Here's a company that's traveled a fur piece from its 17th- century roots. Founded in 1670 as a fur trading enterprise, Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) is Canada's largest department store chain and oldest corporation. Its Zellers chain is the country's #2 discount department store (behind Wal-Mart Canada), with some 280 stores. HBC also runs about 90 the Bay department stores that focus on more upscale merchandise, 190-plus Fields general merchandise and apparel stores in Western Canada, more than 65 Home Outfitters superstores, and Hbc.com. The company also has its own credit card and financial services companies. HBC is owned by NRDC Equity Partners, which is looking to take the company public as early as 2011.

Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. operates as a regional broad line retailer in the central United States. The company operates ALCO stores that offer a line of merchandise consisting of approximately 35,000 items, including automotive, candy, crafts, domestics, electronics, fabrics, furniture, hardware, jewelry, pre-recorded music and video, and stationery products, as well as health and beauty aids, housewares, sporting goods, seasonal items, and toys. It also offers ladies', men's, and children's apparel and shoes. In addition, the company also operates Duckwall stores, which offer a limited selection of merchandise. As of February 16, 2010, it operated 258 stores in 23 states in the central United States. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Abilene, Kansas.

Etna Supply was founded in 1965. Unlike the volcano in Sicily that shares its name, Etna Supply spews out water, not fire. The company distributes equipment and supplies for residential and commercial plumbing, hydronic heating, waterworks and sewage facilities, and fire protection. It operates through about 15 locations in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Etna Supply company also offers related services, such as custom pipe flaring and threading, welding, valve and hydrant maintenance, and meter reading. Customers include architects, engineers, contractors, and homeowners.

Auer Steel & Heating Supply Co. is a full-service distributor of high quality indoor comfort products, featuring the Bryant, Carrier (Milwaukee only) and Payne brands of furnaces, air conditioners, humidifiers, air cleaners, heat & energy recovery ventilators, controls and other accessories. Auer Steel company began in 1940 in Milwaukee, when Don Curtes, Sr. founded the business on his philosophy of superior customer service. Now, over 65 years and two generations later, the Curtes family still owns and operates Auer Steel with the same valued-added service ideals.During the late 1980's and early 1990's, Auer Steel opened three satellite branch operations to provide even better service to its customers. Although our Carrier/Bryant/Payne product lines are limited to Southeastern Wisconsin, we will gladly ship other products throughout the state. May 1995 brought the expansion of Auer Steel to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. From its location in suburban New Hope, Auer Steel/Twin Cities serves customers in nearly all of Minnesota, eastern North Dakota and northwestern Wisconsin. November 2004 brought us another opportunity for growth. Our acquisition of the Bryant distributor serving Appleton, Green Bay, Wausau, northeastern Wisconsin and western Upper Michigan allows us to bring our superior customer service to exciting new territory.

A chic alternative to the mall sprawl of the suburban shopping center, Elisa Wen's Walnut Creek and San Francisco stores offer 14 different lines of clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, and shoes. The upscale purveyor of women's and children's apparel offers ready-to-wear items such as Hudson jeans and Splendid tee shirts, as well as a wide array of cocktail wear, including evening outfits from Catherine Malandrino, D & G, Miguelina, and Rebecca Taylor. The stores also sell items under such brands as a L.A.M.B. by Gwen Stefani, Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, True Religion, Rock & Republic, Susana Monaco, and Michael Stars.

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

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.

Fieldens is an independent tyre and wheel supplier and Honda Power Equipment Dealer based on the outskirts of Stowmarket, Suffolk. With a team of thirty we have built a solid, international reputation as the supplier of specialist tyres and wheels right across agriculture, industry and civil engineering, amenity and quarrying industries.At Fieldens we have tyre specialists with experience across every area of operation. We maintain excellent relationships with tyre and wheel manufacturers of all types from around the world; major brands with an extensive line-up of products for most uses, budget brands with a more limited offering and specialist manufacturers with industry specific ranges. Our warehouse holds stocks ranging from 42” flotation and 54” rowcrop tyres, tyres for ATVs to ride-on garden tractors all the way down to 8” wheelbarrow!

Stater Bros founded in 1936 by twin brothers Leo and Cleo Stater, Stater Bros. is owned by chairman and CEO Jack Brown through La Cadena Investments.Stater Bros. has no shortage of major-league rivals, operating in the same crowded Southern California markets as Kroger-owned Ralphs and Safeway-owned Vons. Stater Bros. Holdings operates more than 165 full-service Stater Bros. Markets in six counties, primarily in the Riverside and San Bernardino areas. About 25 of the regional chain's grocery stores host Super Rx Pharmacies. The grocery chain, which sold its milk-producing operation (Santee Dairies) to Dean Foods in 2009, plans to use the proceeds to invest in real estate and other growth opportunities.

Founded as a single shop in 1966, Superdrug was sold to home improvement chain Kingfisher plc in 1987. Today, Superdrug and its sister chain, discounter Savers, are owned by A.S. Watson (ASW), the retail and manufacturing subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. The fast-growing retail chain has been remodeling its existing stores, including converting more than 200 Savers stores to the Superdrug banner. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Superdrug Stores, the UK's #2 health and beauty retailer (behind Alliance Boots). Superdrug Stores Plc operates more than 910 stores -- each with fragrance offerings and about 215 with in-house pharmacies -- in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.