Founded in 1947, Wausau Supply is owned by Joe Jordan and Ron Klimisch. Wausau Supply has good building materials to do business with. Wausau Supply operates through about 10 locations in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, distributing building materials to retail lumberyards in the Midwest. Products include adhesives from OSI, decking from CertainTeed, insulation from Owens Corning, locks from Schlage, windows from Simonton, and just about everything else needed to build a house. Among the services provided by the company are cabinet, door, and fireplace installation, as well as custom cement siding.

Kole Imports keeps America's dollar stores well stocked with trinkets and treasures. The firm wholesales everything from automobile accessories to zippers, which is attractively packaged by in-house artists to ensure a similar look for all of the merchandise. Products are sold primarily to other wholesalers and dollar and discount stores. Kole Imports' warehouse includes a 6,000-sq.-ft. showroom designed to look like a dollar store, allowing potential customers to browse the merchandise. The company was founded by brothers (and co-presidents) Rob and Danny Kole in 1982.

Founded in 1922 as a single Phil's Shoes store, Rack Room Shoes is owned by Europe's largest shoe retailer -- Deichmann Schuhe of Germany -- which acquired Rack Room Shoes in 1984. As part of its expansion strategy, the off-price retailer plans to continue opening new stores in the southeastern US; it's focusing specifically on Texas and Arizona. Shoe-a-holics on the hunt for budget-brand names frequent the Rack Room for a fix. Rack Room Shoes sells private-label and brand-name footwear, handbags, and accessories to thrifty customers from some 390 stores in more than 25 states. Rack Room Shoes company also operates some 60 stores under the Off Broadway banner in about 10 states.

They are in a Southern state of mind at Sutherland Lumber. Sutherland Lumber Company, L.P. operates about 60 Sutherlands lumber and home improvement stores in a dozen states, primarily in the southern and southwestern US. Stores sell an array of building products, including lumber, concrete, roofing and siding, paint, plumbing supplies, tools, hardware, and design packages for houses, sheds, garages, and decks. They also offer appliances, cabinets and doors, furniture, lighting, lawn and garden equipment, and materials for hobbies and crafts. Sutherland Lumber Company, L.P., which is owned and operated by the Sutherland family, was founded in 1917 to supply Oklahoma farmers with building materials.

American Signature operates about 130 stores in 20 states under the American Signature Furniture and Value City Furniture banners. Stores feature wood and upholstered home furnishing collections, as well as bedding. In addition to its retail operations, American Signature designs and manufactures its own pieces and operates its own warehouses and distribution centers. The American Signature Furniture concept was introduced by parent Schottenstein Stores in 2002, in an effort to expand the company's higher-end offerings.

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.

Norkus Enterprises was founded when Francis Norkus opened his first grocery store, called Table Talk, in Freehold, New Jersey in 1935. Today Norkus' three sons, Gerry (president), Mark (VP), and Stephen (VP), run the firm, which is a member of the Foodtown Supermarket cooperative.They sell pasta shells by the Jersey sea shore. Norkus Enterprises operates about half a dozen grocery stores under the Foodtown and Super Foodtown banners in Monmouth County and Ocean County, New Jersey. The regional grocery chain also offers online shopping and home delivery in some areas

Sapp Bros Travel Centers (formerly Sapp Bros Truck Stops) has the usual air, gas, food, but also offers human conveniences such such as laundry rooms, mailbox rentals, private showers, and TV lounges. The company operates a chain of some 15 truck stops -- readily identifiable by the giant red-and-white coffeepot logo -- along interstate highways from Utah to Pennsylvania; with a concentration in Nebraska. Half of the locations also operate service centers, offering oil changes, new tires, and safety checks. Its sister company, Sapp Bros Petroleum, distributes petroleum products in Nebraska and western Iowa. The firm is run by CEO Bill Sapp, one of the four founding Sapp brothers.

Kohler Mira went from dreaming in the shower, to dreaming about the shower. Founded in the 1920s, Kohler Mira is a leading UK bathroom products company. The company's offerings, which include showers, faucets, enclosures, trays, and brassware, are sold through bath and housewares specialty retailers in more than 40 countries worldwide. Its names include Mira Platinum, Biocote, and Mira Eco. Mira developed the world's first thermostatic shower, which gained popularity in the 1960s. Then called Mira Showers Group (which included its Rada, Meynell, and Alstone brands), Kohler Mira Limited company was acquired by US-based Kohler Co. in 2001 and became Kohler Mira.

Mathis Bros. Furniture Co., Inc operates a handful of Mathis Brothers-branded furniture showrooms: two each in Oklahoma and California. Its 130,000-sq.-ft. Oklahoma City store draws customers from across the state. In addition, Mathis Bros. owns a Thomasville Home Furnishings and a Drexel Heritage Home Furnishings store, both also located in Oklahoma City. The furniture retailer has grown through acquisitions, such as its purchase of Bedtime, a juvenile furniture importer. Brothers Bill and Larry Mathis own and operate the company.

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