Luckily, Ace has John Madden up its sleeve. Despite the growth of warehouse-style competitors, Ace Hardware has remained a household name, thanks to ads featuring Madden, a former Oakland Raiders football coach and retired TV commentator. By sales the company is the #1 hardware cooperative in the US, ahead of Do It Best. Ace dealer-owners operate about 4,500 Ace Hardware stores, home centers, and lumber and building materials locations in all 50 US states and more than 60 other countries. From about 15 warehouses Ace distributes such products as electrical and plumbing supplies, garden equipment, hand tools, housewares, and power tools. Its paint division is also a major paint manufacturer in the US.

Harrods' motto, "Omnia Omnibus Ubique," loosely translates into "You want it, we got it." The landmark Knightsbridge department store is one of London's biggest attractions, with seven floors and more than 300 departments, including the famous Food Hall, about 20 restaurants and bars, a beauty salon, and a bank. On an average day, 35,000 shoppers browse the store. The crowd can swell to 350,000 during sales. Harrods has leveraged its name worldwide, opening signature shops in airports and department stores in Asia and Europe and selling online. Founded in 1849 and formerly owned by Egyptian-born billionaire Mohamed al-Fayed, Harrods was sold in 2010 to Qatar Holdings for about �1.5 billion ($2.3 billion).

Founder and president Bill Meadows began his business in the mid-1960s by growing produce and selling it on roadsides. He incorporated Meadow Farms as a nursery in 1974 and discontinued his produce business. Meadows Farms can help turn your lawn into something more like a meadow, if that's what you want. The company operates about two dozen nurseries in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. The nurseries sell plants, garden tools and accessories, gifts, housewares, seeds, soils, and other garden related merchandise. The company also offers landscaping and ground maintenance services. Meadows Farms also includes the Meadows Farms Golf Course, which features the Longest Hole in the US at 841 yards.

The Pampered Chef, a direct seller of more than 300 gourmet kitchen gadgets, cookware, cookbooks, and foodstuffs. It boasts about 60,000 independent sales reps who hawk their wares at in-home kitchen parties (à la Tupperware) throughout North America, Germany, and the UK. It's the largest of its kind in the US. Reps demonstrate product use and care and share recipes. As incentive (à la Mary Kay), reps can ultimately "earn" jewelry and trips. Founded in 1980 by home economist and educator Doris Christopher, The Pampered Chef was acquired by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2002.

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.

BIM wants to make grocery shopping as easy as bim, bam, boom. With more than 2,700 stores, the company is Turkey's largest supermarket chain.Known as "the Turkish ALDI,"BIM operates a similar warehouse-style discount store model and only offers about 600 products per store, mostly under its private-label brands Dost St,Homemaxx,and Yuva.BIM stores also offer toys, housewares, and home appliances.Stores range in size from 2,000 to 6,000 sq. ft.,and the company also operates its own trucking and logistics service to cut costs.BIM was founded in 1995.Together, Chairman Mustafa Latif Topbas and Saudi Arabian industrialist Abdulrahman El Khereiji own more than 30% of the company

Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) is Canada's only nationwide drugstore chain, with locations in every province and two territories. With more than 1,200 drugstores, it's #2 north of the border, behind Katz Group. Most of the company's stores fly the Shoppers Drug Mart banner (Pharmaprix in Quebec). It also operates about 65 Shoppers Home Health Care stores. SDM ranks as a leading Canadian retailer of beauty products, with more than 225 in-store beauty boutiques that sell prestige cosmetics, fragrances, and skin care products. It is expanding in Quebec by opening new stores and acquiring independent pharmacies. The firm was founded in 1962 by Murray Koffler, a Toronto druggist.

Kelly's Pipe & Supply Co. was founded in 1960 by James "Kelly" Callahan and G.H. "Herb" Turnbull. It is owned by Pennsylvania-based Hajoca. Why stop at fixing simple bathrooms when you can also make a sea battle come to life? Kelly's Pipe and Supply does both and counts casinos Caesar's Palace, the Mirage, and Treasure Island amongst its clients. The company sells and distributes plumbing products from its million-dollar European Bath, Kitchen, Tile, & Stone showrooms in Las Vegas and Solana Beach, California. Stores also offer fixtures and pipes from such brands as Aqua Glass, Delta Faucet, Kohler, and Price Pfister. Besides plumbing products, Kelly's offers quotation services and procurement project management.

Repco has all you need for getting down under the bonnet. It sells some 175,000 auto parts and accessories through more than 430 stores located in Australia and New Zealand. The company is an Original Equipment Supplier (OES) and is part of the Independent Aftermarket (IAM) group. The largest car-parts and accessories chain in Australia and New Zealand, Repco also imports and distributes auto parts through its Motospecs division. Its Ashdown Ingram division supplies auto electrical goods and services, while its McLeod's business provides motorcycle accessories. The company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of CCMP Acquisition Co. Pty. Limited (owned by CCMP Capital Asia Pte. Ltd.) in 2007.

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.

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