What do adventurers Ted Baker and J. Peterman have in common? They're both charming, slick, stylish (of course), and sheer fabrications of marketing. British clothier Ted Baker is the official outfitter of trendy lads in the UK. For men on the go, Ted makes a wrinkle-proof suit, an anti-bacterial shirt, and a bed-in-a-box linen set whose pillows contain a special condom pocket. For the birds and the nippers, there are Ted Baker Woman, Teddy Boy, and Teddy Girl. Accessories include skinwear, fragrances, eyewear, and watches. Ted has about 70 retail shops located in the UK and internationally; "his" clothes can also be found in about 125 other stores. CEO Raymond Kelvin owns about 40% of Ted Baker.

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.

Menard is owned by president and CEO John Menard, who founded the company in 1972. If sticks and stones break bones, what can two-by-fours and two-inch nails do? That is what Menard is wondering now that its biggest rivals (#1 home improvement giant The Home Depot and #2 Lowe's) are hammering away at its home turf. One of the largest home improvement chains in the Midwest, Menard has more than 250 stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The stores sell home improvement products, such as floor coverings, hardware, millwork, paint, and tools. Unlike competitors, all the company's stores have full-service lumberyards.

Trendy Zara is the flagship brand for Europe's fastest-growing apparel retailer Industria de Diseno Textil (commonly know as Inditex). Zara, the cheap-chic subsidiary of the Spanish fashion giant, runs about 1,520 stores, including some 230 Zara Kids shops, in more than 75 countries worldwide. Zara has about 40 shops in the US and 60 in Mexico. The chain sells women's, men's, and children's apparel and also offers plus-size and maternity lines to clothe its larger customers. Zara Home, which sells home fashions, has about 250 stores, in about 25 countries. Zara is Inditex's principal chain and accounts for about two-thirds of its parent company's sales.

In 1940 José Navarro, Sr. founded Navarro Discount Pharmacies in Havana, Cuba. The first store was located on Monte Street and had a large client base including the employees of the Power Company. Later a second store opened and together the two pharmacies were considered among the best on the Island, with great selection and low prices. Following radical political change in Cuba, in 1961 the new government confiscated the Navarro stores along with many other private companies, forcing the family to flee to the United States. Upon arriving in Miami, José Navarro, Sr. cashed an insurance policy and used the $4000 proceeds to open a pharmacy on S.W. 8th Street and 13th Avenue, in what would become the heart of Miami’s Little Havana sector.Navarro Discount Pharmacies continued to expand, eventually growing to 28 stores in Miami-Dade County. Navarro holds a 17% market share in South Florida with annual sales in excess of $320 million, making the company the most profitable performer on a sales-per-square foot basis than any other drug chain in recent years. Further expansion plans are firmly in place with new stores projected to open each year. In order to fuel expansion, in 2007 Navarro Discount Pharmacies partnered with MBF Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm headed by Mike Fernandez, who commands over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. This partnership has positioned Navarro to expand its presence in the market and achieve its vision of becoming the first choice pharmacy and discount drug chain store for families in each community we serve.

Gate Petroleum company runs a chain of about 225 Gate Food Post stores in six Southeastern states, including Florida and the Carolinas, that sell gas and groceries and offer fleet management services. The firm is also a wholesale fuel distributor to customers throughout the Southeast. The company is also active in the real estate and construction materials businesses. In Florida Gate owns several private clubs, office buildings, and business parks. Subsidiary Gate Concrete has plants in about half a dozen states that make and sell concrete and building materials. CEO Herbert Peyton, who founded the company in 1960, owns the majority of Gate Petroleum.

Fred's, Inc. and its subsidiaries sell general merchandise through retail discount stores and pharmacies in the southeastern United States. It offers pharmaceuticals, household goods, food and tobacco products, apparel and linens, health and beauty aids, household cleaning supplies, disposable diapers, pet foods, paper products, and various beverage products principally to low, middle, and fixed income families. The company also sells general merchandise to franchised Fred's stores. As of April 3, 2010, it operated 669 discount general merchandise stores, including 24 franchised stores. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

Founded by William Pike in 1958, Pike Nurseries, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2007, blaming the worst drought in Georgia in a century, and put itself up for sale. After closing some of its nurseries, Pike's retail operation was sold to California-based Armstrong Garden Centers (AGC) for $5.2 million in a bankruptcy auction in March 2008. Pike's wholesale businesses were also sold off. Pike Nurseries helps keep thumbs green across Atlanta. Pike Nurseries, Inc. runs about 15 Pike Family Nurseries in the Atlanta area and a single nursery in North Carolina (down from about 20 locations in 2007). Stores sell plants, chemicals, tools, shrubs, trees, and garden furniture.

Selfridges Retail Limited Company Profile Manhattan has Macy's; London has Selfridges. With 540,000 sq. ft. of selling space, the flagship Selfridges & Co. department store is still one of the biggest stores in the world and one of the top shops on London's posh Oxford Street. Selfridges also runs two smaller department stores in Manchester and a fourth location in Birmingham. The upmarket retailer sells a wide selection of brand-name fashion apparel, electronics, and housewares, but it aims to entertain as well with 15 in-store bars, cafes, and restaurants and a nearby 250-room, four-star hotel.

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.

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