Cumberland Farms now operates a network of about 600 convenience stores and gas stations in about a dozen eastern seaboard states from Maine to Florida. The company operates its own grocery distribution and bakery operations to supply its stores, as well. Cumberland owns a two-thirds limited partnership in petroleum wholesaler Gulf Oil LP, giving it the right to use and license Gulf trademarks in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, most of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the New England states. The first convenience-store operator in New England, Cumberland was founded in 1939 by Vasilios and Aphrodite Haseotes. The Haseotes' descendants, including chairman Lily Haseotes Bentas, own the company.

Balducci's has the right ingredients to attract hungry gourmands.The chain operates half a dozen upscale specialty food stores under the Balducci's name in Connecticut, Maryland, New York,and Virginia.The markets offer such fare as fresh pasta,Wagyu beef,and imported cheeses.It also stocks prepared meals and beer and wine.Louis "Pop" Balducci opened the first Balducci's in Brooklyn in 1915 and expanded to Greenwich Village in Manhattan in 1946.In 2009 the private equity firm Irving Place Capital (formerly Bear Stearns Merchant Banking)sold six Balducci's stores to an investor group led by Jim Demme,senior advisor to the New York City-based investment firm Angelo,Gordon&Co.

Rip Griffin Truck Service Center tries to make sure you never go hungry again (in Scarlett O'Hara's words), at least when you're driving on the highways of North Texas. Rip Griffin's network of about 10 travel centers offers truckers, tour buses, and other travelers a smorgasbord of features, such as convenience stores, fuel, game rooms, laundry facilities, restaurants, and showers. Locations also offer truck maintenance and repair services. In addition to its travel center business, Rip Griffin sells Freightliner trucks through two Texas dealerships and provides fuel transportation services. In 2004 CEO Rip Griffin sold the company to Ohio-based TravelCenters of America.

TBC Corporation is the nation's largest vertically integrated marketer of tires for the automotive replacement market. The Company's retail operations include Company-operated tire and automotive service centers under the " Tire Kingdom", "Merchant's Tire & Auto Centers", and "National Tire & Battery" brands, and franchised stores under the "Big O Tires" brand. TBC markets on a wholesale basis to regional tire chains and distributors serving independent tire dealers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Through its Carroll Tire wholesale distribution centers, the Company also markets directly to independent tire dealers across the United States. Carroll Tire Company sells a wide variety of proprietary and national brands from 38 distribution centers.TBC markets and sells nine proprietary brands of tires through North America. The Multi-Mile, Cordovan, Sigma, Vanderbilt, Sumitomo, Eldorado, Laramie, Telstar, and Jetzon brands are produced by nationally recognized manufacturers and have a reputation for quality, safety, and value. These brands are distributed through TBC Private Brands and Treadways to independent retailers and wholesalers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In 2005, TBC Corporation was purchased by Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA). SCOA is the largest subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation (SC), one of Japan's major integrated trading and investment business enterprises. TBC Corporation still functions as an independent company of SCOA providing the same services and products it has for many years, but has ended its 22-year stint as a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ.

Pottery Barn, Inc. sells casual home furnishings and accessories, such as sofas, tables, bedding, and tableware, at nearly 200 stores across the US and Canada. Pottery Barn also sells its wares by catalog and online. In 1999 the retailer launched Pottery Barn Kids, which operates retail stores and a separate Web site. Pottery Barn launched another specialty brand in 2003, PBTeen, which sells merchandise through catalogs, a Web site, and stores. Pottery Barn, which has roots that go back to 1949, is owned by home furniture and cookware retailer Williams-Sonoma.

Grace's offers catering and gift baskets. Due to popular demand the company has opened a second location, on Long Island, and a takeout shop in La Guardia Airport. The market was opened in 1985 by Joseph and Grace Balducci Doria (whose parents founded Balducci's) and is now run by their children.Grace quite easily makes the final cut in the "Mother of the Year" contest. Grace's Marketplace offers gourmet foods through its storefront in the Upper East End of New York City and also operates Italian eatery, Grace's Trattoria, on the same city block. In addition to its deli items, fresh-baked goods and meats.

Since 1963 Fast Retailing has been working to fill the gap in Japan's casual wear market. The company operates about 815 Uniqlo (a combination of the words unique and clothing) stores in Japan and another 145 Uniqlo shops in foreign markets, including China, France, South Korea, the UK and the US. The first Uniqlo store opened New York City in 2005. Fast Retailing -- often described as the "Gap of Japan" -- sells "cheap chic" basics (similar to US-based Old Navy or Spain's Zara, but undercutting its competitors more drastically) for men, women, and children. It buys most of its clothes from 60 factories in China. Founder and chairman Tadashi Yanai and his family own nearly half of Fast Retailing.

Founded in 1939, RONA generates about 40% of its sales from distribution. RONA has employed an aggressive acquisition strategy to expand throughout Canada. RONA believes a tool belt befits both genders. The company is Canada's top home improvement retailer (ahead of Home Depot of Canada) with about 685 franchised, affiliated, and corporate stores. Looking beyond traditional male customers, RONA stores court women shoppers (more than half of its customers) with features such as decorator boutiques and product displays set for the average woman's eye level. The stores range in format from small RONA L'express shops to RONA L'entrepot big-box outlets and the retailer carries some 2,000 RONA-branded products.

Holland Southwest International, Inc. was founded by Gus Gillebaard, an immigrant from Holland, as a small import company in 1953. Distributor Holland Southwest International supplies forest products from vendors throughout the world. The company boasts inventory facilities about a dozen locations in North America, such as Baltimore, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, Memphis, Oklahoma City, and Mexico City. It ships directly to vendors in China, Russia, the UK, and several other countries. The wood-products firm also includes Holland Southwest among its holdings, which has interests in plants that manufacture prefinished wall paneling and bathroom wallboard.

HealthWarehouse.com (Ticker: HEWA) is a publicly traded online pharmacy based in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a United States government regulated pharmacy, we only sell products which are FDA approved and legal for sale in the United States. Our operations center around a state-of-the-art pharmacy capable of handling more than 3,000 prescriptions per day and we currently service more than 75,000 unique customers. Originally motivated by the lack of trustworthy and affordable online sources for prescription drugs, the goal from Day 1 was simple: reduce drug prices by removing layers of cost between the manufacturer and the end consumer. First, by procuring products directly from the manufacturer, we are able to cut out several levels of middlemen. Second, as an online pharmacy we aren’t burdened with the heavy overhead costs of traditional brick-and-mortar retail chains. The end result is that we are able to secure our products at a lower cost than our competitors and pass the savings on to you. In addition to offering the lowest prices, Healthwarehouse.com is relentlessly striving to enhance the customer experience and is committed to "doing whatever it takes to make it right." A 2009 and 2010 winner of BizRate's Circle Of Excellence Award given to the top 3% of more than 5,000 online merchants surveyed, HealthWarehouse.com does not believe that "service can be outsourced" to another country and handles all customer service functions in the USA.

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