Spain's Cortefiel has something for everyone. Its five main store brands -- Cortefiel, Pedro del Hierro, Springfield, Women'secret, and Milano -- target young men, older men, young women, cost-conscious women, and high-end clothing. Cortefiel operates more than 1,400 stores, mostly under the Cortefiel and Springfield banners. Although the retailer operates in about 50 countries, Spain is home to more than half of the group's stores. It owns its European stores and franchises locations in Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East. The Hinojosa family had controlled Cortefiel before CVC, PAI Partners, and Permira acquired more than 86% of it in 2005.

New York & Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of women's apparel in the United States. It offers casual and wear-to-work apparel and accessories, including pants, jackets, knit tops, blouses, sweaters, denim, t-shirts, activewear, handbags, and jewelry. New York & company operates under the New York & Company, Lerner, Lerner New York, New York Style, City Stretch, City Style, and NY&C brand names. It primarily serves fashion-conscious and value-sensitive women between the ages of 25 and 45. New York & company sells its products through its national network of retail stores and E-commerce store at nyandcompany.com. As of March 18, 2010, it operated 576 stores in 43 states. New York & company was formerly known as NY & Co. Group, Inc. New York & Company, Inc. was founded in 1918 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Founded in 1977, Speedy has grown to become the UK's largest operator of tool rental locations. If work slows down because tools are lacking, construction workers can go to Speedy Hire. The company rents tools and building equipment to companies, contractors, DIY consumers, the government, and utilities through some 400 outlets in the UK and Ireland. The company hires out access towers, drills, generators, heaters, pumps, and woodworking tools, among other items. Its some 60 lifting depots rent joists, jacks, and below-the-hook material-handling equipment. In 2007 Speedy Hire acquired the tool rental business of Hewden Stuart Plc, adding more than 180 locations to its network of depots across the UK.

Millennium Technologies wants to keep its customers revving high. The company maintains a stock of some 2,000 types of remanufactured cylinders, primarily for snowmobiles and motorcycles. It coats its cylinders with a nickel silicon carbide (NSC) -- the only thing harder is diamonds. Unlike other coatings, NSC is electroplated, rather than sprayed on, allowing the firm to offer a lifetime warranty for its work. Millennium also repairs cylinders. The parts retailer keeps its brand in front of current and potential clients by sponsoring motorcycle racers, several of whom have taken top prize in their events. President Jim Hackl founded Millennium Technologies in 1997.

Founded in 1977, Uniprix is a growing alliance of independent pharmacy operators who together own Uniprix company. Uniprix has vaulted into the #1 spot in the Quebec drugstore market (ahead of rival Jean Coutu). The chain operates about 390 drugstores under the Uniprix, Unipharm, Uniclinique, and Clinique Sante banners. (With about 360 pharmacies, Jean Coutu is still Quebec's largest chain by revenue.) Drugstores flying the Uniprix banner account for more than half of the company's locations. Many Uniprix locations are superstores averaging 7,500 sq. ft. Unipharm outlets are mid-size neighborhood shops, while Unipharm and Uniclinique are smaller pharmacies adjacent to medical centers and seniors' residences.

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.

At Carphone Warehouse, "upward mobility" means calling someone while driving uphill. The firm has more than 2,400 stores in Europe that sell mobile phones, contracts, and services. It operates stores under the Carphone Warehouse banner in the UK and The Phone House in eight other European markets, including France and Spain. Carphone Warehouse also sells Internet access to homes in England and Europe and has begun selling laptops, touch phones, and other mobile devices at a new, larger store format called Wireless World. Founded in 1989 by CEO Charles Dunstone and former director David Ross, Carphone Warehouse sold 50% of its retail business in 2008 and spun off its TalkTalk telecom unit in 2010.

Maxor National Pharmacy Services provides healthcare and pharmacy services including retail and mail order prescriptions (Maxor Pharmacies), pharmacy benefits management (MaxorPlus), pharmacy consulting (Maxor Pharmacy Consulting Services), and infusion and injection services (IVSolutions). The company operates more than a dozen Maxor Pharmacy stores, mostly in Texas and Washington, but also in Colorado and New York. It also provides services to more than 260,000 offenders in more than 190 correctional facilities in 27 states through direct management contracts or via its pharmacy services division. The first Maxor pharmacy opened in 1926, founded by Howard Guy Maxfield and Samuel Orr.

Chairman Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman founded the company in 1982; the Harvey family owns about 30% of the company. Bargain shoppers sniff out deals at stores owned or franchised by Harvey Norman Holdings. The fast-growing discounter sells consumer electronics, furniture, bedding, computers, flooring, and more through some 265 stores, mostly in Australia and New Zealand, but also in Asia, Ireland, and Slovenia. The retail outlets operate under the Domayne, Harvey Norman, and Joyce Mayne banners. Harvey Norman owns the ground under about a third of its stores and leases it to franchisees and provides them with administrative and advertising services in return for a percentage of sales.

The regional home improvement center chain was founded in 1962. A management group led by chairman and former CEO Charles Bender acquired the company in 1988 and now owns about one-quarter of Busy Beaver, which is facing heavyweight competition from big-box chains, such as Home Depot and Lowe's. They're busy as, well, you know what kind of animals at Busy Beaver Building Centers. The company has 15 stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia selling ceilings, flooring, lumber, plumbing fixtures, and other building materials, along with garden supplies, hardware, power equipment, and tools. Busy Beaver serves the professional contractor as well as the do-it-yourselfer.

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