C&A targets budget-conscious shoppers from Sao Paulo to Shanghai and all points in between. The company sells moderately priced apparel for men, women, and children through more than 1,600 stores in Brazil, Mexico, China, and about 20 European countries (where the majority of its network is concentrated), as well as online. Its portfolio of a dozen in-house brands include Clockhouse, Westbury, and Your Sixth Sense. The Brenninkmeijer family owns the company through Switzerland-based COFRA Holding. Brenninkmeijer men hold nearly all the top positions within the business, which traces its roots back to 1841, when the brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer opened a textile warehouse in the Netherlands.

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.

Material Supply, doing business as MSI HVAC, distributes residential and commercial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products. It also fabricates sheet metal fittings, commercial ductwork, and cut-to-length duct systems and linesets. Through three locations in California and one in Las Vegas, MSI company offers services such as free in-area delivery, made-to-order products, and no rush charges. MSI stocks products from manufacturers such as Chromalox, Fieldpiece Instruments, Honeywell, and Johns Manville.

Carahsoft Technology Corp. is the trusted Government IT solutions provider, combining technological expertise with a thorough understanding of the government procurement process to help federal, state and local government agencies select and implement the best solution at the best possible value. As a top-ranked GSA Schedule Contract holder, Carahsoft is the largest government partner and serves as the master government aggregator for many of its best-of-breed vendors. The company's dedicated Solutions Divisions support proactive sales, marketing and delivery of Symantec, Storage Solutions, VMware, Adobe, Open Source, HR, HP Software, Intelligence, and SAP.Carahsoft is consistently recognized by its partners as a top revenue producer and is listed among the industry's fastest growing firms by VAR Business, CRN, Inc., Washington Technology, and the Washington Business Journal. In 2009, Carahsoft was ranked among the top ten companies by total revenue on the Inc.500 list of privately held companies, and received the VAR Business Top Revenue Generator Award.

PriceSmart is wise in the ways of members-only club retailing. The retailer runs more than 25 membership stores under the PriceSmart name in about a dozen countries and one US territory in Central America and the Caribbean. It sells low-cost food, pharmacy, and basic consumer items. In each store, nearly half of the merchandise comes from the US, and the other half is sourced locally. In-store services include auto/tire centers, banking, and photo developing. PriceSmart stores are typically smaller than wholesale clubs in the US, averaging about 50,000-75,000 sq. ft., and the membership fees average about $25. PriceSmart was founded in 1976 by father-and-son team Sol and Robert Price.

Variety is not only the spice of life -- it's also a major purveyor of deeply discounted merchandise. With some 425 stores in about 15 Southeastern states, Variety Wholesalers has survived even Wal-Mart's march through rural America. The company, which has aggressively bought other chains while closing poorly performing stores, tends to set up shop in small towns where the retail giants fear to tread. Its retail outlets sell beauty products, housewares, snacks, toys and more, under banners including Bargain Town, Maxway, Roses, and Super 10. Variety Wholesalers was founded in 1949 by James Pope; the Pope family, including chairman and CEO Art Pope, still runs the company.

Liberty Plc aims to deliver a liberal dose of luxury to London's shoppers. The firm operates a high-end department store on London's Regent Street under the Liberty banner. The landmark Tudor revival style emporium offers fashion-forward men's and women's apparel, shoes and accessories, beauty products, home goods, and other sundries and services. About a third of its revenue is generated by Liberty Art Fabrics, which designs, makes, and distributes high-quality, avant-garde textiles. Founded in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty, the firm has had a historic relationship with Japan and objects from that area.

Harvey Nichols is an international luxury lifestyle store, renowned both in the UK and internationally for the breadth and depth of its exclusive fashion merchandise. It offers many of the world's most prestigious brands in womenswear, menswear, accessories, beauty, food and home.Harvey Nichols currently has stores in London, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Leeds in the UK, Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, a store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in Hong Kong, China, in Dubai, UAE, Istanbul, Turkey, Jakarta, Indonesia and and a further store in Ankara, Turkey. The London flagship store is located in the heart of Knightsbridge, London's most fashionable and exclusive shopping district.

Champion Window Manufacturing is looking for a home-improvement boom as its window of opportunity. The company makes custom-built, vinyl-framed replacement windows and doors and sells them directly to homeowners through about 75 sales and installation offices in some 30 states. It also manufactures patio rooms, porch enclosures, and vinyl siding; remodels basements; and sells patio furniture made by third-party vendors. Champion Window, founded in 1953 by Alvin Levine and Arthur Stevens as a maker of aluminum storm windows, doors, and awnings, was owned by former executives Edward Levine (son of Alvin) and Bernard Barbash until mid-2007, when a private-equity investor gained control of day-to-day operations.

Here's a company that's traveled a fur piece from its 17th- century roots. Founded in 1670 as a fur trading enterprise, Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) is Canada's largest department store chain and oldest corporation. Its Zellers chain is the country's #2 discount department store (behind Wal-Mart Canada), with some 280 stores. HBC also runs about 90 the Bay department stores that focus on more upscale merchandise, 190-plus Fields general merchandise and apparel stores in Western Canada, more than 65 Home Outfitters superstores, and Hbc.com. The company also has its own credit card and financial services companies. HBC is owned by NRDC Equity Partners, which is looking to take the company public as early as 2011.

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