Family Christian Stores,a leading Christian retailer in the US, Family Christian Stores boasts about 290 stores in about 35 states. The company sells a variety of Christian-themed merchandise, including Bibles and other Christian books, music, software, gifts, cards, videos, apparel, and church supplies. Customers can also buy products through the company's catalog and website. Family Christian has grown through new store openings and acquisitions (including chains Joshua's Christian Stores and Shepherd Shoppe). The investment firm Madison Dearborn owns a majority stake in Family Christian Stores.

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.

AutoFair Automotive Corporation a leading New Hampshire car dealer, AutoFair sells new Ford, Honda, and Hyundai brand cars in Manchester. In early 2007 the firm sold its Toyota and Lexus dealerships there to Ira Motor Group, a subsidiary of Group 1 Automotive. AutoFair Automotive also provides parts, service, and collision repair. Visitors to the company Web site can check inventory, apply for financing, schedule a service appointment, or order parts. Founded in 1991, AutoFair Automotive has expanded beyond New Hampshire by purchasing dealerships, including a Hyundai dealership in Indiana and a Chevy dealership in Tennessee.Products sold by AutoFair Automotive often carry a venerable message: Live free or die.

Seaman and sail maker Thomas Black founded Blacks in 1861, when he offered his sails for sale. From there, the company moved on to tents, eventually offering camping gear and sporting goods. Now Blacks Leisure Group (BLG) sells outdoor gear and apparel through more than 300 stores throughout the UK and Ireland under the Blacks, Freespirit, and Millets banners. With 200-plus stores, Millets is the UK's largest outdoor retailer. The smaller Blacks chain sells North Face, Merrell, and Coleman brand merchandise and its owns brands from about 90 shops. BLG has been closing stores in its boardwear chain Freespirit, which now operates only about a dozen locations. Rival Sports Direct owns about 28% of BLG.

Timberlane, Inc. was founded in 1996. Customers shudder at the beauty of their shutters. Timberlane Woodcrafters manufactures custom-made exterior and interior wooden shutters. Its shutters are all crafted from western red cedar and come in authentic Cape Cod, Colonial, Federal, Greek, Mediterranean, and Victorian designs, to name a few. In an effort to ensure historical accuracy, the company employs blacksmiths to craft hand-forged, wrought iron hardware for use on their shutters. Timberlane sells directly to the individual consumers through catalogs and the company Web site, which also offers customers a shutter design tool and an online quote request form.

Dreams, Inc. company owns and operates about 20 Field of Dreams and FansEdge stores across the US -- in addition to some 10 franchised stores -- that sell signed balls, jerseys, photos, plaques, and other collectibles, which it licenses from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA, and NASCAR. It also reaches shoppers via the FansEdge catalog and online (including FansEdge.com and ProSportsMemorabilia.com). Dreams' Mounted Memories division makes and distributes sports memorabilia, while its Greene Organization handles special appearances, endorsements, and other off-field activities for athletes.

La Mesa RV was founded in 1972. The folks at La Mesa RV Center want to make everyone a happy camper. One of the world's largest Winnebago dealers, La Mesa RV also sells new and used campers and RVs from Tiffin Motorhomes, Gulf Stream, Rexhall, and Coachmen, among other brands at about 10 locations in California, Arizona, and Florida. It also has seasonal locations to service motorhomes in the spring and winter as they come out of or go into off-season storage. La Mesa R.V. Center, Inc. provides RV repair and sells parts for new and used vehicles at its service centers and online.

Empire Music distributes musical instruments, books, and related accessories to music educators in Canada and the US. Products include various books and instruments related to the Suzuki method of music education and theory, bells, drums, guitars, recorders, ukuleles, and xylophones (they even carry stepping stone-style xylophones and giant floor piano keyboards). It carries brands Suzuki Orff, Aulos Recorders, Challenger, and Emus. The company has been trading for more than a half-century.

In 1959, William Jacobs started Columbus Fair Auto Auction based on excellent customer service and fairness. He recognized that auctions offered a solution to automobile dealers' needs for a source and marketplace for used motor vehicles.Obviously, the financial risk of leasing space at the Ohio State Fairgrounds to run a one-lane auction in 1959 was small, but significant for this startup entrepreneurial endeavor. It, however, pales in comparison to the present multi-million dollar investment in today's 85-acre facility in Obetz. However, the original strategy of offering a marketplace for used vehicles where buyers and sellers would congregate for the benefit of both continues today.

Aaron Brothers has its hand in custom-framing and crafting. Aaron Brothers, Inc. opened its first shop in Los Angeles in 1946; today it operates some 150 stores in about 10 states. Its stores are located mostly in Texas and in the western US, but also reach to Georgia and Virginia. Aaron Brothers stores offer ready-made frames and mattes, art supplies, and custom framing services. A subsidiary of big brother hobby-retailer Michaels Stores, Aaron Brothers stores average about 5,600 sq. ft. and offer its customers some 7,100 products. Parent company Michaels Stores was taken private in 2006 by a pair of private equity firms (Bain Capital Partners and The Blackstone Group).

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