Midlands Co-op also boasts a portfolio of investment properties. The group has grown through the years by means of mergers with some 65 other societies, such as its agreement with the Ilkeston Consumer Co-operative Society in late 2006.Midlands Co-operative Society Limited is no newcomer to the co-op movement. The co-op is the largest independent retail society in the UK. Midlands Co-op's primary activities include retail, travel, funeral services, and transportation. The organization's more than 400 trading outlets span supermarkets, post offices, convenience stores, travel shops, and funeral homes

Molbak's, LLC company was founded by Danish immigrants Egon and Laina Molbak and is now owned by their son, Jens Molbak, who founded Coinstar in 1988. While Molbak might sound like something you'd want to get out of your garden, Molbak's is all about being in the garden. The company operates a nursery and gift shop in Washington that retails bulbs, garden and nursery plants, indoor plants, seeds, and other gardening-related products like statuary, outdoor furniture, floral arrangements, and gift items. It grows about 80% of its products on 36 acres near its headquarters and retail store. Molbak's also hosts horticultural classes and seminars and offers custom design services for parties or outdoor landscaping.

Founded in 1971 with a modest 800-sq.-ft. home furnishings showroom, City Furniture sells furniture, mattresses, rugs, and accessories through about 15 showrooms across the state of Florida (in Broward, Martin, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties). Half of the company's products are made in the US. Alongside countless others in its industry, City Furniture obtains 75% of its imported furniture from China; the balance comes from Vietnam and Indonesia. Its marketing in South Florida has the company exporting its products to the Caribbean and Latin America, as well.

The group's strategy is to focus on the core business of direct home shopping, while at the same time exploiting the full potential of our complementary businesses in financial services. Our home shopping division offers a wide range of value for money products in clothing, footwear, and household and electrical goods. We market our products through a number of channels; principally bi-annual catalogues supplemented by smaller monthly brochures and targeted media advertising. In addition, we provide fully integrated websites for all our main trading titles to meet the ever-changing demands of our customers.The financial services division was formed in 1998 to work with third party financial service providers to promote the sale of financial products such as creditor insurance, loans, life and general insurances and warranty cover to our existing home shopping customers. Detailed knowledge of our home shopping customers, together with skills in risk management and databases has allowed us to build a financial services database to segment and target customers with greater accuracy.

Mattress Holding Corp. operates some 530 company-owned and franchised Mattress Firm stores in about 20 states. The company sells conventional (Sealy, Simmons) and specialty (Tempur-Pedic, Sleep Number) mattresses, bed frames, and other bedding accessories, and is the #1 seller of Sealy mattresses in the country. From its humble beginning in 1986 when three friends pooled their resources to purchase a downtrodden spot in a Houston strip center, the Mattress Firm chain has grown into a leading US bedding retailer. The company was acquired in 2007 by investment firm J.W. Childs Associates (JWC).

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.

Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. operates as a regional broad line retailer in the central United States. The company operates ALCO stores that offer a line of merchandise consisting of approximately 35,000 items, including automotive, candy, crafts, domestics, electronics, fabrics, furniture, hardware, jewelry, pre-recorded music and video, and stationery products, as well as health and beauty aids, housewares, sporting goods, seasonal items, and toys. It also offers ladies', men's, and children's apparel and shoes. In addition, the company also operates Duckwall stores, which offer a limited selection of merchandise. As of February 16, 2010, it operated 258 stores in 23 states in the central United States. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Abilene, Kansas.

Replacements, Ltd. offers new and previously owned china, crystal, flatware, and collectibles from its facilities spanning more than 400,000 sq. ft. Its inventory consists of some 13 million pieces in more than 300,000 patterns. In addition to its bridal and gift registry, Replacements' website features a dinnerware knowledge base, place-setting guides, pattern identification tools, and showroom tour. Customers can place their orders by mail, phone, fax, e-mail, and online. The company was founded by president and CEO Bob Page in 1981.

Empire is also party to a joint venture with oil and gas properties in Alberta. Controlled by the Sobey family, Empire also develops and manages commercial and, to a lesser extent, residential real estate.Decline and fall? Not for this Empire of supermarkets, food distribution, movie theaters, and real estate. Empire Company owns Sobeys, Canada's #2 grocery chain (after Loblaw). Sobeys runs some 1,335 food and drug stores across Canada under names such as Sobeys, IGA, Foodland, Price Chopper, and Lawton's Drug; it distributes food to its company-owned stores and other retailers. Wholly-owned Empire Theatres operates about 50 theaters (380 screens) in eight provinces and is the #2 movie exhibitor in Canada.

Maner Builders Supply Company was founded in 1951 as the Maner Hardware & Supply Company. You can build a manor house with what Maner Builders Supply Company can offer. It sells and distributes building supplies such as cabinets, doors, fencing materials, gypsum, masonry, roofing, and windows, through about a half dozen locations in Georgia and the Carolinas. Maner Builders Supply company offers free quotes, free delivery, and warranty assistance for its customers. Maner Builders Supply carries products from manufacturers such as Bradley, Buckley Rumford Fireplaces, Ceco Door, Makita, Palmetto Brick, Parex, and Wellborn Cabinet.

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