he regional grocery chain also operates about a half a dozen larger Smith's Marketplace stores (154,000 sq. ft. on average) in Utah that combine full-service grocery, pharmacy, and general merchandise departments. Smith's joined the Kroger family when Kroger, the 1 US grocer, bought its parent, Fred Meyer, in 1999.From a small grocery store founded by Ren Smith in Brigham City, Utah, Smith's Food & Drug Centers has grown into a regional powerhouse with supermarkets in Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, and four other western states. Most of its 130-plus stores are conventional supermarkets with in-store pharmacy departments and many offering bakeries, one-hour photo labs, and other services.

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.

Passion Parties, Inc. gives new meaning to the concept of an intimate party. Passion Parties, founded in 1994, sells sensual products to women through home demonstrations, or "passion parties," throughout the US and Canada. Parties are led by more than 28,000 independent sales reps called Passion Consultants and are designed to be confidential, fun, and educational, as organizers peddle some 300 bath products, lingerie, edibles, books, and sex toys. Its primary product line, RomantaTherapy, boasts body lotions, fragrances, and gels. The company, a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, is careful to point out that its products are for enhancing intimacy among couples.

Named for the English port that once supplied its imported goods, Mexico's El Puerto de Liverpool offers clothing for men, women, and children, as well as appliances, consumer electronics, home furnishings, and more. With some 65 department stores (divided between the Liverpool and Fabrica de Francia names) in Mexico's largest cities, the company's upper-income customer base remains essentially unchanged from 1847, when young Juan Bautista Ebrard began selling clothes from a Mexico City market stall. Liverpool also owns and manages shopping malls in its home country and is one of the largest issuers of credit cards in Mexico. The company has expanded by buying malls and opening new stores throughout Mexico.

Piggly Wiggly Carolina was founded in 1947 when Joseph T. Newton purchased a Piggly Wiggly grocery franchise from the Piggly Wiggly Corp. Sister company Greenbax operates the Pig's Favorite Customer (PFC) loyalty card program for the company. Once the largest family-owned private company in South Carolina, Piggly Wiggly Carolina became 100% employee-owned in 2005.Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company operates more than 100 supermarkets throughout South Carolina and southeastern Georgia. About 10 South Carolina locations offer online shopping. In addition to traditional supermarket fare, the company offers in-store pharmacy departments and health screenings at some locations.

Kowalski's Markets is struggling to expand while it straps on its leather boxing mitts. The company, which operates about 10 supermarkets in the St. Paul and Minneapolis area of Minnesota, wants to be a heavyweight contender among high-end grocery stores there. However, stiff competition from other grocery chains and discounters have limited Kowalski's share of the Twin Cities market to just under 2%: an eighth-place ranking in the market. Indeed competition led the grocer to close a one-year-old store several years ago. Founded by husband and wife team James and Mary Anne Kowalski as a single supermarket in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1983, the regional grocery chain is still owned and run by the Kowalski family.

In 1978 a group of 13 pharmacists banded together to form what is now known as Value Drug Mart Associates Ltd. Their mission was clear—to provide quality healthcare and great products in community-minded, independently owned and operated stores. Today, the association consists of 35 member shareholder Value Drug Mart stores, 11 Apple Drugs member stores, 11 Rxellence Professional Dispensaries, and 300 affiliated stores. Our Central Office and Distribution Centre in Edmonton, AB is located in 85,000 square feet that is owned and operated by the member shareholders, under the direction of an elected Board of Directors. The original concept of the founding member shareholders was to provide the existing and future member shareholders with an organization designed to provide increased profitability to individual store owners rather than to create a wholesale profit centre. That direction remains to this day.

Leon's Furniture Ltd. sells home furnishings, bedding, appliances, and electronics through about 65 company-owned and franchised stores throughout Canada and online. Its store banners include Shop for Furniture, Shop for Appliances, and Shop for Electronics. Its stores carry such brands as Frigidaire, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sealy, Simmons, and Whirlpool, among others. Leon's also wholesales appliances to builders, landlords, and retailers through its Canada Appliances division. Ablan Leon founded the company in 1909; more than a century later, it is still owned and operated by the Leon family.

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.

Carter-Jones knows when to yell "timber!" Carter-Jones Lumber company is the flagship store of building supplies retailer Carter Lumber. Its store has served the Akron, Ohio, area for more than 70 years, offering contractors and do-it-yourselfers a range of countertops, doors and windows, flooring, plumbing products, hand and power tools, and lumber, among other items. It sells Douglas fir, spruce, cedar, and redwood lumber; computerized kitchen designs; and fireplace mantels made to order. Brands include Moen, Delta, Jacuzzi, and Stanley Black & Decker. The Carter family, via parent Carter Lumber, owns Carter-Jones.

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