SoftSheen/Carson Products is keeping the shine on its ethnic beauty. The company is one of the world's leading makers of ethnic hair care and beauty products, including shampoos, conditioners, gels, hair straighteners, relaxers, and shaving products. Its brands include Let's Jam, Baby Love, Optimum Care, Dark and Lovely, Magic Shave, and Weave Care. Founded in 1964 by Edward and Bettiann Gardner, SoftSheen was the largest African-American-owned beauty products company in the country until its acquisition in 1998 by L'Oréal USA, a division of French cosmetics giant L'Oréal. Carson was a subsidiary of L'Oréal USA before being merged with SoftSheen in 2000.

Cats, dogs, hamsters, birds, and the little fish too, can all play in rambunctious style thanks to the folks at Armitages Pet Products. The company makes more than 2,000 pet accessories, food, and treats under brands such as Good Girl and Good Boy (cat and dog toys, treats, collars, bowls), Rotastak (hamster houses and runners), and Gussie (goldfish products). Armitages, which was founded more than 200 years ago and holds a Royal Warrant, operates through five manufacturing facilities throughout the UK that produce more than 85% of the company's pet provisions. Armitages exports its products to more than 60 international markets.

Founded in 1945 by German refugee Hans Stern, the company is owned today in equal shares by the Stern sons: Roberto, Ronaldo, Ricardo, and Rafael. H. Stern Com. & Ind., S.A. company is one of the fastest-growing high-end jewelry (a necklace worn by Angelina Jolie at the 2004 Oscars was valued at $10 million) manufacturers in the world. The company is known for turning its colored gemstones into luxury products. H. Stern runs about 160 stores in a dozen countries worldwide. The firm is rapidly expanding into the Middle East and Eastern Europe, where its rings and accessories are finding a mainstream audience. It also supplies jewelry to other retailers and sells it jewels on cruise ships.

Avery Dennison was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Pasadena, California with additional offices in Brea and Westlake Village, California; Framingham, Massachusetts; Mentor, Ohio; Hong Kong and Kunshan, China; Leiden, the Netherlands; and Zug, Switzerland. Avery Dennison Corporation produces pressure-sensitive materials, office products, tickets, tags, labels, and other converted products. It has three segments: Pressure-Sensitive Materials, Retail Information Services, and Office and Consumer Products. Pressure-Sensitive Materials segment offers pressure-sensitive materials, including papers, plastic films, metal foils, and fabrics to label printers and converters; graphic products to the architectural, commercial sign, and digital printing markets; durable cast and reflective films to the construction, automotive, fleet transportation markets; scrim-reinforced vinyl material for banner sign applications; reflective films for traffic and safety applications; and acrylic polymer adhesives and protective coatings.Retail Information Services segment provides price marking and brand identification products, including woven and printed labels, graphic and barcode tags, price tickets, carton labels, RFID tags, barcode printers, molded plastic fastening and application devices, and security management products for retailers, apparel manufacturers, distributors, and industrial customers. Office and Consumer Products segment provides printable media and other products, such as copiers, ink-jet and laser printer labels and cards, related computer software, and index products; and organization, filing, and presentation products, such as binders, dividers, and sheet protectors. It also offers writing instruments, markers, adhesives, and specialty products. Avery Dennison also offers specialty tapes, engineered films, RFID inlays, and postage stamps. The company was formerly known as Avery International Corporation changed its name to Avery Dennison Corporation in 1990.

Empire Office is owned by the family of Abraham Gaslow, who founded it in 1946. Empire Office company's products -- which come from some 300 manufacturers -- range from cubicle workstations to products for the executive offices, including storage units, lighting, seating, case goods, and accessories. Empire Office also provides installation. Empire Office is one of the leading Steelcase furniture dealers in the US.

The Orthotic Group was founded in 1985. The Orthotic Group makes custom foot orthotic devices and customized footwear, including a variety of shoe styles such as sandals, boots, walking shoes, golf shoes, and sneakers. The Orthotic Group makes footwear in partnership with Brooks Sports and other manufacturers. The company also offers the GaitScan gait analysis product, a diagnostic software tool used by medical practitioners to assess foot biomechanics. Its products are distributed in the UK and Ireland, as well as in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and Southeast Asia.

Leach & Garner (HK) Limited is the Asian subsidiary of Leach & Garner Co., which established its manufacturing operations in the US in 1899 and serves major jewelry markets throughout the world. Leach & Garner markets its products in the US under the General Findings name. Leach & Garner (HK) Limited, like its parent, manufactures gold and silver findings -- including pendants, clasps, lever backs, posts, hoops, jump and spring rings -- for use in the jewelry industry. Leach & Garner (HK) Limited serves customers in the Asia/Pacific region, except Japan.

Yakka wants its customers to quit their yammering and get back to yakka (an aboriginal word for work). Australia-based Yakka Pty Ltd is the country's leading designer, manufacturer, and wholesaler of work apparel, footwear, and other gear for men, women, and children. The company boasts a line of school uniforms, as well. Yakka's brands include Icon, Can't Tear 'Em, Dowd Corp, Generation-Y, Neat N Trim, and Yakka Hard Wear. The company also fabricates private-label apparel and owns an Australian license for the manufacturing and distribution of Lee jeans. David K. Laidlaw founded the company in 1922. Yakka was acquired by Pacific Brands in 2007.

Temple-Inland, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Austin, Texas. Temple-Inland Inc., through its subsidiaries, manufactures corrugated packaging and building products primarily in the United States and Mexico. Temple-Inland Company's Corrugated Packaging segment manufactures containerboard and converts it into a line of corrugated packaging products. Its products include commodity brown boxes and intricate die cut containers, which can be printed with multi-color graphics. This segment also manufacture bulk containers constructed of multi-wall corrugated board, which are used for bulk shipments of various materials. In addition, the Corrugated Packaging segment serves a range of customers in the food, paper, glass containers, chemical, appliance, and plastics industries. Its Building Products segment offers various products, including lumber, gypsum wallboard, particleboard, medium density fiberboard, and fiberboard. This segment markets these products to distributors, retailers, and original equipment manufacturers. The company has a joint venture agreement with Del-Tin Fiber LLC, which produces medium density fiberboard.

The Alberto Culver Company is a $1.5 billion manufacturer and marketer, focused on beauty and personal care with an additional portfolio of household products. The company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACV. Alberto Culver is the fourth largest manufacturer of hair care products in the United States and the second largest in the UK. Its leading hair care brands include TRESemmé, Alberto VO5, and Nexxus. Soft & Beautiful, Just For Me, Motions and TCB brands make the company the second-largest producer of hair care products for women of color in the world. The company also competes in the skin care category with its St. Ives, Soft & Beautiful Skin and Noxzema brands. In the household category the company created and markets such well-known brands as Mrs. Dash and Static Guard. The company was founded in 1955 by Leonard Lavin. He and his wife Bernice guided the company's growth until 1994 when they turned it over to a second family generation. Mr. Lavin remains a director of today's Alberto Culver and his daughter, Carol Lavin Bernick, is the company's Executive Chairman.

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