Founded in 1919 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by three brothers, the family-owned firm is directed by Mark Adlestone, the founder's grandson. Beaverbrooks the Jewellers has more of the quintessential obsession with shiny objects than it does with gnawing wood or building dams. The company designs, produces, and markets platinum, gold, and silver jewelry for men, women, and children, as well as engagement rings, wedding rings, and watches. Items range in price from about $20 to more than $8,000 and are distributed through more than 60 UK-based retail stores and a Web site.

Edible Arrangements has about 940 franchised locations in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, the UK, the Middle East, Italy, Turkey, and Hong Kong. CEO Tariq Farid started Edible Arrangements in 1999 after doing software consulting for a similar business. "Please don't eat the daisies" simply doesn't apply here. Edible Arrangements creates bouquets of hand-sculpted fresh fruit that are blooming with flower-shaped pineapples, shoots of melon slices, sprigs of skewered grapes, and an assortment of apple wedges, bananas, oranges, and strawberries. Customers can also add chocolate-dipped fruit to their arrangements. In addition to bouquets, the company offers smoothies and fruit salads at some shops.

Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) operates more than 15 Marine Corps Exchange (MCX) stores located on bases on the East and West Coast and in Hawaii and Japan. MCX outlets offer a full line of retail products to active duty Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, their family members, and retirees. Other services provided by the MCCS include restaurants, temporary lodging, golf courses, and travel services. A proposal made by the The Bush Administration to merge the Marine Corps Exchange with its sister service counterparts -- the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and the Navy Exchange Service Command -- has been scrapped.

The Contender Entertainment Group (CEG), which was acquired by Entertainment One in mid-2007, is a home video distributor and book publisher focusing on children's entertainment and television classics. The company is quite the contender, too. It was established in 1994, began trading in 1995, and a decade later is the largest independent distributor of DVDs and videos in the country. Products include special interest films such as cult classics, animated children's features, fitness videos, Asian films, and classic television series. All videos and DVDs are distributed within the UK.

Goldsmiths doesn't necessarily turn raw materials into gleaming baubles, but it does deal with the goldsmith's end result: jewelry. The firm, which was founded in 1778 and is the UK's #2 jewelry chain (behind Signet Jewelers' H Samuel) operates about 160 stores. Keeping up with the times, Goldsmiths also sells jewelry online. The chain was the country's first authorized Rolex merchant, and remains a top dealer of Rolex, Omega, Tag Heuer, and other watch brands. Goldsmiths is 70% owned owned by Aurum Holdings, which also owns the Mappin & Webb chain of jewelry shops. Goldsmiths' previous owner, Iceland's Baugur Group, acquired Goldsmiths in 2004 and later bought Mappin & Webb to form Aurum Holdings.

IKON was acquired by Japan's Ricoh, a key supplier, in 2008 for $1.6 billion. IKON Office Solutions works to ensure that when it comes to buying business equipment, customers say, "I can and I will." A subsidiary of office equipment giant Ricoh, IKON sells and services its parent's brand of office equipment, including copiers, printers, scanners, fax machines, and more, throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. IKON Office Solutions, Inc. also offers such services as document management outsourcing, electronic file conversions, facilities management, and training. Customers are primarily large and small businesses and government agencies.

American Farms certainly hopes that its corporate strategies lead to perennial success. Established in 1991 with 10 acres, the company, a wholesale grower of flowering pot crops, now comprises more than 100 acres in Florida. It produces more than 100 varieties of annuals and herbaceous perennials, as well as flowering tropicals, landscape ferns and grasses, seasonal crops, and more. The majority of American Farms' sales are in the state of Florida, where it's one of the top growers of flowering plants, and more than half are to mass merchandisers (Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart) in the southeastern US. In addition, the company sells to independent garden centers and landscapers.

Desert Sun Motors Inc sells new Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, and Toyota brand vehicles. And of course, it sells used cars, provides parts and annual service, and operates a quick lube center. The dealership has three locations in New Mexico -- one in Roswell and two in Alamogordo. The Desert Sun Motors Web site allows customers to view featured vehicles and Internet specials, print out service coupons, search the inventory, and make reservations for a test drive. Founder Bobby Martinez owns the company.

iParty Corp. engages in the sale of party goods and services through its retail stores in New England and Florida, the United States. Its stores feature approximately 20,000 products comprising paper party goods, Halloween costumes, greeting cards, and balloons, as well as merchandise, such as pinatas, tiny toys, masquerade, and Hawaiian Luau items. iParty Corp. also offers party planning advice and relevant information services, as well as licenses the name iParty.com to a third party. As of December 26, 2009, it operated 26 stores in Massachusetts, 7 in Connecticut, 6 in New Hampshire, 3 in Rhode Island, 3 in Maine, 1 in Vermont, and 5 stores in Florida. iParty Corp. was founded in 1998 and is based in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Tejas Office Products, founded in 1962, is owned by the Fraga family. Houston-based Tejas Office Products distributes office products throughout the US. Tejas Office Products, Inc. offers a huge portfolio of products from such manufacturers as 3M, Crayola (formerly Binney & Smith), Imation, Fellowes, Hewlett Packard, and Nu-Kote International. Tejas Office Products sells more than 10,000 items including furniture, paper products, desk supplies, computer accessories, and office electronics. Tejas Office Products, Inc. distributes its goods from a 25,999-sq.-ft. warehouse located in the downtown area.

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