper), as well as beauty products, eyewear, and shoes. Women's items are sold under the kate spade name while men's products carry the jack spade moniker. The company, which is owned by Liz Claiborne, distributes its products in Asia and sells them in the US through about 50 of its own shops and in upscale department stores.

Pepsi Bottling Ventures (PBV) for one thing. The third-largest bottler of Pepsiproducts, PBV serves some 8 million consumers in North Carolina (home of its corporate headquarters) and also on Long Island, New York, as well as other East Coast states. PBV operates 28 bottling, distribution, and sales facilities located in Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, New York, North and South Carolina, and Vermont. The company's portfolio of more than 800 beverages includes Pepsi soft-drink brands, Aquafina bottled water, Starbucks coffee drinks, Tropicana juices, Gatorade isotonics, and Lipton teas. PBV is a joint venture of PepsiCo and Suntory Holdings.

Anthony for Men is a manufacturer and marketer of men's skin care and bath and body products. The firm's products are natural and allergy-tested and include Action, Anthony Logistics for Men, and Anthony Sport for Men face, shaving, body, and hair care items. The line is available in almost 2,000 stores, including Sephora and Nordstrom, in some 25 countries, and online. Products include glycerin cleansing bars, facial scrubs, body sprays, astringent, lip balm, razor burn repair, algae facial cleanser, alcohol-free deodorant, mud scrub exfoliating bar, and hair gel. The company also makes a Little Men line of hair and body wash for babies. A percentage of proceeds is donated to prostate cancer charities.

Founded when a young woman by the name of Merle Norman first opened up shop in Santa Monica, California, in 1931, the beauty company makes and markets skin care products and color cosmetics. Its products (all of which are manufactured in the US) are sold through about 2,000 independently owned and operated retail outlets -- Merle Norman Cosmetic Studios -- in the US and Canada. Many are located in malls. Brand names include Automatic Definitive, Inspirations, Luxiva, Only Natural, and more. The company is owned by chairman Jack Nethercutt, Norman's great-nephew.

VF Imagewear, a subsidiary (or "coalition") of apparel giant V.F. Corporation, manages corporate identities, including uniforms, corporate image, and career apparel programs. It serves customers nationwide in government, transportation, utilities, telecommunications, foodservice, hospitality, and other industries. It also caters to sports leagues (such as the NFL, MLB, and Harley-Davidson) through licensing agreements and via its Majestic Athletic unit. The company's brands include Bulwark, Chef Designs, LiteFX, Red Kap, and The Force, as well as its licensed brands.

Sonoco Products Company was founded in 1899 and is based in Hartsville, South Carolina. Sonoco Products Company provides industrial and consumer packaging products, and packaging services primarily in the United States, Europe, and Canada. It manufactures rigid paper and plastic packaging products, including composite paperboard cans, paperboard pails, single-wrap paperboard packages, fiber cartridges, bottles, jars, tubs, cups, trays, and squeeze tubes; aluminum and steel closures for composite, metal, and plastic containers; and printed flexible packaging products. The company also provides tubes and cores comprising paperboard tubes, cores, roll packaging, molded plugs, pallet components, concrete forms, void forms, and rotary die boards; and paper products consisting of recycled paperboard, chipboard, tubeboard, lightweight corestock, boxboard, linerboard, specialty grades, and recovered paper.Sonoco's packaging services comprise packaging supply chain management services, including custom packing, fulfillment, primary package filling, scalable service centers, and brand artwork management; and designing, manufacturing, assembling, packing, and distributing temporary, semi permanent and permanent point-of-purchase displays, as well as contract packaging and co-packing services. In addition, the company produces wire and cable reels, including steel, nailed wooden, plywood, recycled, and poly-fiber reels; molded and extruded plastics; paperboard products consisting of glass covers, coasters, and other paper amenities; and protective packaging products. It serves food and non food, automotive, beverage, confectionery, electronic, cosmetic, fragrance, healthcare, home and garden, liquor, medical, office supply, over-the-counter drug, personal care, sporting goods, tobacco, wire and cable, household appliances, leisure, textile, and other consumer and industrial packaging markets.

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