Victoria's Secret is not hush-hush, but it is unmentionable(s). The largest subsidiary of Limited Brands (based on sales) is also North America's #1 specialty retailer of women's intimate apparel, operating about 1,040 mostly mall-based Victoria's Secret and 250-plus La Senza lingerie stores throughout the US and Canada. Bras, panties, hosiery, swimwear, shoes, and more are sold under the Victoria's Secret brand and grouped in collections such as Dream Angels and Very Sexy. Many Victoria's Secret lingerie stores also sell beauty products. Its sister company Victoria's Secret Direct mails about 400 million of its sexy catalogs per year, offering intimate apparel, women's clothing, and footwear.

Steinhoff UK Retail wants it customers to fill their homes with furniture with its help. Formerly named Homestyle Group until 2007, the company is one of Britain's largest furniture retailers. Its furniture division, Harveys Furnishing Group, operates about 170 Harveys: The Furniture Store shops throughout the UK. Its beds division operates Bensons Beds (the UK's largest bed retailer with 220 stores and 15,000 branded beds), Bed Shed (more than 50 stores primarily in Scotland), and Sleepmasters (with nearly 120 retail sites in the UK). Steinhoff Europe AG, a subsidiary of Steinhoff International Holdings (SIH), took the company private in 2007.

House of Fraser is a department store group with 62 enviable locations across the UK and Ireland. As one of the best known names on the high street, House of Fraser has presented customers with an unrivalled nationwide department store for more than 150 years. The company was acquired by the Highland consortium in November 2006 marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter in its history.

Founded in 1929, Fisher Auto Parts is owned by the Fisher family and run by CEO Bo Fisher. Though it hooks a lot of do-it-yourselfers, Fisher Auto Parts is primarily trying to lure the professional installer. The company operates through about 300 stores in some 15 states (mostly on the East Coast and in the Midwest). It is also the founding member of Federated Auto Parts, an automotive supply distribution network that serves more than 3,800 retail locations. Fisher Auto Parts provides for do-it-yourselfers, but its business focus is on professional installers. To enhance service for them, company workers are Automotive Service Excellence certified.

LAWSON aims to be the "hot station" in the neighborhood for on-the-go Japanese. Japan's #2 convenience store chain (behind Seven-Eleven Japan), LAWSON operates more than 9,800 outlets throughout Japan and in Shanghai, China. Its stores offer original products including main dishes, prepared noodles, bakery and deli items, and rice balls. (Food and groceries account for about 85% of sales.) Subsidiary Lawson Ticket sells concert, sports, and other events tickets in LAWSON and Daiei stores. Lawson ATM dispenses cash to shoppers in about 6,000 LAWSON shops. Subsidiary Ninety-nine Plus sells perishable foods. Founded in 1975 as Daiei Lawson Co., the chain was spun off by financially troubled Daiei in 2000.

Cronin's Porch & Patio is a casual furniture retailer, selling high-end outdoor patio furniture and related accessories, as well as tableware items. Through a pair of stores in the state of Florida, the family-run company offers tables, chairs, rockers, recliners, cushions, and accessories. It peddles products under several name brands, including Homecrest and Summer Classics.

Offenbacher Aquatics (also known simply as Offenbacher's) is a casual furniture retailer with about a half a dozen stores in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The company sells outdoor patio furniture, indoor wicker furniture, barbeque grills, hot tubs, pool tables, fireplace mantels, and Christmas decorations. It carries such brands as Tommy Bahama, American Hearth, Jensen Jarrah, Vermont Castings, and Dynasty Spas. Offenbacher's was founded in 1973.

Esselunga is owned by Supermarkets Italiani S.p.A., and controlled by its founder and chairman Bernardo Caprotti and family.Esselunga is a leading Italian grocery store chain, with about 130 supermarkets and superstores, or hypermarkets, throughout northern Italy. The company also had real estate assets which it hived off into a separate company, La Villata S.p.A., in 2005. The Italian grocery chain has long been rumored to be a takeover target of foreign retailers because it operates in some of the richest regions in Italy. The company has been busy opening new stores and remodeling existing locations. Founded in 1957.

Claire's Accessories UK, like its US parent company Claire's Stores, sells costume jewelry, handbags, and hair accessories largely to the 7- to 14-year-old set through about 430 stores throughout England and Ireland. It also markets accessories to late teens and twenty-somethings through its Icing stores. The company's stores are primarily located in shopping malls and on high streets. Claire's Stores opened its first shop in the UK in 1996 and has since extended its reach to other European countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland.

SmartLabs brings high-tech comforts home with the push of a button. Its SmartLabs Technology unit creates electronic automation and remote control products for lighting, security systems, theater equipment, and other home management systems. The SmartLabs Design division designs and produces its INSTEON wireless technology line, as well as offers original equipment manufacturing services. Reaching consumers in some 130 countries, SmartLabs' Smarthome business markets more than 5,000 electronic home improvement products online, by phone, and through catalogs. President and CEO Joe Dada founded the company in 1992.

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