Wal-Mart Stores is an irresistible (or at least unavoidable) retail force that has yet to meet any immovable objects. Bigger than Europe's Carrefour, Tesco, and Metro AG combined, it's the world's #1 retailer with 2.1 million employees in more than 8,400 stores, including about 800 discount stores, 3,100 combination discount and grocery stores (Wal-Mart Supercenters in the US and ASDA in the UK), and 595 Sam's Club warehouses. Wal-Mart's international division (25% of sales) is growing at a fast pace; it's the #1 retailer in Canada and Mexico and it has operations in Asia (where it owns a 95% stake in Japanese retailer SEIYU), Europe, and South America. Founder Sam Walton's heirs own about 45% of Wal-Mart.

Huttig Building Products, Inc. and its subsidiaries distribute millwork, building materials, and wood products used in new residential construction, home improvement, remodeling, and repair work in the United States. It offers various millwork products comprising exterior and interior doors, pre-hung door units, windows, patio doors, mouldings, frames, stair parts, and columns under Therma-Tru, Masonite, HB&G, Huttig Windows, Woodgrain, Windsor, and L. J. Smith brand names; and general building products, such as roofing, siding, insulation, flashing, housewrap, connectors and fasteners, decking, drywall, kitchen cabinets, and other miscellaneous building products under Typar, Timbertech, Fiberon, Simpson Strong-Tie, Huttigrip Fasteners, Louisiana Pacific, Owens Corning, and CertainTeed brand names. The company provides various wood products, which include engineered wood products, such as floor systems, as well as lumber and wood panels. The company sells its products to building materials dealers; national buying groups; home centers; and industrial users, including makers of manufactured homes. As of December 31, 2009, Huttig Building Products distributed its products through 27 distribution centers serving 41 states. Huttig Building Products, Inc. was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

GLENTEL (TSX: GLN) is a leading provider of innovative and reliable telecommunications services and solutions in Canada and the United States. Founded in 1963 and headquartered in Burnaby, BC, GLENTEL comprises three operating divisions – Retail Canada, Retail US and Business – that service thousands of consumers and commercial communications customers. The company operates more than 280 stores across Canada as well as 138 mall stores in the United States. GLENTEL's Retail Division consists of three consumer brands in Canada: WIRELESSWAVE/WAVE SANS FIL, Tbooth wireless/la cabine T sans fil, and WIRELESS etc./SANS-FIL etc. providing wireless and wired communications products and services as well as a choice of cellular brands to consumers through retail malls and Costco Wholesale stores. With locations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, GLENTEL is now one of the largest multi-carrier retailers in Canada. Through its Diamond Wireless locations, it offers Verizon Premium Retailer service in the US. GLENTEL’s Business Division, with branches across Canada, provides integrated wireless solutions for public safety, government and business customers. These solutions include designing and commissioning wireless networks for commercial applications in three core areas: terrestrial radio systems, satellite network services, and advanced mobile solutions. With more than four decades of experience in wireless communications, GLENTEL has the largest technical staff of its kind in Canada to develop, install and support a broad range of end-to-end solutions. GLENTEL has been publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange since June 1, 1983, and is headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Wallis Companies is a leading gasoline distributor in Missouri and the Midwest. The company's convenience store division operates about 40 locations in the Show Me State and services more than 140 other stores, including Exxon Mobil 's On The Run shops and BP Pump Handle stores. Other businesses include the Hen House restaurant in Bourbon, Missouri, as well as Wallis Lubricants (automotive and industrial lubricants) and the Great River Wash Company (distributes car wash equipment). Wallis Companies was founded in 1968 by Bill Wallis and today is run by his wife, Lynn Wallis, who took control of the company when he died.

Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermarkte serves do-it-yourselfers and other practical types. Praktiker (practitioner or enthusiast in English) is Germany's #2 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement retailer with about 340 Praktiker, Max Bahr, and extra BAU + HOBBY stores in Germany and another 90 Praktiker shops in eight mostly Eastern European countries (it goes by batiself in Luxembourg). Germany accounts for two-thirds of Praktiker's sales but growth comes from international locations. The discount stores sell name brand and private label items and host DIY classes. Praktiker offers bathroom fixtures, building materials, electrical and gardening items, hardware, paint, tools, wallpaper, and wood products.

Founded by Tom Singh in 1969, New Look was taken private in 2004 by the private equity firms Apax Partners and Permira, who've twice failed to sell it. Growing as fast as its teen customers, New Look sells apparel, lingerie, shoes, and accessories at about 660 New Look stores in the UK and Ireland and 300-plus Mim shops in France and Belgium. Most New Look shops are in the UK but the chain has a growing presence in Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and now Russia. The retailer also sells apparel online. New Look targets tweens (pre-teens), teen girls, and their mums (if they're hip) with value-priced clothing. Most of its products are private label and the stores sell plus-sized and maternity apparel.

Founded by Rowland Schaefer and later run by his daughters, Bonnie and Marla Schaefer, Claire's Stores was sold to an affiliate of the New York-based private equity firm Apollo Management for about $3 billion in 2007. If the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys, for young women and girls, it may be the price of their accessories. For thrifty, fashion-conscious females ages 3 to 27, Claire's Stores is the queen of costume jewelry, handbags, and hair bows. The company operates nearly 3,000 boutiques, primarily in malls, under the Claire's and Icing banners. The chain is present in all 50 US states, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Canada, as well as about 10 European countries.

SOK is made up of about 35 independent regional cooperative societies that produce the group's services. Food and grocery account for half of SOK's overall business its market brands include ABC!, Alepa, Prisma, S Market, and Sale. The group was founded in 1904.Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta (SOK Corporation) knows a thing or two (or 1,500) about retail. The Finnish group is active in grocery, combination convenience store/gas station, department store, specialty goods, hotel and restaurant, auto trade, and hardware services via 1,590 locations in its home country, throughout the Baltic nations, and Russia.

QuikTrip provides a quick fix for those on the go. QuikTrip (QT) owns and operates some 535 gasoline/convenience stores in nine states, mostly in the central US. QT stores, which average 4,200 to 5,000 sq. ft., feature the company's own QT brand of gas and diesel fuel, as well as brand-name beverages, candy, and tobacco, and QT's Quik 'n Tasty and HOTZI lines of sandwiches. QT's 15-plus travel centers offer scales, food, fuel, showers, and other services for truckers. The firm's FleetMaster program offers commercial trucking companies detailed reports showing drivers' product purchases, amounts spent, and odometer readings. QT was co-founded in 1958 by chairman Chester Cadieux. His son Chet runs the company.

Maxor National Pharmacy Services provides healthcare and pharmacy services including retail and mail order prescriptions (Maxor Pharmacies), pharmacy benefits management (MaxorPlus), pharmacy consulting (Maxor Pharmacy Consulting Services), and infusion and injection services (IVSolutions). The company operates more than a dozen Maxor Pharmacy stores, mostly in Texas and Washington, but also in Colorado and New York. It also provides services to more than 260,000 offenders in more than 190 correctional facilities in 27 states through direct management contracts or via its pharmacy services division. The first Maxor pharmacy opened in 1926, founded by Howard Guy Maxfield and Samuel Orr.

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