Carter Lumber was founded by Warren E. Carter in 1932, and it continues to be a family-owned business. Carter Lumber has the answer when new home construction has you hollering "timber!" The company owns more than 200 lumber and home improvement stores in 10 states from Michigan to South Carolina. The company caters to both contractors and do-it-yourselfers, supplying them with lumber, plywood, roofing, windows, doors, plumbing and electrical products, heating equipment, tools, siding, and other products. The home improvement retailer also owns Carter-Jones Lumber, which runs a 17-acre lumberyard and custom millwork facilities in Ohio.

The company, a subsidiary of CUTCO, manages the marketing and direct sales functions of sister company Cutco Cutlery, which is the largest kitchen cutlery manufacturer in North America. The firm and its Canadian counterpart, Vector Marketing Canada, enlist a legion of some 40,000 college students as representatives who make home visits to demonstrate and sell Cutco products. Cutco's product portfolio includes butcher knives, pizza cutters, paring knives, carving forks, ice cream scoops, and other kitchen utensils. Vector Marketing operates more than 200 offices throughout North America.

Material Supply, doing business as MSI HVAC, distributes residential and commercial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning products. It also fabricates sheet metal fittings, commercial ductwork, and cut-to-length duct systems and linesets. Through three locations in California and one in Las Vegas, MSI company offers services such as free in-area delivery, made-to-order products, and no rush charges. MSI stocks products from manufacturers such as Chromalox, Fieldpiece Instruments, Honeywell, and Johns Manville.

Saks Incorporated began as Proffitt’s, Inc. with just five Proffitt’s stores in metropolitan Knoxville, Tennessee. Proffitt's, Inc. became a public company in June 1987. From 1994 to 1998, we added McRae’s, Parisian, Younkers, Herberger's, and Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (which included Bergner's and Boston Store) as well as 32 additional stores from Lovemans, Hess, Parks-Belk, and Brody’s, which were converted into existing store nameplates.

Garb-Ko is thanking heaven for the continued success of c-stores nationwide. The company operates and franchises more than 90 convenience stores, under license from 7-Eleven since 1968, in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. (About half of its retail outlets are located in Michigan.) Most of the company's stores operate through a partnership between Garb-Ko and the franchisee, typically a resident in the community where the 7-Eleven store is situated. President and CEO Dan Abraham has led Garb-Ko since 1983, when his family acquired the firm.

The Athlete's Foot® is the world's first franchisor of athletic footwear stores and is recognized today as the world leader in athletic footwear franchising. Robert and David Lando opened the first The Athlete's Foot® store in 1971 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first athletic footwear specialty store of its kind in the United States. Soon thereafter, The Athlete's Foot® began franchising domestically, with the first franchise store opening in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The first international franchise store opened in 1978 in Adelaide, Australia, the beginning of The Athlete's Foot® expansion into over 40 countries.

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.

Wal-Mart Stores is an irresistible (or at least unavoidable) retail force that has yet to meet any immovable objects. Bigger than Europe's Carrefour, Tesco, and Metro AG combined, it's the world's #1 retailer with 2.1 million employees in more than 8,400 stores, including about 800 discount stores, 3,100 combination discount and grocery stores (Wal-Mart Supercenters in the US and ASDA in the UK), and 595 Sam's Club warehouses. Wal-Mart's international division (25% of sales) is growing at a fast pace; it's the #1 retailer in Canada and Mexico and it has operations in Asia (where it owns a 95% stake in Japanese retailer SEIYU), Europe, and South America. Founder Sam Walton's heirs own about 45% of Wal-Mart.

Wolseley plc engages in the distribution of heating and plumbing products, and building materials to the professional contractors primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Nordic region, and Central and Eastern Europe. Wolseley plc supplies plumbing, heating, and air conditioning products comprising baths, showers and accessories, sanitaryware, brassware, bathroom furniture, boilers and burners, radiators and valves, hot water cylinders and flues, control equipment, ventilation/air conditioning equipment, heat pumps and solar equipment, plastic pipes and fittings, and copper tubing and fittings. It also distributes building materials, such as insulation, plaster and plasterboard, roofing materials, bricks, blocks and aggregates, tiles and flooring, timber products, doors and frames, glass, beams, trusses and frames, hardware and tools, and cement. In addition, Wolseley plc supplies electrical products, including cables and cabling accessories, controls and switchgears, wiring accessories, lighting, data networking supplies, and cable management products; and civils/waterworks, industrial, and commercial products, such as drainage pipes, associated supplies and covers, underground pressure pipes, small bore pressure pipes and fittings, carbon and stainless steel pipes, and valves and fittings. Further, the company involves in the management of customer inventory and the installation of cabinets and fireplaces, as well as offers pipe fabrication and valve actuation, bathroom layout and design, and maintenance contract services. Wolseley plc operates approximately 4,118 branches in 25 countries. Wolseley was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Reading, the United Kingdom.

Ho-Chunk, Inc. (HCI) the economic development corporation run by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, manages about 18 subsidiaries in the fields of communications, construction, distribution, gasoline and convenience store retail (under the Heritage Express banner in Iowa and Nebraska), government contracting, lodging (The WinnaVegas Inn), marketing, used-vehicle sales, and more. The profits from these businesses are in turn managed by the Ho-Chunk Community Development Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that directs commercial growth and community infrastructure development for the tribe. "Ho-Chunk" is a modernized form of Hochungra, the Winnebago tribe's traditional name.

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