Hong Kong-based Chow Sang Sang has its eye on China and the growing luxury market there. The company operates about 155 Chow Sang Sang jewelery stores in some 60 cities across mainland China, with another 50-plus stores in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The fast-growing jeweler aims to open another 50 shops in the near future. The company makes and sells necklaces, bracelets, watches, diamonds, and other shiny luxuries and trendy baubles. Chow Sang Sang has production facilities in China and in Hong Kong. It also wholesales precious metals (gold, platinum, and palladium) and brokers stocks and commodities. Chairman Kwen Lim Chow and general manager Wing Shing Chow together own about a third of the company.

FTD.COM is an Internet and telephone marketer of flowers and specialty gifts. Founded by FTD, the world's oldest floral services organization, FTD.COM sells directly to consumers through its Web site, www.ftd.com, and its 1-800-SEND-FTD telephone number. Utilizing independent FTD florists who adhere to the highest quality and service standards, FTD.COM provides same-day delivery of floral orders to nearly 100 percent of the U.S. population. FTD.COM offers a wide variety of unique floral arrangements and specialty gifts for holidays and other occasions. On June 27, 2002, FTD.COM became a wholly owned subsidiary of Florists' Transworld Delivery, Inc. Additional information about FTD.COM; its parent company, Florists' Transworld Delivery, Inc.; and its respective parent companies, FTD, Inc. and FTD Group Inc., is available under the "investor relations" category on this site.

Corporate Concepts is headquartered in Lombard, Illinois, and has an additional sales office in downtown Chicago. We also maintain several warehouse facilities and have extensive strategic partnerships in place, which makes it easy to provide the same high level of service on a nationwide basis. Our top priority is to provide our clients with the very best in design services, space planning, and specifications, along with timely order entry, tracking, delivery, and expert installation of product. Many other value-added services are available as well, including chair re-upholstery, furniture standards programs and financing consultation. Dedication to discovering and fully understanding our clients' needs is the foundation on which Corporate Concepts was built. By focusing on these fundamental principles, we have consistently grown our business, and we're proud to be considered an industry leader. It is through our commitment to these goals that we have consistently been recognized as a Knoll Top 10 Dealer worldwide, as well as being named as the 12th Largest Woman Owned Firm in Chicago, Crain's 2003.

UK holding company office2office (o2o) can sell the paper, print the document, and then shred it when the time comes. The business services group includes a pair of office-supply companies (contract stationer Banner Business Services and mid-market supplier Accord), a printing company (AccessPlus), and an onsite document shredding service (Banner Document Services). Customers are medium to large private companies and government organizations including Barclays Bank, UK's Ministry of Justice, and UK health care products supplier NHS Supply Chain. Banner Business Services (BBS), which focuses on long-term contracts with large entities, accounts for about 80% of the company's revenue.

Spicers is nothing to sneeze at -- the company is a leading office products and equipment wholesaler in the UK and France, where most of its 20-plus distribution centers are located; it also holds strong market positions in Ireland, France, and the Benelux countries, and is developing its business in Germany, Italy, and Spain. The company's 18,000 products, which are sold to office products dealers via its numerous catalogs and Web site, include office equipment, furniture, and janitorial supplies sold under major manufacturers' brands as well as its own brand, 5 Star. Spicers accounts for about one-third of the revenues of its packaging and paper parent company, DS Smith.

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.

Sam Ash Music has been instrumental in many a musician's livelihood. The #2 musical instrument retailer in the US (behind Guitar Center), Sam Ash Music (SAM) operates about 45 stores in more than 15 states including California, New York, and Texas. Besides instruments, SAM sells sheet music, recording equipment, lighting, computers, and music software. It also sells online. SAM also sells vintage guitars, offers custom-built instruments and music clinics, and buys used musical instruments. It also runs a pro services and parts division, Sam Ash Professional, and an Educational Division serving schools. The company was founded in 1924 by Sam and Rose Ashkynase, whose descendants still own and run the company.

Backcountry.com is an online retailer of outdoor and backcountry gear. The company sells products for activities such as skiing, backpacking, camping, snowboarding, rock climbing, kayaking, and mountaineering. Its offerings include more than 400 brands, such as Burton, K2, The North Face, Oakley, and Rossignol. Backcountry.com was founded in 1996 by CEO Jim Holland and president John Bresee. Backcountry.com is a subsidiary of Liberty Media, which owns more than 80% of the online retailer's equity.

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.

Business is "floor"ishing at CCA Global Partners. Formerly named Carpet Co-op, the company operates more than a dozen independent businesses and more than 2,700 locations in North America and abroad. Its largest units are flooring retailers Carpet One, with more than 1,000 locations in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US, and Flooring America, with about 550 stores in the US and Canada. CCA Global's other specialty retail operations include The Bike Cooperative, with some 300 memeber stores, and lighting products seller Lighting One. In addition to its retail lines, the company provides mortgage banking and business services. Chairman Howard Brodsky and Alan Greenberg founded the co-op in 1984.

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