Fellow countryman John Scheepers founded the company in 1905; he made the tulip the symbol of spring and came to be known as The Tulip King. John Scheepers isn't sheepish about its specialty. The company sells more than 700 varieties of tulips, narcissi, lilies, amaryllis, and rare and unusual Dutch bulbs through catalogs and online. It also sells bulb food and offers tips and planting information on its Web site. Company president Jan Ohms owns John Scheepers and sister company Van Engelen, a bulb wholesaler. Ohms is a fourth generation bulb specialist from Holland.

IGA grocers are independent, but not alone. The world's largest voluntary supermarket network, IGA has 6,200 stores in more than 40 countries worldwide, including about 1,350 in the US. Collectively, its members are among North America's leaders in terms of supermarket sales. IGA (which stands for either International or Independent Grocers Alliance, the company says) is owned by about 35 worldwide distribution companies, including SUPERVALU. Members can sell IGA-brand private-label products (over 2,300 items) and take advantage of joint operations and services, such as advertising and volume buying. Some stores in the IGA alliance, which primarily caters to smaller towns, also sell gas.

Siam FamilyMart may be the second-largest convenience store chain in Thailand, but it still has a long way to go to catch up with #1: Seven-Eleven Japan. The fast-growing company operates more than 550 convenience stores throughout Thailand, about a tenth the number of its larger rival. The stores offer hot and cold snacks and beverages, sandwiches, rice balls, cigarettes, and other convenience items. Established in 1993, FamilyMart is a subsidiary of Japan's FamilyMart chain of convenience stores. The company franchises its individual stores and provides support in the form of managerial advice, training, advertising, promotions, store equipment, and the preparation of annual tax documents.

Founded in 1994 as Korea Home Shopping, the firm changed its name to GS Home Shopping in 2005. GS Home Shopping allows consumers to shop without the hassle of leaving the house. The company, the third largest TV home shopping outlet (behind QVC and HSN), beams 24 hours of live television programming each day into some 17 million homes throughout Southeast Asia and China. GSeShop is GS Home Shopping's Internet shopping mall that not only allows customers to order goods from the Internet, but provides more than 2.2 million product reviews. GS Home Shopping also circulates more than 2 million catalogs each month that feature more than 3,000 products.

C&A targets budget-conscious shoppers from Sao Paulo to Shanghai and all points in between. The company sells moderately priced apparel for men, women, and children through more than 1,600 stores in Brazil, Mexico, China, and about 20 European countries (where the majority of its network is concentrated), as well as online. Its portfolio of a dozen in-house brands include Clockhouse, Westbury, and Your Sixth Sense. The Brenninkmeijer family owns the company through Switzerland-based COFRA Holding. Brenninkmeijer men hold nearly all the top positions within the business, which traces its roots back to 1841, when the brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer opened a textile warehouse in the Netherlands.

Founded as an auto supply store in 1938 by chairman Dave Lack, Lack's Stores branched out into furniture during WWII, in an effort to maintain company sales. Its diversification paid off, and Lack's automotive and hardware offerings were phased out in the 1970s. Today, the family-owned and -operated company sells home furnishings, bedding, major appliances, and home electronics through some 35 retail stores, operating under the Lacks and Lacks Home Furnishings banners. Most of the company's stores are located throughout the state of Texas. Lack's operates one retail location in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Where can Kiwis buy their groceries and their consumer retail goods under one roof? The Warehouse. One of New Zealand's leading retailers, The Warehouse Group operates about 85 department stores and 45 office supply stores under the Warehouse Stationery banner throughout the country. Its offerings include apparel, entertainment, technology, music, sporting goods, grocery items, and gardening accessories, among many others. Founded in 1982, the company decided to exit the Australian market in 2005 and sold that subsidiary (comprising 122 Warehouse Australia stores) to focus on its home market. A bid by Australian retail giant Woolworths to acquire Warehouse Group was blocked by regulators in mid-2008.

As a family owned and operated local business, Douglas Lumber is able to compete with national chain stores on the strength of quality products, top notch service and through our membership in a multi-billion dollar buying group which allows us to buy products as well or better than our competitors. Our 100,000 square foot facility located on a 15 acre lot in Smithfield, Rhode Island makes us one of the largest independent lumber yards in the Northeast. Douglas Lumber, Kitchens and Home Center features a large fleet of delivery trucks which deliver material throughout New England. Our state of the art kitchen design center features 18 fully assembled kitchen displays as well as a free estimating and design service which utilizes a CAD program that will allow you to see a computerized layout of the kitchen of your dreams. Our newly renovated flooring department offers hardwood, carpet, tile, VCT and laminate flooring from major national brands and best of all, we install every flooring product we sell! All of our departments are staffed with experienced and knowledgeable salespeople who are always ready to assist you. Our outside sales staff will even assist you on site.

Liberty Media takes the liberty of arranging its varied businesses as it wishes. The holding company comprises publicly traded Liberty Capital Group, Liberty Starz, and Liberty Interactive Group. The arrangement separates the company's fast-growing video and online commerce operations from its less robust telecommunications and entertainment businesses. Liberty Media's largest holding, the QVC home-shopping network, is part of Liberty Interactive, as is e-tailer Provide Commerce. Movie producer and distributor Starz Media belongs to Liberty Starz and the Atlanta Braves baseball team both to Liberty Capital. In 2010 the company announced plans to merge and spin off Liberty Capital and Liberty Starz.

Harvey is a leading manufacturer and distributor of high quality building products. Founded in 1961, Harvey is a privately held, growth-oriented corporation headquartered in Waltham, MA. Harvey manufactures superior quality, attractive windows, doors and patio rooms right here in the Northeast. We recently constructed a state-of-the art manufacturing facility featuring additional automation, an in-house testing lab, and a dedicated recycling area to help preserve our natural resources. Harvey is one of the few US manufacturers who design all of its own window products.

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