B.J. Vines, aka Betsey Johnson, is a perennial favorite among women who are funky and consider themselves eclectic, and after some 30 years in the business, the eccentric designer and her company namesake are still going strong. Betsey Johnson clothes, shoes, fragrance, makeup, lingerie, legwear, and accessories are distributed through about 50 specialty stores of the same name and department stores worldwide. B.J. Vines has expanded its product offerings and operations through about a dozen licensing agreements. Having owned a majority of the firm, Johnson sold a controlling stake to Boston-based private equity firm Castanea Partners in August 2007.

Founded in 1926, Haggar was publicly held until it was sold to the private investment firm Infinity Associates LLC in 2005. Haggar is hooked on classics. A leading maker and marketer of men's casual and dress apparel, the company's products include pants, sport coats, suits, shirts, and shorts. Haggar's clothes (including its "wrinkle-free" shirts and tab-waist expandable pants) are sold through about 10,000 stores in the US, Canada, Mexico, and the UK. Its Haggar brand is sold in department stores, such as J. C. Penney, Kohl's, and Sears, and at more than 70 Haggar outlet stores. The company makes lower-priced brands for mass merchandisers and offers private-label clothing.

Bienestar International wants consumers to think about the well-being of the people who work for its manufacturers. Bienestar and its No Sweat Apparel brand broke into the market by emphasizing fair labor practices -- outsourcing its manufacturing to union shops that pay living wages and offer benefits to workers. The company offers plain and screen-printed T-shirts, hoodies, accessories, and shoes for men, women, and children. Products are retailed through Bienestar's e-commerce site and more than 150 specialty stores in the US, Canada, and Europe. It also wholesales its merchandise to schools, churches, and other groups. CEO Adam Neiman and his wife, VP Natalia Muina, each own about 40% of the firm.

The office products maker was founded in 1952 by its namesake, Peter Pepper. Peter Pepper Products company designs and manufactures office furniture and accessories, including clocks, coat racks, magazine holders, tables, benches, waste baskets -- even planters. Peter Pepper also imports items from Canada, Europe, and Asia. Products are sold through corporate and government contract sales, as well as through retailers (which have included Boise Office Solutions, Ivan Allen Workspace, and Herman Miller). The company operates two facilities in Southern California, runs a showroom in Chicago, and has factory representatives across the US.

Imperial Dax Company makes and markets DAX brand ethnic hair care products, such as African Sage Oil, pressing oil, pomade, petroleum jelly, African Braid Spray, SuperGro, Marcel Curling Wax, Kocatah, and Super Hair Conditioner. Its DAX Relax line includes an all-in-one hair relaxer, as well as maintenance products for relaxed hair. The company also makes skin conditioners, including cocoa butter creme and petroleum jelly. DAX brand products are sold in supermarkets and drugstores stores and online.

Drummond Framing company designs and makes frames that hang in some of the world's top galleries, museums, and private art collections. The shop also caters to the artists themselves and can produce frames, in any size, style, quantity. Clients include the estate of Jackson Pollock, the Guggenheim, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Chattem, Inc. company was founded in 1879 and is headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Chattem, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of over-the-counter (OTC) healthcare products, toiletries, and dietary supplements. The company markets its products under various brand names in categories, such as medicated skin care, topical pain care, oral care, internal OTC, medicated dandruff shampoos, dietary supplements, and other OTC and toiletry products. It sells medicated skin care products under the brands Gold Bond, Cortizone-10, and Balmex; topical pain care products under the Icy Hot, Aspercreme, Flexall, Capzasin, Sportscreme, and Arthritis Hot brand names; oral care products under the brands ACT, Herpecin-L, and Benzodent; and internal OTC products under the Pamprin, Premsyn PMS, Unisom, and Kaopectate brand names. The company also offers medicated dandruff shampoos under the brands Selsun Blue, Selsun Salon, and Selsun Natural; dietary supplement products under the Dexatrim, Garlique, Melatonex, New Phase, and Omnigest EZ brand names; and other OTC and toiletry products under the brands Bullfrog, Sun-In, UltraSwim, and Mudd. Chattem markets its products to mass merchandisers, and drug and food retailers in the United States, Canada, Peru, and Europe.

Ball Corporation was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. Ball Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, supplies metal and plastic packaging to the beverage, food, and household products industries worldwide. It offers aluminum and steel beverage cans for producers of beer, carbonated soft drinks, mineral water, fruit juices, energy drinks, and other beverages. The company also produces two-piece and three-piece steel food containers for packaging vegetables, fruit, soups, meat, seafood, nutritional products, pet food, and other products; aerosol cans, paint cans, and custom and specialty containers; and polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene plastic containers used primarily in beverage and food packaging, as well as plastic containers for industrial and household product applications. In addition, it develops spacecraft, sensors and instruments, radio frequency systems, and other technologies for the civil, commercial, and national security aerospace markets. Further, the company provides technical services and products to government agencies, prime contractors, and commercial organizations for a range of information warfare, electronic warfare, avionics, intelligence, training, and space systems needs.

Seiko Corporation of America (SCA) keeps US time for Japan's Seiko Holdings Corporation, a firm best known for its watches, clocks, and athletic timing devices. SCA markets watches and clocks under popular brands the likes of Pulsar and Seiko. Watches in Seiko's Kinetic series are powered by wrist movement rather than batteries; if the watch is set aside, a chip stores the time for several years. The manufacturing company is focusing more on fashion than function by adding the kinetic features to some of its fashion watches. SCA also offers personalized touches such as custom engraving and diamond settings.

Gravis Footwear, Inc. company makes sporty (for sports and for the sportif) footwear, bags (handbags and luggage pieces), and apparel (T-shirts, hats, hoodies and jackets) printed with the company's logo. Gravis' trendy collections, which appeal to men and women 25-35 years of age, are available through more than 2,500 specialty retailers worldwide. These include 200-plus stores in the US, including surf and skate shops, as well as chains such as Urban Outfitters and Whole Earth Provision. Snowboard manufacturer Burton Snowboards owns Gravis.

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