BeautiControl has a firm grip on the business of aesthetics and enjoys calling Texas home, alongside direct-selling rival Mary Kay. A subsidiary of household products maker Tupperware Brands Corporation, BeautiControl sells its beauty care items to its 1.1 million independent sales consultants, who in turn sell to consumers in 23 markets worldwide. Consultants provide computer-assisted, head-to-toe makeup advice through in-home demos. Its products include skin and nail care, fragrances, cosmetics, toiletries, nutritional and weight-management food supplements, and in-home spa retreats. Tupperware purchased BeautiControl in 2000 in a bid to expand its direct-selling reach to beauty and personal care products.

Old Mother Hubbard gives her poor (and rich) dogs a lot more than empty promises about non-existent bones. The pet food manufacturer's flagship products are the Old Mother Hubbard line of dog biscuits and gourmet specialties, and the Wellness brand of dog foods and treats, and cat foods. Old Mother Hubbard products are made with boneless chicken, brown rice, farm-fresh eggs, and nutritious vegetables. In addition Wellness products incorporate deboned fish, hormone-free lamb, and whole grains. Old Mother Hubbard sells its products at leading pet specialty stores across North America. In 2009 the company merged with Eagle Pack Pet Foods, another top player in the holistic pet food game, to form WellPet.

Wella brushes off much of its competition. One of the world's leading haircare companies, it sells professional and retail haircare products, cosmetics, and fragrances. Its Wella brand is its top seller; hair coloring products (Koleston, Wella Viva) are also leaders. Its Tondeo unit supplies professional products and appliances to salons. Wella's fragrances include Alfred Dunhill, Anna Sui, and Gucci, among others. Reluctantly for Wella at the time, Procter & Gamble acquired a majority stake in the firm in 2003 from four families (Ebert, Pohl, Sander, and Stroeher) that owned some 80% of Wella. Through a Domination Agreement transaction, P&G in November 2007 acquired the rest of its outstanding shares.

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.

PETCO Animal Supplies Stores, the nation's #2 pet supply specialty retailer, is hounding PetSmart for top dog status. As the operating subsidiary of holding company PETCO Animal Supplies, it runs more than 950 stores in all 50 US states. Its 15,000-sq.-ft. superstores carry some 10,000 pet-related items, including premium cat and dog foods (Nutro, Hill's Pet Nutrition), collars, leashes, grooming items, toys, and animal habitats. Its stores also offer grooming, training, vet services, and mixed breed DNA testing, and sponsor pet adoption for cats and dogs with local animal-welfare organizations. PETCO's products are also available through its Web site. Buyout firms took PETCO private in 2006.

Sappi Limited operates in the pulp and paper industry worldwide. It produces and sells coated woodfree paper used for brochures, catalogues, corporate communications materials, direct mail promotions, educational textbooks, luxury advertising, magazine covers, and upscale magazines; and uncoated woodfree paper for business forms, business stationery, general printing paper, tissue, and photocopy paper; and specialty woodfree paper used in bags, labels, packaging, and release paper for casting textured finishes, as well as packaging paper products used for primary and secondary packaging of fast moving consumer goods, agricultural, and industrial products. The company also provides mechanical papers, such as newsprint, which is manufactured from groundwood and bleached chemical pulp, used for advertising inserts and newspapers; uncoated mechanical paper, an uncoated groundwood fiber based paper, primarily used for magazines, catalogues, and advertising material; and coated mechanical/magazine paper, a coated groundwood fiber based paper, primarily used for magazines, catalogues, and advertising material. In addition, it produces chemical cellulose, as well as a range of paper pulp grades, including mechanical pulp used in newsprint, unbleached kraft pulp, bleached kraft pulp, and bleached sulphite pulp. Further, Sappi Limited offers sawn timber for the building industry and components for the furniture and packaging industry. Its customers include merchants, converters, printers, publishers, and other direct customers.

Deep Steep founders Renay Arbour and Annie Walker were inspired by the Japanese ritual of soaking in a hot tub infused with herbs and minerals after bathing. They returned to the US and began developing bath teas using herbal mixtures. Arbour and Walker worked alongside herbalists, chemists, and aromatherapy experts to develop the company's luxury products, which include bath teas, body lotions and washes, soaps, bubble baths, moisture sticks, foot sticks, and sugar scrubs. Deep Steep sells its line of bath and body products online, nationwide through specialty stores the likes of Sephora and at Nordstrom retail shops.

Brother International Corporation is one of the premier providers of products for the home, home office and office. Our U.S.A. corporate office, located in Bridgewater, New Jersey, was established in the US on April 21, 1954 and markets many industrial products, home appliances, and business products manufactured by its parent company, Brother Industries, Ltd., of Nagoya, Japan. These products include an award-winning line of Multi-Function Center® and printers. Brother also provides the number one line of facsimile machines in the U.S. and is the leader in electronic labeling, with its full line of P-touch® Electronic Labeling Systems. With revenues of approximately $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2006, Brother and its subsidiaries employ over 1,100 people in the Americas.

Royal Canin S.A. focuses primarily on high-nutrition dry pet food products for the upscale market. Its dietary items are formulated for dogs and cats according to their size, age, breed, and activity level. Products are sold in more than 90 countries, however, Europe accounts for the bulk of sales. The company maintains a research facility and a kennel and cattery where pets are given foods to test palatability and digestibility. Royal Canin was founded by veterinarian Jean Cathary in 1967. US candy giant Mars holds about a 60% stake in the company.

Baby Blanket Suncare was founded in 1986 and is owned by its officers. The Mercer Group, doing business as Baby Blanket Suncare, wants to make sure that the only time your baby turns red is when the little darling is bawling for a diaper change or feeding. The company markets sunscreen products for babies and adults with sensitive skin. Its line includes sunblock lotions, sticks, sprays, and towelettes, all with SPF ratings of 30 or higher. Baby Blanket Suncare also offers water sandals and sunglasses for babies. The company's products are sold via its Web site and other online outlets, including drugstore.com. In addition, the firm works with distributors in Mexico, South Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region.

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