Advance Auto Parts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items to do-it-yourself (DIY) and do-it-for-me customers. The company operates in two segments, Advance Auto Parts (AAP) and Autopart International (AI). The AAP segment operates stores, which primarily offer auto parts, including alternators, batteries, chassis parts, clutches, engines and engine parts, radiators, starters, transmissions, and water pumps; accessories comprising floor mats, mirrors, vent shades, MP3 and cell phone accessories, and seat and steering wheel covers; chemicals consisting of antifreeze, freon, fuel additives, and car washes and waxes; and oil and other automotive petroleum products. It also provides battery and wiper installation, battery charging, check engine light reading, electrical system testing, and oil and battery recycling services. In addition, this segment sells its products through online. As of January 2, 2010, it operated 3,264 AAP stores, including 3,238 stores located in the northeastern, southeastern, and Midwestern regions of the United States under the Advance Auto Parts and Advance Discount Auto Parts trade names, as well as 26 stores situated in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands under the Western Auto and Advance Auto Parts trade names. The AI segment operates stores that provide replacement parts for domestic and imported cars, and light trucks to DIY, do-it-for-me, or commercial customers in northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, as well as to warehouse distributors and jobbers in North America. It operated 156 stores under the Autopart International trade name in the United States. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. was founded in 1929 and is based in Roanoke, Virginia.

It was M.O. Lee - then president of VF Corporation - who suggested holding a public sale one Saturday morning to clear out excess inventory of Berkshire International. That day, the merchandise completely sold out, even though the only advertising had been word of mouth. The store was so busy that even Lee bagged merchandise and manned the cash register. “You could see his mind working,” said John Jackson, merchandise manager of Intimate Apparel at the time. “He was thinking he could make the store bigger. We just had a drop cloth on the back wall, and we kept moving it back.”Pleased and surprised at the success of the sale, Lee scheduled a bigger one for two weeks later, with merchandise brought in from other VF sources. That sale was even more successful, and the VF Outlet business was launched. Selling Berkshire and Vanity Fair surplus products, the factory store was 5,000 square feet, with only a drop cloth separating it from the manufacturing facility. VF Corporation - which opened the store in 1970 - was one of the earliest outlet operators, and opened the first outlet center in the country, in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Maxor National Pharmacy Services provides healthcare and pharmacy services including retail and mail order prescriptions (Maxor Pharmacies), pharmacy benefits management (MaxorPlus), pharmacy consulting (Maxor Pharmacy Consulting Services), and infusion and injection services (IVSolutions). The company operates more than a dozen Maxor Pharmacy stores, mostly in Texas and Washington, but also in Colorado and New York. It also provides services to more than 260,000 offenders in more than 190 correctional facilities in 27 states through direct management contracts or via its pharmacy services division. The first Maxor pharmacy opened in 1926, founded by Howard Guy Maxfield and Samuel Orr.

Founded in 1970, Wisenbaker Builder Services has sales and design centers in Dallas, Houston, and San Marcos, Texas. Wisenbaker Builder Services supplies a range of building materials to new home buyers, homeowners, and professional builders. The company's offerings include sinks, window arches and shutters, carpeting, ceramic tile, and wood and vinyl flooring. It also fabricates solid surface, quartz, and granite countertops.

Waitrose Limited operates about 230 Waitrose supermarkets in London, southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia, Wales, and Scotland. Founded in 1904 by Wallace Wait and Arthur Rose, it was acquired in 1937 by John Lewis Partnership, one of the UK's largest retailers. The grocer plans to dramatically increase its retail presence in the UK, and beyond, through a move into the convenience store market and the development of new store formats and partnerships with other retailers. Outside the food aisle, Waitrose plans to strengthen its non-food offering of clothing and housewares in its Food & Home store. A partnership with Internet grocer Ocado delivers Waitrose groceries to homes in London and Hertfordshire.

English Gardens Group, Inc. was founded in 1954 by the family of president John Darin and GM of the Troy store, Dean Darin. English Gardens helps the Motor City stay green. The company operates about 10 nurseries in the Detroit area and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Each location includes a nursery, garden center and pharmacy, florist, patio shop, and seasonal items. Stores also host seminars on planting, garden design, lawn care, and flower arrangement creation, among other topics. In addition to its products, English Gardens offers services such as landscape design and maintenance, holiday decorating, custom potting, and delivery.

Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) is Canada's only nationwide drugstore chain, with locations in every province and two territories. With more than 1,200 drugstores, it's #2 north of the border, behind Katz Group. Most of the company's stores fly the Shoppers Drug Mart banner (Pharmaprix in Quebec). It also operates about 65 Shoppers Home Health Care stores. SDM ranks as a leading Canadian retailer of beauty products, with more than 225 in-store beauty boutiques that sell prestige cosmetics, fragrances, and skin care products. It is expanding in Quebec by opening new stores and acquiring independent pharmacies. The firm was founded in 1962 by Murray Koffler, a Toronto druggist.

United Dairy Farmers (UDF) changed the way Cincinnati bought its milk. UDF -- which buys milk from area dairy farmers, then processes and packages it for sale in its stores -- has grown into a chain of about 200 convenience stores, mostly in Ohio, but also in Kentucky and Indiana. The company, still owned and run by the Lindner family, sells its own milk products, its Homemade brand ice cream and sherbet, coffee, and a variety of other food products at its stores. UDF locations also offer in-store ice cream parlors and sell Mobil brand gasoline.

Empire is also party to a joint venture with oil and gas properties in Alberta. Controlled by the Sobey family, Empire also develops and manages commercial and, to a lesser extent, residential real estate.Decline and fall? Not for this Empire of supermarkets, food distribution, movie theaters, and real estate. Empire Company owns Sobeys, Canada's #2 grocery chain (after Loblaw). Sobeys runs some 1,335 food and drug stores across Canada under names such as Sobeys, IGA, Foodland, Price Chopper, and Lawton's Drug; it distributes food to its company-owned stores and other retailers. Wholly-owned Empire Theatres operates about 50 theaters (380 screens) in eight provinces and is the #2 movie exhibitor in Canada.

Mallett PLC maintains a stock of about 2,000 pieces of antique (primarily 18th century) furniture, paintings, clocks, glass, textiles, and lighting, selling them to private collectors, museums, and designers. Founded in 1865, Mallett is itself an antique. Today the company operates two showrooms, one in New York, the other in London. Prospective buyers can also view the collection online. The Weinstock Trust Additional Fund holds nearly a one-third interest in the company. Mallet owns a majority stake in the London-based antique furniture restoration company H J Hatfield & Sons Ltd.

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