GNC is owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Board Plan, its affiliate Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund II, and management. GNC filed to go public in September 2010.What's good for the customer is good for GNC Acquisition Corporation (formerly General Nutrition Centers). GNC operates the world's leading nutritional-supplements retail chain devoted solely to items such as vitamins and dietary products. The company also makes Rite Aid private-label products. It sells its products online, as well, through a partnership with drugstore.com. GNC has 2,800 company-owned retail stores in the US and Canada; 1,900 store-within-a-store sites in Rite Aid's drugstores; and 2,220 franchised stores in 47 countries.

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.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of home products. It offers culinary and serving equipment, including cookware, cookbooks, cutlery, informal dinnerware, glassware, table linens, specialty foods, and cooking ingredients; and bridal and gift items under the Williams-Sonoma brand name. The company also provides home furnishing categories, including furniture, textiles, decorative accessories, lighting, and tabletop items under West Elm brand; bed and bath products under Pottery Barn brand; and children’s furnishings and accessories under Pottery Barn Kids brand name. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. sells its home products through five retail store concepts, which include Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma Home; seven direct-mail catalogs that comprise Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed and Bath, PBteen, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma Home; and six e-commerce Websites, which consist of williams-sonoma.com, potterybarn.com, potterybarnkids.com, pbteen.com, westelm.com, and wshome.com. As of January 31, 2010, it operated 610 retail stores, including 259 Williams-Sonoma, 199 Pottery Barn, 87 Pottery Barn Kids, 36 West Elm, 11 Williams-Sonoma Home, and 18 Outlet stores located in 44 states of the United States; Washington, D.C.; Canada; and Puerto Rico. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

SmartBargains is looking smarter and smarter as it develops into a full-blown electronic clearing house. Started in 2000 as an offshoot of liquidator Gordon Brothers Group, SmartBargains is a giant electronic bargain bin, offering such items as apparel, bedding, home decor, and luggage, at grossly reduced rates, often at costs up to 75% lower than retail. One of the few survivors of the dot-com bubble burst and operating only through its website, the company is a clearing house for closeouts and odd lots. SmartBargains is a division of Retail Convergence, which was acquired by e-commerce powerhouse GSI Commerce in late 2009.

Rite Aid Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates retail drugstores in the United States. Rite Aid Corporation company’s drugstores primarily offer pharmacy services. It provides prescription drugs and front end products, which include over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, personal care items, cosmetics, household items, beverages, convenience foods, greeting cards, seasonal merchandise, and various other everyday and convenience products, as well as photo processing products. The company sells its products under the Rite Aid brand. It offers its products to customers covered by third party payors, such as insurance companies, prescription benefit management companies, government agencies, private employers or other managed care providers. As of February 27, 2010, Rite Aid Corporation operated 4,780 retail drugstores in 31 states, as well as in the District of Columbia. It has a strategic alliance with GNC to operate GNC stores within Rite Aid stores. Rite Aid Corporation was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Old Time Pottery a chain of about 30 stores in about 10 states in the South and Midwest selling discounted closeout and overstock housewares, silk flowers, framed art, linens, rugs, craft supplies, seasonal merchandise, and more. The company gets its inventory, which it displays in a warehouse-type setting, from the canceled orders and excess stock of manufacturers. And it needs lots of inventory, as stores average about 2 acres in size. Founded in 1986, Old Time Pottery is controlled by the Peterson family. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2009 and exited it in August 2010.

J Sainsbury plc operates approximately 872 stores comprising 537 supermarkets and 335 convenience stores; and holds 294 freehold and long leasehold stores, as well as 2 property joint ventures containing 43 supermarkets. In addition, it provides insurance, credit cards, savings products, and loans. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.J Sainsbury plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in retailing, financial services, and property investment businesses in the United Kingdom. The company’s stores offer a range of food, and complementary non-food products and services primarily under the Sainsbury’s brand. It also provides an Internet-based home delivery shopping service.

Robertson Heating Supply Co. was founded in 1934. When the Buckeyes, Wolverines, and Nittany Lions get cold, Robertson Heating Supply helps to warm them up. The company distributes heating, air conditioning, and plumbing supplies as well as kitchen products through about 30 locations in Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Designers and engineers are also available to help with kitchen, commercial HVAC, and hydronic projects. In addition to its retailing activities, Robertson Heating Supply offers state-certified training programs.

The subsidiary of CDW Corporation bought Technology Resource Center, which served higher education customers, in late 2006 and folded it into its operations. You might say this company is schooled in how best to sell computers to the public sector. CDW Government is a leading supplier of computer products to public education institutions and other federal, state, and local government agencies. It offers wide selection of hardware and software, networking equipment and computer peripherals, and general office supplies and furniture. CDW Government sells products through its Web site and catalogs and through a direct sales force.

Sapp Bros Travel Centers (formerly Sapp Bros Truck Stops) has the usual air, gas, food, but also offers human conveniences such such as laundry rooms, mailbox rentals, private showers, and TV lounges. The company operates a chain of some 15 truck stops -- readily identifiable by the giant red-and-white coffeepot logo -- along interstate highways from Utah to Pennsylvania; with a concentration in Nebraska. Half of the locations also operate service centers, offering oil changes, new tires, and safety checks. Its sister company, Sapp Bros Petroleum, distributes petroleum products in Nebraska and western Iowa. The firm is run by CEO Bill Sapp, one of the four founding Sapp brothers.

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