The Cato Corporation operates as a fashion specialty retailer for fashion and value conscious females principally in the southeastern United States. Its stores offer an assortment of apparel and accessories, including dressy, career, and casual sportswear; dresses; coats; shoes; lingerie; costume jewelry; and handbags. As of January 30, 2010, the Cato Corporation company operated 1,271 women’s fashion specialty stores in 31 states under the Cato, Cato Fashions, Cato Plus, It’s Fashion, and It’s Fashion Metro brand names. The Cato Corporation also provides its own credit card and a layaway plan for customers to purchase its merchandise. The Cato Corporation company was founded in 1946 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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.

In Germany a trip to the corner drugstore is often a trip to Anton Schlecker. Fa. Anton Schlecker company is Germany's largest drugstore operator with about 10,650 discount retail outlets there. It also operates another 3,300 stores in about a dozen countries in Europe, including Austria, France, Italy, Poland, and Spain. Schlecker stores stock more than 4,000 product lines, including branded and private-label items. The shops also feature over-the-counter drugs, cosmetics, baby products, tobacco, photo services, and more. It is owned by German billionaire Anton Schlecker, who opened his first drugstore in 1975.

Habitat UK Limited offers furniture, kitchenware, textiles, and decorative accessories from more than 30 countries. It vends its wares through some 70 stores in the UK, France, Germany, and Spain, as well as online and via catalog. In addition to these outlets, Habitat has retail distribution partners in about 15 other countries in Europe and the Asia/Pacific region. The company also sells ready-to-hang artwork through its Art on Demand Web site. Habitat was founded in 1964 by British designer Sir Terence Conran. Former owner The Ikano Group, a holding company owned by IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad and his family, sold the chain to an affiliate of Hilco in December 2009.

Groupe ADEO was formed in 2006 as an umbrella group for Leroy Merlin's growing stable of DIY chains worldwide. Groupe ADEO seeks to set the global house in order. An alliance of 18 autonomous companies (most notably France's Leroy Merlin) in nine countries in Asia, Europe, and South America, Groupe ADEO's business is home improvement. The alliance operates hypermarkets under the Leroy Merlin banner in Brazil, China, France, and Russia. Smaller outlets operate under the Aki, Brico, Dompro, and Weldom names in several European countries. Other retail concepts include Dompro (which sells industrial supplies, hardware, and tools for professionals) and a single Zodio home accessories store, both operating in France.

Bradfords Building Supplies Ltd. was founded in 1770 by William Bradford, and today is run by his great, great, great grandson chairman Peter Bradford. From pressboard to brads, and everything in between, Bradfords Building Supplies offers builders things to swing hammers at, with, and on. Operating through about 25 branches in England, Bradfords Building Supplies provides contractors with appliances, bricks, decking, doors, electrical items, insulation, lumber, nails and screws, paint, plumbing and heating fixtures and equipment, roofing, safety wear, tools, and other construction or related materials. Bradfords also offers tool hire at about 10 branches. It also operates a company retail Web site.

US Airconditioning was founded in July 1990 when former Carrier employees John Staples and John Scarsi, now CEO and CFO respectively of US Airconditioning, bought Carrier Los Angeles. US Airconditioning Distributors ended its relationship with Carrier in 2007. US Airconditioning Distributors cools down (and heats up) the West. US Airconditioning Distributors distributes heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning products from such manufacturers as York, Coleman, MagicAire, and Siemens through about 70 locations in California, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and Florida. HVAC products available from US Airconditioning Distributors run from single window units to heating and cooling systems for retailers and offices. It also sells parts and components.

In 1923 Frank McCoy founded a roofing company, which his son, Emmett, combined with McCoy Supply to form the McCoy Corporation. Today the firm is still family owned and led by CEO Brian McCoy, Emmett's son. Even though it's battling home-improvement giants The Home Depot and Lowe's, McCoy still has time for a day off. The company owns and operates about 80 McCoy's Building Supply Centers, which are concentrated primarily in Texas but also in Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. In keeping with its Texas roots, McCoy's also stocks farm and ranch products, and it runs two millwork facilities. The retailer adheres to a steadfast tradition of closing stores on Sundays.

Drugs are merely part of the story at Discount Drug Mart. One of the largest drugstore chains in Ohio, Discount Drug Mart, Inc. offers pharmacy services, medical and home health care supplies, and over-the-counter medications, as well as groceries (including fresh produce), beauty aids, pet supplies, housewares, and hardware. It also provides video rentals and photo developing service. Discount Drug Mart's nearly 70 stores are 25,000 sq. ft. on average, about twice the size of its rivals' locations, but smaller and more convenient than its national big-box competitors, such as Wal-Mart and Target. Chairman and CEO Parviz Boodjeh owns Discount Drug Mart, Inc., which he founded in 1969.

Sam's Club runs about 600 "no frills" stores in 48 US states, plus another 135 or so stores in Brazil, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The chain's 47 million-plus members -- many of them small-business owners -- pay an annual fee to shop there. The stores average 133,000 square feet and offer more than 4,000 discounted items, including bulk office supplies and food, electronic goods, jewelry, clothes, insurance and travel services, and Member's Mark store-brand products. Samsclub.com is the company's online incarnation.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.