Connolly Music Company, Inc. imports and distributes strings for basses, cellos, guitars, mandolins, violas, and violins. It is the only US importer of Austria-made Thomastik-Infeld strings and rosin. Products include specialty strings for electric, acoustic, classical, and jazz guitars; acoustic and jazz basses; and custom sets as well as various cored strings for orchestral instruments. The company supports the American String Teachers Association, the Suzuki Association of America, and the Perlman Music Program. Connolly Music was founded in 1970 by John Connolly. His son Jake is president and owner.

Alliance Entertainment, LLC distributes music and video CDs, DVDs, games, and related products to some 3,000 merchants, including Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, and Borders, as well as Internet retailers such as Amazon.com. Alliance also provides fulfillment, e-commerce, and related support services through its AEC Direct division. Its NCircle Entertainment unit licenses and distributes family entertainment titles based on such characters as Super Mario Bros. and My Little Pony. Alliance Entertainment was founded in 1990. Today it is owned by investment firms Platinum Equity and The Gores Group.

Founded in 1932, the firm is majority owned by private equity firm The Carlyle Group. Brentwood Associates owns about a 25% stake. Oriental Trading Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2010 and is reorganizing. Party planners don't have to travel to stock up at Oriental Trading Company. The company sells more than 30,000 products, including party supplies, toys and novelties, arts and crafts, and home decor through its websites and catalogs. It mails about 300 million copies of its seasonal catalogs, which include such titles as Oriental Trading Company, Terry's Village, Crafts, Hands on Fun, and Inspirations. Oriental Trading supplies carnivals, schools, churches, nonprofits, and businesses.

Current USA is a leading direct marketer of greeting cards and gift wrap, scrapbooking supplies, stationery, and home decorating items. It sells under the brands Times to Cherish (scrapbooking supplies), Colorful Images (personalized address labels and other paper products), Lillian Vernon (gifts and home decor), and, of course, Current. The company also operates an outlet store in Colorado and a fundraising business that lets not-for-profit groups sell its products and share the proceeds. Founded in the 1950s, Current USA was initially run out of the basement of founders Orin and Miriam Loo. The company, which was family owned and operated until 1986, is a subsidiary of printing giant Taylor.

Lipsey's fancies itself a bit of a hot shot. The company distributes firearms to federally licensed dealers nationwide. It sells regular, lefty, and youth models of shotguns, handguns, rifles, and revolvers by manufacturers that include Beretta, Browning, Glock, North American Arms, Ruger, and Winchester. Lipsey's also carries ammunition, scopes, binoculars, holsters, and other accessories. The company also sells guns made exclusively for the company. Lipsey's was founded in 1953 as S & S Wholesale Sporting Goods and was purchased by the Lipsey family, including chairman and CEO Richard Lipsey, in 1977.

Blackwell UK (known as Blackwell's) operates about 50 bookshops throughout the UK under the Blackwell's and Heffers names, as well as Blackwell's Online Bookshop. Blackwell's Book Services (headquartered in the US, with offices in the UK) supplies books and bibliographic products to some 3,500 research, academic, and specialty libraries around the world. The original B.H. Blackwell's store was opened in Oxford on New Year's Day 1879, and today it is one of the company's flagship locations. The Blackwell family still owns and runs Blackwell's. The family also owns academic publisher Blackwell Publishing.

Luxottica Group S.p.A. and its subsidiaries design, manufacture, and distribute luxury, fashion, and sport/performance eyewear worldwide. It operates in two segments: Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution, and Retail Distribution. The Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution segment engages in the design, manufacture, wholesale distribution, and marketing of house and designer lines prescription frames and sunglasses. It offers performance optics products, including sun and prescription eyewear, ski goggles, and electronically-enabled eyewear, as well as apparel, footwear, watches, and accessories. This segment offers its products under various brands, including house brands, such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Arnette, Eye Safety Systems, K&L, Luxottica, Mosley Tribes, Oliver Peoples, Persol, Revo, Sferoflex, and Vogue; and licensed designer brands comprising Anne Klein, Brooks Brothers, Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, D&G, Donna Karan, DKNY, Fox, Miu Miu, Paul Smith, Polo Ralph Lauren, Chaps, Club Monaco, POLO, RALPH, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, PRADA, Salvatore Ferragamo, Stella McCartney, Tiffany & Co., Tory Burch, Versace, and Versus. It serves retailers of mid to premium-priced eyewear, such as independent opticians, optical retail chains, specialty sun retailers, and duty-free shops, as well as independent optometrists and ophthalmologists, and department stores. The Retail Distribution segment operates optical and sun glass stores under the LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, ILORI, The Optical Shop of Aspen, OPSM, Laubman & Pank, Budget Eyewear, Bright Eyes, Oakley ‘O’ Stores and Vaults, and David Clulow names, as well as licensed brands, such as the Sears Optical and Target Optical. As of March 31, 2010, this segment operated 5,809 corporate stores and 536 franchised or licensed locations. Luxottica Group S.p.A. has a strategic alliance with Drugstore.com Inc. Luxottica Group was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Milan, Italy.

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.

Dancker, Sellew & Douglas (DS&D) is a furniture dealership serving the New York City metropolitan area, upstate New York and New Jersey. It specializes in providing furniture to businesses, with clients including AT&T and Coldwell Banker. DS&D offers chairs, desks, lighting, and storage from a variety of manufacturers, including Peter Pepper Products, Steelcase and Teknion. Dancker, Sellew & Douglas also offers furniture rental and warehousing, along with design consulting, inventory management, and refurbishment services. DS&D also caters to hospitals and universities, and provides lab furniture and equipment to pharmaceutical companies. The firm was founded in 1829 as the T.G. Seller Company, making roll-top desks.

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.

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