In 1915, M.B. Skaggs, an ambitious young man in the small Idaho town of American Falls, purchased a tiny grocery store from his father. M.B.'s business strategy, to give his customers value and to expand by keeping a narrow profit margin, proved spectaculary successful. By 1926 he was opening 428 Skaggs stores in 10 states. M.B. almost doubled the size of his business that year when he merged his company with 322 Safeway (formerly Selig) stores. Two years later M.B. listed Safeway on the New York Stock Exchange. M.B. did not let the difficulties of the Great Depression dilute his pioneering focus on value for customers. In the 1930s Safeway introduced produce pricing by the pound, opening dating on perishables to assure freshness, nutritional labeling, even some of the first parking lots.

Residents of the Sun Belt have been known to leave their homes with Beall's on. The retail holding company operates through subsidiaries Beall's Department Stores, Beall's Outlet, and Burke's Outlet Stores in a dozen states. It has more than 560 department and outlet stores (about 200 are in Florida) located throughout states in the southern and western US, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Products range from off-price clothing and footwear for men and women to cosmetics, gifts, and housewares. Each chain has its own online shopping destination. The family-owned company was founded in 1915 by the grandfather of Chairman Bob Beall (pronounced "bell").

Schnuck Markets founded in 1939, the company is owned by the Schnuck family and run by CEO Scott Schnuck and president and COO Todd Schnuck.If you'll meet me in St. Louis, then chances are there'll be a Schnucks in sight. The region's largest food chain, Schnuck Markets operates about 105 stores, mostly in the St. Louis area, but also in other parts of Missouri and in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. All stores offer a full line of groceries, and most have pharmacies, video rental outlets, in-store banking, and florist shops. Although most stores operate under the Schnucks banner, the company also runs about a half a dozen Logli supermarkets in Illinois and Wisconsin, and a specialty pharmacy.

King Soopers customers can also shop online (kingsoopers.com) with home delivery service. Its supermarkets offer online prescription refills. King Soopers is a division of Dillon Companies, which is owned by The Kroger Co., the #1 pure grocery chain in the US.King Soopers operates about 140 combination food and drug stores mostly in Colorado but also in Wyoming. About half of the stores are in the Denver area. In addition to traditional supermarket fare, the regional grocery chain offers bulk and natural and organic foods to compete with Whole Foods, which acquired King Soopers' local rival Wild Oats Markets in 2007. It also sells private-label goods under the King Soopers and other Kroger brand names.

RepairClinic.com® provides the do-it-yourself consumer market with the resources needed to fix their household appliances, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, and outdoor power equipment. We have an extensive inventory of more than one million parts that we photograph, define, and categorize to make them easier for customers to find and purchase. To assist more than 75,000 individuals each month with free repair help information, we have assembled a vast library of text documents, diagrams, and high-definition videos. We are continuously updating the library and training our employees with current parts and repair information to offer the best customer service possible. Our extraordinary return policy allows any part, including electrical parts, to be returned within 30 days for your money back. And with our same day shipping guarantee on all in stock parts, there is no wonder why more than two million customers nationwide have purchased parts from RepairClinic. RepairClinic began in 1999 in a small, rented office with a team of seven people. By 2004, to accommodate our rapidly growing inventory and staff of over 50 employees, we built a 60,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Canton, MI. We have since added 26,000 sq. ft. and 80 more employees including a team of bi-lingual customer care representatives.

SNAX 24 operates about 75 combination fuel stations/convenience stores (distributing major oil brands, such as BP and Shell) throughout the UK. SNAX 24 is owned by its chairman, Gerald Rosnon, founder of the Heron International property group and SNAX 24's predecessor, Heron Service Stations, which was started when Rosnon was only 17 years old. Its first service station was opened at St. Albans, England in 1966, and the SNAX 24 concept was introduced in 1992.

EmbroidMe is on the fast track. As a franchise operation, EmbroidMe.com Inc. offers custom embroidery, screen printing, and promotional products through about 350 shops in nearly 10 countries (including Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US). Stores specialize in emblazoning custom designs on items such as golf shirts, ball caps, towels, uniforms, jackets, and bags, as well as promotional fare (pens, mouse pads, and mugs). EmbroidMe outlets feature brand-name apparel (such as adidas, Liz Claiborne, and Nike Golf) and its own private-label products. EmbroidMe.com Inc. is part of United Franchise Group. It was founded in 2000 by Ray Titus, the group's CEO.

Connor Co. was founded as Kinsey & Mahler, a brass valve manufacturer, in 1850. It became Connor Co. in 1936. Goldilocks would like Connor Co. If it's too hot or too cold, the heating and A/C company can make it just right. Through about 20 locations in Illinois and one in St. Louis, the company distributes heating and air conditioning equipment along with boilers, fittings, furnaces, pipes, pumps, valves, wells, and other industrial equipment. Connor company also conducts its business online. Connor Co. boasts sheet metal fabrication and valve automation facilities and peddles Kohler products within its showrooms in many locations.

The Wet Seal, Inc., a specialty retailer, operates stores that sell fashionable and contemporary apparel and accessory items designed for female customers. The company operates two primarily mall-based chains of retail stores under the Wet Seal and Arden B names. Its Wet Seal stores provide fashionable and basic apparel, and accessories for teenage girls; and Arden B stores offer contemporary collections of fashion, basic separates, and accessories for the feminine contemporary woman. In addition, the company operates Web-based stores, including wetseal.com that provides Wet Seal merchandise; and ardenb.com, which offers Arden B apparel and accessories. As of May 1, 2010, it had 501 stores, including 422 Wet Seal stores and 79 Arden B stores in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The Wet Seal, Inc. was founded in 1962 and is based in Foothill Ranch, California.

bebe stores, inc. engages in the design, development, and production of women’s apparel and accessories. Its products include a range of separates, tops, dresses, active wear, and accessories in career, evening, casual, and active lifestyle categories. The company markets its products under the bebe, BEBE SPORT, bbsp, PH8, and 2b bebe brand names. As of July 3, 2010, it operated 297 retail stores, and an online store at www.bebe.com in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada, as well as 49 international licensee operated stores. bebe stores, inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Brisbane, California.

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