Based in Mississippi, Southern Pipe is family-owned and was founded in 1938. Southern Pipe and Supply Co., Inc. sells pipes and anything that connects to them. Serving everyone from contractors and homeowners to commercial real estate property owners, Southern Pipe sells plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning supplies through more than 90 stores located throughout seven southeastern states. The company operates a central distribution center and a handful of Southern Bath & Kitchen showrooms that feature various products for homeowners. Southern Pipe's vendors include dozens of supply companies and manufacturers such as MOEN, Kohler, and Amana Heating and Air Conditioning.

Worsley Operating Corporation (formerly Worsley Companies) operates about 210 convenience stores in North and South Carolina under the Scotchman, Youngs, S&E Food Mart, and Li'l Cricket banners. The stores sell fuel under the BP, Exxon, Shell, Mobil, and Sunoco brands as well as Worsley's own Carolina Petro brand. To fuel the body, many of its convenience stores offer Subway, Quiznos, and Blimpie fast food as well as the firm's own brand of breakfast and lunch items. Worsley also operates two truck stops in North Carolina. The company was founded in 1923 by W. C. Worsley Sr. Worsley Companies was acquired by an affiliate of the private investment firm Sun Capital Partners in 2008.

Craving Italian fashions? La Rinascente operates more than a dozen upscale la Rinascente department stores in cities across Italy. The company's flagship store near the Duomo in Milan -- Italy's fashion capital -- accounts for about 50% of sales. The retailer also operates the UPIM chain of some 340 company-owned and franchised stores throughout Italy and a single concept store in Rome called Jam. La Rinascente tempts shoppers with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Gucci. Aldo and Senatore Borletti founded La Rinascente in 1917. Today the company is owned by its chairman, the Italian entrepreneur Maurizio Borletti (Aldo's grandson)

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.

Auer Steel & Heating Supply Co. is a full-service distributor of high quality indoor comfort products, featuring the Bryant, Carrier (Milwaukee only) and Payne brands of furnaces, air conditioners, humidifiers, air cleaners, heat & energy recovery ventilators, controls and other accessories. Auer Steel company began in 1940 in Milwaukee, when Don Curtes, Sr. founded the business on his philosophy of superior customer service. Now, over 65 years and two generations later, the Curtes family still owns and operates Auer Steel with the same valued-added service ideals.During the late 1980's and early 1990's, Auer Steel opened three satellite branch operations to provide even better service to its customers. Although our Carrier/Bryant/Payne product lines are limited to Southeastern Wisconsin, we will gladly ship other products throughout the state. May 1995 brought the expansion of Auer Steel to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. From its location in suburban New Hope, Auer Steel/Twin Cities serves customers in nearly all of Minnesota, eastern North Dakota and northwestern Wisconsin. November 2004 brought us another opportunity for growth. Our acquisition of the Bryant distributor serving Appleton, Green Bay, Wausau, northeastern Wisconsin and western Upper Michigan allows us to bring our superior customer service to exciting new territory.

Outlet mall capital Reading, Pennsylvania, has conceived more than bargain shopping. It's given us Boscov's Department Store, which operates about 40 stores (down from 50 in 2007) that anchor malls mainly in Pennsylvania and four other mid-Atlantic states. The stores sell men's, women's, and children's apparel, shoes, and accessories, as well as jewelry, cosmetics, housewares, appliances, and sporting goods. It also operates an online store. After expanding too rapidly amid a worsening outlook for department stores, Boscov's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2008 and was later purchased by a group led by its chairman and CEO Albert Boscov. Boscov's was founded by Solomon Boscov in 1911.

SKH Management operates a chain of more than half a dozen Stauffers of Kissel Hill (SKH) combination supermarkets and garden centers and standalone garden centers in central Pennsylvania. In addition to traditional grocery departments (bakery, meat and seafood, deli, as well as an extensive produce selection), the stores offer floral and home and holiday decor departments. The garden centers sell floral arrangments and gift baskets, gardening supplies, foliage plants, mulch and stone, patio furniture, and more. The regional retail chain was founded in 1932 by Roy Stauffer, Sr. Today the company is still family-owned and run by Paul Stauffer.

Holland Southwest International, Inc. was founded by Gus Gillebaard, an immigrant from Holland, as a small import company in 1953. Distributor Holland Southwest International supplies forest products from vendors throughout the world. The company boasts inventory facilities about a dozen locations in North America, such as Baltimore, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio, Memphis, Oklahoma City, and Mexico City. It ships directly to vendors in China, Russia, the UK, and several other countries. The wood-products firm also includes Holland Southwest among its holdings, which has interests in plants that manufacture prefinished wall paneling and bathroom wallboard.

Shoppers in Western Canada in search of everything from cough syrup to computers shop London Drugs. London Drugs Limited company is one of Canada's leading pharmacy chains with 70-plus shops in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. London Drugs sells a mix of traditional drugstore products, as well as general merchandise, and computer and home entertainment equipment from large stores (average size 34,000 sq. ft.). Bucking the trend among Canadian pharmacy operators to grow by acquisition, London Drugs is expanding by building new stores and adding new services, such as in-store postal outlets. Chairman Brandt Louie owns London Drugs through family-owned H.Y. Louie Co.

Delhaize Group formed Delhaize America in 1999. The international food retailer bought the rest of Delhaize America in 2001.Belgian food retailer Delhaize "Le Lion" has one big cub -- Delhaize America. With some 1,600 supermarkets and discount grocery stores from Maine to Florida, the holding company is the third-largest supermarket operator on the East Coast. Banners include: Food Lion (some 1,330 stores located mainly in the Carolinas and Virginia, but also in eight other eastern seaboard states); the Hannaford Bros. supermarket chain (about 170 stores in New England and New York); and 70 Harveys supermarkets. In Florida, the firm has converted all of its grocery stores to the Sweetbay format.

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