Axfood gives the chilly Nordic region the Willys. Axfood AB is one of the largest food retailers in Sweden (behind ICA and Coop),operating about 110 wholly owned Willys (discount grocery stores),30-plus Willys hemma (neighborhood grocers),and some 165 Hemkp (upscale grocery stores for food enthusiasts) stores. Axfood also operates shops under the Handlar'n and Tempo banners. Its Axfood Narlivs unit is a nationwide wholesaler serving convenience store retailers, restaurants, and foodservice companies through about 20 cash and carry outlets and several distribution centers. Subsidiary Dagab serves as Axfood AB company's logistics arm. Swedish food importer and retailer Axel Johnson owns about 46% of Axfood.

While navigating the world of online storefronts, Hayneedle hopes to help its customers find a needle in all those virtual haystacks. Among the company's more than 220 Internet shopping domains are AdirondackChairs.com, Barstools.com, Hammocks.com, and PatioFurnitureUSA.com. Although an individual specialty store's scope of merchandise may be narrow, Hayneedle's ownership of multiple domains allows it to offer a vast range goods. Its products include home and patio furniture, kitchen appliances, outdoor decor, sporting goods, and toys and games. Hayneedle (formerly named NetShops) was formed in 2002 after its founders saw success with Hammocks.com. It is held by Sequioa Capital and Insight Venture Partners.

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.

Migros Ticaret even goes beyond groceries with its e- commerce site, Kangurum, which sells electronics, appliances, jewelry, furniture, and other consumer goods in Turkey.The shelves are still stocked at one of Turkey's largest supermarket chains; there's just a new owner. Formerly called Migros Turk Ticaret under majority owner Koc Holding, private equity firm BC Partners bought 82% of the company in 2009 and renamed it Migros Ticaret. Migros Ticaret has about 1,700 stores in Turkey that operate under the brands Migros, Macrocenter, Sok, Tansas, and hypermarkets under the name 5M. The company also has 20 stores under the Ramstore brand in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Macedonia

Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a leading broadline retailer providing merchandise and related services. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 2,300 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the United States and Canada, which includes approximately 929 full-line and approximately 1,200 specialty stores in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com, and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard and Lands' End -- among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck is the 2010 ENERGY STAR® Retail Partner of the Year. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 12 million service calls made annually.

Founder and president Bill Meadows began his business in the mid-1960s by growing produce and selling it on roadsides. He incorporated Meadow Farms as a nursery in 1974 and discontinued his produce business. Meadows Farms can help turn your lawn into something more like a meadow, if that's what you want. The company operates about two dozen nurseries in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. The nurseries sell plants, garden tools and accessories, gifts, housewares, seeds, soils, and other garden related merchandise. The company also offers landscaping and ground maintenance services. Meadows Farms also includes the Meadows Farms Golf Course, which features the Longest Hole in the US at 841 yards.

Founded in 1989, K&G is owned by The Men's Wearhouse and accounts for nearly 20% of its parent company's sales. After purchasing K&G, Men's Wearhouse converted most of its outlets to the K&G Fashion Superstores banner, and began adding women's and children's apparel to the racks. The feminization of K&G Men's Company is well underway. The retailer operates about 105 deep-discount career apparel superstores in more than 25 states. Its stores feature brand-name and private-label tailored and casual clothing, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and children. The bargain warehouse-type stores average about 23,000 sq. ft. and offer first-run merchandise at prices 30%-60% lower than department stores.

W. Atlee Burpee is a top-seeded seed supplier. Shipping more than 100 million packets a year, W. Atlee Burpee and Co. is the largest supplier of seeds to home gardeners in the US. Burpee cultivates and distributes fruit, flower, herb, and vegetable seeds and plants through retail partners, catalogs (about 2 million mailed each year), and online via its website. The company also sells gardening tools and accessories. Named after its founder, Burpee got its start in 1876 as a mail-order seed company. The family of third-generation seedsman and CEO George Ball Jr. has owned the business since 1991. Ball also owns a rare plant nursery and a gourmet seed firm.

ACO Hardware, Inc. Founded in 1946 by Ted Traskos and his four brothers, ACO Hardware is still owned by the Traskos family. ACO Hardware can provide both the food and the supplies if you want to get your floor clean enough to eat off. The company's outlets sell automotive supplies, electrical goods, food and beverages, hardware, housewares, paint, lawn and garden necessities, patio furniture, and tools. It also rents equipment for carpet cleaning, plumbing, and home maintenance. ACO Hardware operates about 70 stores in southeastern Michigan, primarily in the Detroit area. Customers can view weekly specials and find hardware tips on the company's Web site.

Luckily, Ace has John Madden up its sleeve. Despite the growth of warehouse-style competitors, Ace Hardware has remained a household name, thanks to ads featuring Madden, a former Oakland Raiders football coach and retired TV commentator. By sales the company is the #1 hardware cooperative in the US, ahead of Do It Best. Ace dealer-owners operate about 4,500 Ace Hardware stores, home centers, and lumber and building materials locations in all 50 US states and more than 60 other countries. From about 15 warehouses Ace distributes such products as electrical and plumbing supplies, garden equipment, hand tools, housewares, and power tools. Its paint division is also a major paint manufacturer in the US.

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