Gabberts Design Studio & Fine Furnishings offers high-end furnishings in a variety of styles -- ranging from traditional to contemporary and from casual to refined -- for your living room, dining room, family room, bedroom, and home office. Gabberts' 63,000-square-foot store in Edina, Minnesota employs in-house interior designers, which it considers a competitive advantage. Founded in 1946 by Don Gabbert as a tire and appliance store, the company was owned and run by the Gabbert family until it was acquired by HOM Furniture in 2008. Gabberts' new owner continues to operate the business under the Gabberts banner.

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.

Artfulhome.com, an online and catalog retailer of fine art and gifts, is an offshoot of The Guild, an art publishing company founded in 1985 that represents more than 1,200 North American artists. The Web site and catalog, which feature fine art prints, paintings, photography, and sculpture, were launched in 1999. In addition Artfulhome.com sells nontraditional works of art (made of glass, fiber, metal, and wood), ceramics, home furnishings and lighting, tableware, jewelry, and books. Toni Sikes, a Madison entrepreneur, launched the company from a Wisconsin warehouse. The firm changed the name of its Web site from Guild.com to Artfulhome.com in 2008.

Multiyork Furniture manufactures and markets custom-made contemporary home furnishings, including sofas (leather, upholstered, and sleepers), chairs, cabinets, and other living and dining room furniture pieces. Its mid- to upper-level products are sold through more than 60 stores across Great Britain. Multiyork Furniture has moved to the front of the UK home furnishings industry since its founding in 1978. Initially operating one store and workshop, the company was acquired by Wade Furniture Group in 1995, and CEO Peter Mallinson, former merchandise manager at Selfridges, was tapped to turn around the struggling firm.

Food Lion brand products accounts for about 20% of sales. Founded in 1957 as Food Town, Food Lion is the largest US subsidiary of Delhaize America, a subsidiary of Brussels-based grocer Delhaize.Food Lion is a king among grocery chains in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions where it operates about 1,330 supermarkets under the Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar, and Harveys banners. About half of the company's stores are in the Carolinas, but it also has outlets in nine other states, including Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee. Food Lion, which prides itself on extra low prices, has taken a beating from low-cost competitors, most notably Wal-Mart Supercenters, and a weak economy.

Since 1859, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Inc. (A&P) has fulfilled the shopping needs of families throughout North America with freshness, quality, variety and value. In December 2007, Pathmark Supermarkets, with its 141 stores, joined the A&P Family of Supermarkets.With corporate headquarters in Montvale, N.J., A&P operates 395 stores in the United States under 6 retail banners which include conventional supermarkets, food and drug combination stores, discount food stores, and several in-store Health Clinics. A&P employs 40,688 associates. Annualized sales volume is approximately $8.8 billion. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol "GAP." The Company distributes private label product lines sold exclusively throughout its U.S. banners under the trade names America's Choice, Master Choice, Health Pride, Savings Plus, and Pathmark.With pride in its 152-year history, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company today looks forward to a future of continued service to its customers, communities and employees throughout North America.

Lotte Shopping's department stores offer more than the usual shopping experience. The company is a leading retailer in South Korea with some 30 department and discount stores across the nation. It owns one of the largest retail chains in the country with facilities that are part of vast retail complexes that often include cinemas, shopping malls, hotels, theme parks, and wedding halls. It also has a store in Moscow (opened in 2007). In China, where Lotte Shopping is looking to grow, its 2009 purchase of Times Ltd., an operator of 65 hypermarkets and supermarkets in east China, boosted its retail presence there to about 75 stores. Lotte Shopping, which was established in 1979, is looking to grow overseas.

Keller Supply was founded by Howard Keller in 1945 and is still owned and run by the Keller family, including CEO Nick Keller. If you're building a house in the Pacific Northwest, Keller has the supplies you need. Through about 55 locations in Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, Keller Supply distributes residential and commercial HVAC, plumbing, and pool and spa products from more than 1,000 manufacturers including Kohler, Honeywell International, Rheem, Porter-Cable, and Pentair . Customers include contractors and home improvement retailers as well as international customers in Canada and farther afield.

Rooms To Go, with 120 stores in about 10 southern states and Puerto Rico -- has transformed itself into one of the top-selling furniture retailers in the US by taking the package approach to retailing. Rooms To Go (RTG) markets its limited selection of furniture to brand-conscious, time-pressed customers. It packages low- to moderately priced furniture and accessories and offers discounts for those willing to buy a roomful. The chain also operates the Rooms to Go Kids chain that sells furniture for kids and teens from more than 45 stores. CEO and owner Jeffrey Seaman and his father, Morty, founded RTG in 1990 after selling Seaman Furniture Company.

Kingfisher plc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer. It offers wallpaper, vacuum cleaners, shutters, tiles, storage systems, lighting products, light switches, shower enclosures, and bathroom products, as well as provides gardening kits for kids and a range of tools for children. The company also offers bathroom and kitchen installation services, including flooring, tiling, hanging doors, and garage doors, as well as fires and electrical replacement products, such as sockets and light fittings. In addition, it offers iPhone application to carry out DIY projects at home. The company’s brands portfolio includes B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix, Koctas, and Hornbach. Kingfisher offers its products and services through 840 stores, as well as through online in 8 countries in Europe and Asia. Kingfisher plc has a strategic alliance with Hornbach Holding A.G. Kingfisher plc was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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