Big 5 Sporting Goods has outgrown its name. The company, which started out with five army surplus shops in California in 1955, is a leading sporting goods retailer with about 385 stores in a dozen mostly Western states, including California, Washington, and Arizona. The company sells brand-name (adidas, Coleman, Easton) and private-label equipment, apparel, and footwear for indoor and outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing, tennis, golf, and snowboarding. Big 5 has stuck with a neighborhood-store format (averaging approximately 11,000 square feet) instead of opening massive superstores. Big 5 Sporting Goods is run by its chairman and CEO Steven Miller, the son of company co-founder Robert Miller.

Keyboard Concepts sells high quality traditional, digital, and disk player pianos, as well as sheet music, software, and accessories from brands such as Pearl River, Schimmel, Steinway, and Yamaha. Customers range from professional musicians to casual players, teachers and tuners. It has five retail locations (including two superstores and one David L. Abell Fine Pianos) and two warehouses in southern California. Keyboard Concepts also buys and restores used pianos, offers rent-to-own pianos, and works with interior designers in search of decorative pianos. The company was founded by president Dennis Hagerty in 1983.

Organic Bouquet was founded in 2001 by organic produce pioneer Gerald Prolman. It bought the Organic Style trademark and brand from Rodale in 2007. Organic Bouquet has cultivated a natural niche in organic blooms, magazines, and products. The floral and fruit provider offers fresh organic tulips, lavender, sunflowers, country bouquets, roses, and its namesake bouquets through upscale natural retailers such as Whole Foods. It sells directly to consumers through its Web site, which peddles organic fruit boxes and gift baskets. The company also sells flowers grown under other certifications, including biodynamic and wildcrafted, and works with growers to protect worker safety.

Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. The company offers various automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles and related financing; vehicle maintenance and repair services; replacement parts; and insurance, warranty, and extended service contracts. Its new vehicle sales comprise the sale of new vehicles, including light vehicles and heavy trucks to individual retail customers and commercial customers. The company’s used vehicle sales include the sale of used vehicles to individual retail customers and other dealers at auction. Asbury Automotive Group also arranges for financing the sale or lease of new and used vehicles to customers. As of December 31, 2009, it operated 106 franchises at 81 dealership locations, and 25 collision repair centers. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.

Chesbro Music Co. distributes musical instruments, printed music, and music-related gifts through print and online catalogs in addition to its Idaho headquarters. Chesbro sells band and orchestra instruments, guitars, karaoke accessories, DJ equipment, and other musical accessories by Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Yamaha, Mesa Boogie, and others. The printed music division represents more than 200 music publishers and hosts workshops and clinics each year. Chesbro is owned and run by fourth generation Chesbro family members.

Bare Escentuals sells its products in the US through about 120 company-owned shops, 870 beauty product retailers, and 1,470 spas and salons. It also boasts distributors in Canada, Japan, and the UK and other European countries. Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido acquired Bare Escentuals for $1.7 billion in 2010. When it comes to keeping its customers looking naturally pretty, Bare Escentuals has a mineral interest. The company, which rolled out its bareMinerals makeup brand in 1976 along with its first retail shop, develops, markets, and sells natural cosmetics, skin care, and body care items. Brand names include bareMinerals, Buxom, md formulations, RareMinerals, and its namesake line.

Follett is the #1 operator of college bookstores, with more than 850 campus bookshops (vs. about 635 for Barnes & Noble) across the US, as well as Canada. The company's business groups, which reach about 60 countries, also provide books and audiovisual materials to grade school and public libraries, library automation and management software, textbook reconditioning, and other services. Follett acquired its smaller online rival Varsity Group in 2008, complementing its own efollett.com website that sells college textbooks. The Follett family has owned and managed the company for four generations.

W & G Foyle operates about a handful of Foyles bookstores in London. Founded in 1903 by brothers William and Gilbert Foyle as a depot for their own used textbooks, the bookstore has been located at Charing Cross Rd. ever since, though as of 2006 it has three additional retail locations and a retail web site. Besides books, Foyles also stocks such items as printed music, gifts, stationery, and assorted memorabilia. Chairman Christopher Foyle is the third generation of the family (with cousin, vice chairman Bill Samuel) to have a hand in running the company.

Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., founded in 1982, also sells graphic novels and related collectibles to comic book stores and bookstores nationwide. Diamond promotes comic book reading by organizing, sponsoring, and supplying Free Comic Book Day when stores give away select comic books to all attendees. Industry mainstays DC Entertainment (Batman), Dark Horse Comics, and Marvel Publishing (Spider-Man) also participate. Diamond president Steve Geppi also owns comic book publisher Gemstone Publishing, publishes Baltimore Magazine, and is an investor in the Baltimore Orioles.

IBC is a leading wholesale distributor of books, e-books, and audiobooks to more than 70,000 customers worldwide. It is a business unit of recently-formed Ingram Content Group, which encompasses about a dozen companies involved in the wholesale distribution of books, periodicals, music, DVDs, foreign-language products, medical reference titles,children's books, religious titles, and hard-to-find books. Both IBC and parent Ingram Content Group are owned by Ingram Industries.

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.