CD Warehouse franchises (mostly) and owns music stores that sell, trade, and buy new and used CDs. The company sells through about 150 CD Warehouse, CD Exchange, Music Trader, and Disc Go Round stores located in more than 35 states. The company also has stores in Canada, Guatemala, France, Thailand, the UK, and Venezuela. Most stores are in strip shopping centers and offer between 10,000 and 16,000 CDs. The majority of sales are from used CDs; the company also sells DVDs, posters, and T-shirts. CD Warehouse is owned by Magnolia Entertainment.

HMV Group plc,the entertainment retailer sells recorded music, videos and DVDs, books, and electronic games online and through some 400 HMV stores in five countries and from about 315 Waterstone's bookshops in the UK and Ireland. HMV has been closing stores amid a prolonged slump in sales caused by upheaval in the music business. To compensate for declining retail sales, HMV is going after the live music and ticketing market through the purchase of its former joint venture partner in live music MAMA Group. Sales at the company's Waterstone's bookstore chain are also down as shoppers buy fewer books.

DirectGroup Bertelsmann GmbH runs book clubs especially popular in Europe and Asia under such brands as Der Club in Germany, France Loisirs in France, and Circulo de Lectores in Spain. Club members can access its products through mail-order catalogs, the Internet, or one of 800 retail stores worldwide. DirectGroup Bertelsmann boasts 35 million members worldwide and operates in more than 20 countries. The company is a division of German media firm Bertelsmann AG, which sold its faltering American book club operations in 2008 to focus on Europe and Asia.

Hutchison Whampoa Limited operates in the ports and related services; property and hotels; retail; energy, infrastructure, finance, investments, and others; and telecommunications businesses. The company’s Ports and Related Services segment engages in the investment, development, and operation of ports in Europe, the Mainland China, north and south Asia, Australia, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment has interests in 50 ports comprising 306 berths. The company’s Property and Hotels segment invests in and develops office, commercial, industrial, and residential premises in the Mainland China, Hong Kong, and internationally. It also operates and manages hotels. The company’s Retail segment operates retail stores that sell personal care, health, beauty, luxury perfumery, cosmetic, and food and wine products, as well as consumer electronics and electrical appliances. This segment also manufactures and distributes bottled water and beverages. The company’s Energy, Infrastructure, Finance, Investments, and Others segment owns interests in energy and infrastructure projects principally in Hong Kong, the Mainland China, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This segment also engages in other ventures and activities, including the manufacture, distribution, and retail of healthcare, traditional Chinese medicine, and pharmaceutical products; property investment; manufacture of consumer electronic products; retail product sourcing and licensing; and Internet, publishing, outdoor media, and television and entertainment businesses. The company’s Telecommunications segment provides telecommunications and data services, including 3G video mobile services, fixed-line services, fiber optic broadband networks, and radio broadcasting services in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Hutchison Whampoa Limited is based in Central, Hong Kong.

Premier Designs is a direct sales jewelry company founded in 1985 by Joan and Andy Horner in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. They created the company as a way to support ministries here and around the globe, as well as provide a home-based business opportunity established on biblical principles, such as integrity and unselfish service. Through our non-traditional approach of putting people first — before profits — Premier Designs has grown into a more than 350-million-dollar — debt-free — corporation with Independent Distributors (we call them Jewelers) in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Premier Designs Jewelers market quality high fashion jewelry to small groups through Home Shows. We are members of the Direct Selling Association, but our emphasis is on serving rather than selling.

Advanced Book Exchange Inc. provides more than 110 million new and used books, including textbooks, as well as rare and out-of-print books, on its Web site. The books are supplied to the site by more than 13,500 booksellers worldwide. Abebooks also offers booksellers a variety of services such as inventory management software, and dedicated support. In 2008 the company was acquired by former strategic partner Amazon.com.

The chain was co-founded in 1988 by Joe Barreiro and CEO Leonard Flax (and named after Flax's wife). Kate's Paperie believes the medium is the message. The luxury paper products retailer stocks some 4,000 papers from more than 40 countries, plus other items, including desk accessories, gift wrap, journals, organizers, photo albums and frames, stationery, and more than 1,500 ribbons from around the world. With five locations (one in Connecticut and four in New York City) and an e-commerce site, the upscale stationer carries designer brands such as Anna Griffin, Molly West, and Cavallini. Kate's also offers custom printing services, corporate purchase programs, and, of course, gift wrapping.

Stark Carpet Corp. company is owned and operated by brothers John and Steven Stark. Their parents, the late Arthur and Nadia Stark, founded Stark Carpet company. Stark Carpet offers carpets, rugs, furniture, and textiles to design professionals for both commercial and residential use. The company sells its products under the Stark Carpet, Stark Fabric, Stark Fine Furniture, Stark Wallcovering, and Darius Antique & Decorative Rugs brand names from its own showrooms in the US and the UK as well as in design centers operated by others. Through its partnership with manufacturer GG Bailey, it also produces a line of Oriental and animal print car mats.

Endicia company, formerly PSI Systems, was founded in 1982. In 2007 Newell Rubbermaid acquired the firm. Thanks to the Internet, Endicia really delivers. Endicia company's Internet Postage system allows online users to print postage and shipping labels for all mail classes. Customers can even print labels for US Postal Service options such as delivery confirmation and parcel insurance, as well as design custom postage with photos and logos. Hoping to save its customers a trip to the Post Office, Endicia has built its electronic postage system into more than 60 computer applications for Macs and PCs.

Famed toy store FAO Schwarz is a kid pleaser, but as a business it's had its ups and downs. The oldest toy store in the US charms the young (and young at heart) at its landmark store on New York's Fifth Avenue where it sells unique, hard-to-find toys, such as life-size stuffed bears and $50,000 kid-size Ferraris. A major tourist attraction, it hosts more than 3 million visitors each year. Being a kid itself, FAO Schwarz has a sweet tooth, with its sweets shop called FAO Schweetz. After years of unprofitable expansion in an age where mass merchants, such as Wal-Mart, rule toy retailing, it's down to a single location, a catalog, and a website. Toy titan Toys "R" Us added FAO Schwarz to its toy chest in 2009.

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.