Retailing

Family Dollar, a discount "dollar store" chain, was formed in 1959, when it opened its first outlet in Charlotte, North Carolina. Over 40 years later, Family Dollar is still headquartered in Charlotte, but has at least 6,785 stores in 44 states with over 50,000 employees.

Critics of Family Dollar and other dollar stores say they exploit store employees by calling them "managers" (even though they do not oversee other employees) to avoid laws requiring paid overtime.

Family Dollar ranks No. 305 in the U.S. Fortune 500.

Nike is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes, apparel and sports equipment with revenue in excess of $16 billion USD in 2007. Operating in more than 160 countries around the globe Nike and is subsidiaries can be found in most shoe retailing stores. In addition to manufacturing their products Nike also runs a chain of retail stores known as Niketown. The company was heavily criticized in the late 1990s for egregious labor conditions, human rights abuses and environmental damage

Office Depot is the second largest office supply and products retailer (behind Staples). The company has over 1,600 locations globally and opened its first Florida store in 1986. Multiple states have investigated or canceled contracts with Office Depot for various questionable pricing schemes.

Carrefour SA is a French international supermarket chain, with a global network of outlets. It is the second largest retail group in the world in terms of revenue and sales figures after Wal-Mart. Carrefour operates mainly in the European Union, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, but also has shops in North Africa and Asia.

The Kroger Co. operates retail food and drug stores, multi-department stores, jewelry stores and convenience stores throughout the United States. The Company also manufactures and processes some of the food for sale in its supermarkets. It reported over US$60 billion in sales during its most recent fiscal year and is the top grocery retailer in the country and third-place general retailer in the country, behind Wal-Mart and The Home Depot.

Tesco plc is a UK-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is the largest British retailer by both global sales and domestic market share, and is the world's third-largest retailer, behind Wal-Mart of the United States and Carrefour of France.

Tesco now controls just over 30% of the grocery market in the UK, approximate to the combined market share of its closest rivals, Asda and Sainsbury's.

Target Corporation is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is the fifth largest retailer in the United States behind Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Kroger and Costco. In 1995, Target Stores opened its first SuperTarget "hypermarket" in Omaha, Nebraska. Target began operation in Bangalore, India in May 2005.

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Sears Holdings Corporation is the fourth largest retailer in the United States, behind Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, and Kroger. It was formed in 2005 with the purchase of Sears, Roebuck and Company of Hoffman Estates, Illinois by Kmart Holdings Corporation of Troy, Michigan.

The company operates 3,800 retail locations under the mastheads of Sears, Sears Grand, Sears Essentials, Sears Hardware, Kmart, Big Kmart, Super Kmart, The Great Indoors, Orchard Supply Hardware, and Lands' End stores.

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