TAKKT AG wants office decor to have some tact. The mail-order company sells office furniture, equipment, fixtures, and supplies. TAKKT also peddles retail display cases and warehouse equipment, such as shelving, carts, containers, ladders, and conveyor belts. The company primarily operates through three divisions: KAISER + KRAFT EUROPA, K + K America, and TopdeQ. (K + K America owns C&H Distributors, Hubert, and National Business Furniture). TAKKT companies sell more than 130,000 products via online or printed catalogs. The company distributes more than 70 million catalogs in North America, Europe, and Asia each year. Franz Haniel & Cie. owns more than 70% of the company.

Monrovia Nursery Company was founded in 1926 by the aptly named Harry Rosedale. A rose of any color keeps Monrovia Nursery in the black. Monrovia grows more than 20 million container-grown plants in 2,000 varieties at its five nurseries in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon. Among its offerings are camellias, conifers, ferns, perennials, rhododendrons, and trees. The company has introduced some 300 exclusive varieties, holding more than 200 patents and trademarks. Monrovia supplies more than 5,000 garden centers with its plants and also crafts topiary forms, including some at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. It has additionally developed more than 40 specialized soil mixtures.

Variety is not only the spice of life -- it's also a major purveyor of deeply discounted merchandise. With some 425 stores in about 15 Southeastern states, Variety Wholesalers has survived even Wal-Mart's march through rural America. The company, which has aggressively bought other chains while closing poorly performing stores, tends to set up shop in small towns where the retail giants fear to tread. Its retail outlets sell beauty products, housewares, snacks, toys and more, under banners including Bargain Town, Maxway, Roses, and Super 10. Variety Wholesalers was founded in 1949 by James Pope; the Pope family, including chairman and CEO Art Pope, still runs the company.

Stew Leonard's produces its own milk and is thought to sell more orange juice than any other store in the world. Charles Leonard began bottling milk in 1924; his son Stew built the first retail store in 1969. Stew Leonard and his family, including CEO Stew Jr., own Stew Leonard's.Customers don't stew at Stew Leonard's, where the customer is always right just ask the customer who got a refund for the turkey she burned. While singing milk cartons and farm animals amuse the kids, four locations in Connecticut and New York sell a selection of dairy products, juice, wine, and meats to some 300,000 people weekly. Stew Leonard's also offers catering services and online sales.

Benetton Group S.p.A. engages in the manufacture and marketing of fashion apparel in wool, cotton, and woven fabrics for men, women, and children primarily in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Benetton Group S.p.A. also provides leisurewear. It sells its apparel products under the brands of United Colors of Benetton Adult and Children, Undercolors, Sisley, Sisley Young, Playlife, and Killer Loop. In addition, the company produces and sells raw materials, such as fabrics, yarns, and labels; and semi-finished products, as well as offers industrial services. It operates a network of approximately 6,000 stores. Benetton Group S.p.A. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Ponzano, Italy. Benetton Group S.p.A. is a subsidiary of Edizione S.r.l.

Other World Computing (OWC) has been providing quality hardware products and support to the computer industry since 1988 and features one of the largest online catalogs of computer, iPod, and iPhone enhancement products through its e-commerce portal www.macsales.com. As an Apple Certified Developer, OWC also provides extensive US based technical support for Macintosh users around the world as well as Internet access via www.fastermac.net and www.owc.net. OWC's industry awards and recognition include: Crain's Chicago Business 2009 "Fast 50" List of 50 Fastest Growing Companies in the Chicago Area; Computerworld Magazine Top Green-IT Companies for 2008; Inc. 5,000 Top 100 Computers & Electronics Companies 2007 to 2009; and McHenry County Economic Development Corporation 2008 Business Champion Award.By activating an on-site wind turbine in October 2009 at its Woodstock, IL corporate headquarters, OWC became the first technology manufacturer/distributor in U.S. to become 100% on-site wind powered. The turbine cleanly generates more net energy than is consumed by OWC's operations and datacenter. OWC's leadership role in environmental stewardship was officially acknowledged in March 2010, when the Other World Computing corporate campus was awarded LEED Platinum Certification by the Green Building Certification Institute. Platinum is the highest achievable level of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Program, which began in 1998. Out of more than 14,000 LEED projects engaged worldwide since the program's inception, OWC is one ofless than three hundred to achieve the Platinum standard. With this recognition, OWC also became the first privately owned light manufacturing/assembly building in Illinois to obtain LEED Platinum status.

Established in 1940, USG is a subsidiary of Colonial Commercial. Though Universal Supply Group (USG) doesn't supply the entire universe, it does have HVAC in the tri-state area covered. Through about 10 locations in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Universal Supply Group, Inc. distributes air conditioning, heating, and ventilation equipment and supplies. Its Universal Energy Products division designs and sells systems and control panels for energy conservation along with indoor air quality equipment while its Goldman Universal division distributes appliances to retail stores in the region. USG also offers training and climate control consulting for contractors and building engineers.

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.

Founded in 1977, Uniprix is a growing alliance of independent pharmacy operators who together own Uniprix company. Uniprix has vaulted into the #1 spot in the Quebec drugstore market (ahead of rival Jean Coutu). The chain operates about 390 drugstores under the Uniprix, Unipharm, Uniclinique, and Clinique Sante banners. (With about 360 pharmacies, Jean Coutu is still Quebec's largest chain by revenue.) Drugstores flying the Uniprix banner account for more than half of the company's locations. Many Uniprix locations are superstores averaging 7,500 sq. ft. Unipharm outlets are mid-size neighborhood shops, while Unipharm and Uniclinique are smaller pharmacies adjacent to medical centers and seniors' residences.

Jewson first began operating as a provisions store in 1836. Jewson, a part of the Saint-Gobain Building Distribution division, operates more than 500 branches throughout the UK and is Britain's #2 building materials merchant behind Wolseley UK. Jewson stores supply timber and building materials (bathrooms, doors and windows, drains and foundations, dry lining and insulation, flooring, hardware, ironmongery, landscaping, masonry, painting and decorating, plumbing and heating, roofing, and tools) to mostly small contractors and do-it-yourselfers. About half the company's stores offer tool and equipment rentals, and reservations can also be made online.

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