Founded in 1988 by two fanatical skiers (Tim Slade and Jules Leaver) who sold clothing from their backpacks to support their skiing habits, Fat Face opened its first shop in London's Fulham Road in 1993. Its name is derived from an Olympic ski trail in the Alps. Fat Face was acquired by the London-based private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital in 2007 for about $707 million. Fat Face draws more than just name from a ski theme. Fat Face Limited company sells ski-and-surf-style activewear and outdoor clothing from more than 140 shops in the UK, Ireland, and France, as well as by catalog and online. Products include extreme sports apparel, footwear, jewelry, and accessories.

American Home operates three (down from a dozen in 2007) furniture and housewares stores in New Mexico under the American Home banner. Its products include mostly mid-priced (but some upscale) home furnishings (Kemp, Hillcraft, Natuzzi, DeCoro), lamps, bedding (Sealy, Simmons, Tempur-Pedic), rugs, dinnerware, related accessories, and gift registry and interior design services. Founded in 1936 as American Furniture Company by Emanuel Blaugrund, the company changed its name to American Home in 2000. The furniture retailer emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2010 after closing most of its stores, including all of its locations in Arizona.

Rockler Companies, Inc. company was founded in 1954 as a mail-order supplier of woodworking materials. Rockler Companies, a nationwide retail chain specializing in woodworking supplies, operates about 30 Rockler stores in about 20 states under the Rockler Woodworking and Hardware banner. The stores sells hardware (hinges, drawer slides), hand and power tools, finishes, wood and supplies, and shop equipment -- primarily to do-it-yourselfer types. It also sells cabinets; closet, kitchen, bath, and TV organizers; and TV and computer mounting equipment. In addition, Rockler operates a catalog business, six Web sites (including one for women in woodworking), and distributes its products through more than 60 independent partner stores.

Grupo Salinas is the group of companies owned by Ricardo B. Salinas, one of Mexico's wealthiest citizens. While not a holding company, Grupo Salinas has interests in financial services, media, retail, and telecommunications -- a few of which are listed on Mexico's stock exchange. It has controlling interests in the nation's #2 network, TV Azteca, cellular service provider Iusacell, and electronics retaler Grupo Elektra. Motorcycle manufacturer Italika launched production in 2005 and is Mexico's top seller, producing 300,000 bikes per year. Grupo Elektra's financial service firms, Banco Azteca, Seguros Azteca, and Afore Azteca, serve low-income families in Mexico, Brazil, and Peru.

Rallye S.A is active in real estate development, banking, and a variety of investment vehicles. Fonciere Euris controls about 58% of Rallye and nearly 75% of the voting rights.Retail giant Rallye musters its businesses around not just the French flag, but around flags worldwide. Rallye's Casino Guichard-Perrachon subsidiary operates more than 9,000 hypermarkets, supermarkets, and convenience stores in Europe (mostly France), Asia/Pacific, and Latin America. It also has a foothold in the sporting goods and athletic shoe department with Groupe Go Sport, which runs about 400 shops. In addition to retailing

Stein Mart, Inc. operates retail stores that offer fashion merchandise for men and women in the United States. Stein Mart company’s stores provide fashion apparel, accessories, gifts, linens, and shoes. As of January 30, 2010, it operated a chain of 267 retail stores in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Stein Mart, Inc. was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.

It was founded in 1913 by W.S. Cowling, Sr. Dixieline ProBuild (formerly Dixieline Lumber & Home Centers) operates in the deep south of California. The company, owned by Pro-Build Holdings, serves do-it-yourselfers, contractors, and remodelers through about a dozen lumberyard-home centers in the San Diego area. Each location is stocked with 35,000 SKUs, a lumber dock, and in-store door and window showrooms as well as kitchen and bath design centers. It also operates a facility for making trusses, milling, and remanufacturing. The business brings lumber to the West Coast through a dock facility in Oregon, and it also distributes structural lumber and framing and sheathing materials.

The Katz Group is one of Canada's leading drug store operators with over 1,800 drug stores across the country. In addition to its retail operations, the Katz Group owns and operates Canada's only national mail order pharmacy business, Rexall Direct (formerly known as Meditrust Pharmacy Inc.), one of Canada's largest institutional pharmacy operations.

Kroger's Fred Meyer Stores subsidiary (acquired in 1999) operates about 125 supercenters, which offer groceries, general merchandise, and jewelry, in the western US.Kroger is the nation's 1 pure grocery chain, but it still must watch out for falling prices; Wal-Mart has overtaken Kroger as the largest seller of groceries in the US. While Kroger has diversified through acquisitions, adding jewelry and general merchandise to its mix, food stores still account for about 85% of sales. The company operates about 3,620 stores, including some 2,465 supermarkets and multidepartment stores, under two dozen banners, in about 30 states. It also runs 775 convenience stores under names such as Quik Stop and Kwik Shop

Rooms To Go, with 120 stores in about 10 southern states and Puerto Rico -- has transformed itself into one of the top-selling furniture retailers in the US by taking the package approach to retailing. Rooms To Go (RTG) markets its limited selection of furniture to brand-conscious, time-pressed customers. It packages low- to moderately priced furniture and accessories and offers discounts for those willing to buy a roomful. The chain also operates the Rooms to Go Kids chain that sells furniture for kids and teens from more than 45 stores. CEO and owner Jeffrey Seaman and his father, Morty, founded RTG in 1990 after selling Seaman Furniture Company.

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