J.Crew Group, Inc. is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, loungewear, wedding, bags, hair accessories, belts, jewelry, and shoes. As of January 2011, it operated 333 retail stores throughout the United States. The company conducts its business through retail, factory, clearance, crewcuts, and Madewell stores, catalogs, and on its website. In 1947, Mitchell Cinader and Saul Charles founded Popular Merchandise, Inc., a store which did business as Popular Club Plan and sold low-priced women’s clothing marketed through in-home demonstrations. The 1980s marked a booming sales period for catalog retail giants Lands’ End, Talbots, and L L Bean. Popular Merchandise initiated its own catalog operation, focusing on leisurewear for upper-middle-class customers, aiming for a Ralph Lauren look at a much lower price. The first Popular Club Plan catalog was mailed to customers in January 1983 and continued under that name until 1989. Popular Club Plan catalogs often showed the same garment in more than one picture with close-up shots of the fabrics, so

The Pantry, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTRY) is a publicly traded convenience store chain based in Sanford, North Carolina that operates Kangaroo Express stores. The Pantry was founded in 1967 by Sam Wornom and Truby Proctor, Jr. The company has been publicly traded since June 1999 and owned by investors since 1987, when then investor Montrose Capital purchased controlling shares from founders Wormon and Proctor. Chief officers have included Edwin J Holman, Chairman and Terrance M Marks, President and CEO. Marks replaced longtime former CEO Peter Sodini who held office since 1996. Dennis Hatchell is the current CEO of the company. As of November 2011, it's the largest convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, with 1,655 stores in thirteen states. It's the largest independently-operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States. The Pantry expanded rapidly during the late 1980s into the 2000s through various acquisitions. In 2008, it was announced that all Pantry stores would be rebranded under its primary operating banner, Kangaroo Express. The Pantry offers its own private label "Kangaroo" brand of gasoline, and operates 250 in-store quick-service restaurants.

Nucor Corporation, a Fortune 300 company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the largest steel producers in the United States, and the largest of the "mini-mill" operators (those using electric arc furnaces to melt scrap steel, as opposed to companies operating integrated steel works with blast furnaces). Nucor claims to be North America's largest recycler of any material, recycling one ton of steel every two seconds. The total annual steelmaking capacity of the company is 25 million tons. Nucor's history consists of three distinct eras: the Reo Motor Car era, the Nuclear Corporation of America era, and the current Nucor era. Nucor's origins are with auto manufacturer Ransom E. Olds, who founded Olds Motor Vehicle Company in 1897 (later, as Oldsmobile, to become a part of General Motors). Having left his company years before it was acquired by GM, in 1905 Olds established a new company, REO Motor Car Company, the predecessor to Nucor, in Lansing, Michigan. Though Olds' cars, including the luxurious REO Flying Cloud, were popular, they were not profitable, and the company's more successful truck business (featuring the famous REO Speed Wagon) was still not

SPX Corporation is a Fortune 500 multi-industry manufacturing firm. SPX's business segments serve developing and emerging end markets, such as global infrastructure, process equipment, and diagnostic tool industries. With corporate headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, they have operations in more than 35 countries around the world. Their products include pumps, valves, and other fluid handling devices; diagnostic tools, fare-collection, and cable/pipe locators; cooling, heating, and ventilation equipment; and compactors, power systems, broadcast antenna systems, dairy dryers, aerospace components, and pressure vessel closures. SPX was founded in 1911 in Muskegon, Michigan as the Piston Ring Company.

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: SAH) is a Fortune 500 company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is one of the largest automotive retailers in the United States. The company's founder and CEO is Bruton Smith, who is also the founder and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: TRK). Sonic Automotive operates in 15 states with 107 dealerships representing 29 different brands of automobiles. These dealerships provide numerous services, including sales of new and used cars; sales of replacement parts; vehicle maintenance, warranty, paint, and collision repair services; and arrangement of extended warranty contracts, financing, and insurance for the company's customers. Sonic's annual revenue is roughly $8 billion. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), total annual dealership sales in the U.S. reached $512 billion in 2010, making automotive retailing the largest retail trade sector in the nation. Of this $512 billion, NADA estimates that $270.8 billion represented sales of 11.5 million new vehicles by franchised U.S. auto dealers and $169.5 billion represented sales of 18 million used vehicles by these dealers. In 2011 Sonic initiated the Bruton Cameron

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ: COKE), headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the United States, producing, marketing, and distributing nonalcoholic beverages—primarily licensed products of the Coca-Cola Company -- in North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia, and portions of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Florida. While the Coca-Cola Company owns approximately 27.2% of the company's stock, the Harrison family beneficially owns shares representing about 91.8% of total shareholder voting power. CCBCC sponsors local events and many community organizations including the YMCA.

Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the largest electric power holding company in the United States; with assets also in Canada and Latin America. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in the United States, which it distributes to its 7.1 million customers. Duke Energy's service territory covers 104,000 square miles (270,000 km) with 250,200 miles (402,700 km) of distribution lines. In addition, Duke Energy has more than 4,300 megawatts of electric generation in Latin America. It operates eight hydroelectric power plants in Brazil with an installed capacity of 2,307 megawatts. Almost all of Duke Energy's Midwest generation comes from coal, natural gas, or oil, while half of its Carolinas generation comes from its nuclear power plants. During 2006, Duke Energy generated 148,798,332 megawatt-hours of electrical energy. Duke Energy Generation Services (DEGS), a subsidiary of Duke Energy, specializes in the development, ownership, and operation of various generation facilities throughout the United States. This segment of the company operates 6,600 megawatts of generation. 240 megawatts of wind

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is an American multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the second-largest bank holding company in the United States by assets. Bank of America serves clients through 5,600 branches and 16,200 ATMs in more than 150 countries and has a relationship with 99% of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83% of the Fortune Global 500. The company is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a component of both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As of 2010, Bank of America is the fifth-largest company in the United States by total revenue, as well as the third-largest non-oil company in the U.S. (after Walmart and General Electric). In 2010, Forbes listed Bank of America as the 3rd biggest company in the world. The bank's 2008 acquisition of Merrill Lynch made Bank of America the world's largest wealth management corporation and a major player in the investment banking market. The company held 12.2% of all bank deposits in the United States as of August 2009, and is one of the Big Four banks in the United States, along with Citigroup, JPMorgan

CommScope Inc. is a multinational telecommunications company based in Hickory, North Carolina, United States, since its founding in 1976. CommScope is a 1997 spin-off of General Instruments, and now has over 15,000 employees worldwide, with customers in over 130 countries. CommScope manufactures SYSTIMAX and Uniprise brands of Enterprise infrastructure of copper Unshielded Twisted Pair cabling, connector panels, jacks and fiber optic cabling, connector panels, racking and metals. CommScope also manufactures environmentally secure cabinets for FTTN and DSL applications. In 2007 CommScope's net sales were approximately US$1.93 billion. On October 25, 2010, The Carlyle Group announced it would pay $31.50 a share, or about $2.98 billion, to take CommScope private. In July 2011, CommScope received the 2010 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award from Technology Marketing Corporation for its product, Wired For Wirless. In 2004 the company acquired Avaya's Connectivity Solutions business, and in 2007 acquired Andrew Corporation, for a total of 15,000 employees worldwide. The Avaya business acquisition included the legacy intellectual property and patents from Western Electric,

Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a subsidiary of Duke Energy and prior to its merger with Duke Energy was a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve approximately 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. As an independent company, the last chairman and CEO of Progress Energy was William D. Johnson; his predecessor was Robert McGehee, who died on October 9, 2007 at the age of 64 of a stroke while on a business trip to London. Progress Energy is the majority owner and operator of the Brunswick, Crystal River 3, Robinson, and Shearon Harris nuclear power plants. The company's current slogan is, "People, performance, excellence." In 2000, Carolina Power & Light bought Florida Progress Corporation and changed its name to Progress Energy. The company built a new headquarters in downtown Raleigh in 2004. On January 10, 2011, Duke Energy announced plans to take over Progress Energy in a $26 billion deal resulting in the country's largest electric utility with 7.1 million customers. Although the headquarters will be in

RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) designs and manufactures high-performance radio frequency systems and solutions for applications that drive wireless and broadband communications. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, RFMD is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol RFMD. The Company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1991 by William J. Pratt, Powell T. Seymour and Jerry D. Neal. The company's products are used in telecommunications, Wireless LAN, GPS, Bluetooth and cable modems. In late 2007, RFMD bought another RF component maker, Sirenza Microdevices and in 2008 bought Filtronic Compound Semiconductor Ltd. RF Micro also laid off about 350 workers and 80 as chip testing had moved to China.

Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE: RAI) is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. Its holdings include R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, American Snuff Company (formerly Conwood Company), Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company and Niconovum AB. It is 42% owned by British American Tobacco of the United Kingdom. Reynolds American's subsidiaries manufacture and market a variety of tobacco products, including cigarettes (Camel, Pall Mall, Kool, Winston, Salem, Doral, Misty, Capri and Natural American Spirit brands) and moist snuff (Grizzly and Kodiak brands). In 2010, Reynolds American's operating companies sold about 28% of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. Reynolds American was formed in January 2004 and began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange as RAI in August 2004. In July 2004 the U.S. business of British American Tobacco (Brown & Williamson) was combined with that of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (R. J. Reynolds), under the R. J. Reynolds name. R. J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson were the second and third-ranking U.S. tobacco companies prior to the combination. When they combined, R. J. Reynolds became a subsidiary of Reynolds American, with BAT holding a 42%

Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) is a regional chain of variety stores in the United States. It opened in 1959 and operates approximately 7,100 stores in 45 states and the District of Columbia. It is headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina. Family Dollar is not a true "dollar store" in the strict sense; while there are many items available for $1, there are other price points as well. However, approximately 90% of the products cost less than $10. With most locations set up like a typical supermarket, the chain deals in food items, clothing and assorted household products. Some, but not all, Family Dollar stores now accept credit cards, as well as debit cards and the cash benefit from EBT (food stamp) cards. Family Dollar was founded in 1959 by Leon Levine, a 21-year-old entrepreneur. In November of that year, the company's first store was opened, in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1961, their first store in South Carolina opened, followed by stores in Georgia and Virginia, which were opened in 1962 and 1965, respectively. During the 1960s, the store company was largely a southern United States operation. By 1969, there were fifty stores in Charlotte alone. The 1970s were growing years for

Carlisle Companies, Inc. (NYSE: CSL) is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based diversified manufacturing company serving construction materials, commercial roofing, specialty tire and wheel, power transmission, heavy-duty brake and friction, heavy-haul truck trailer, foodservice and data transmission industries. Carlisle Companies Incorporated began in 1917, when Charles S. Moomy opened Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to sell inner tubes to Montgomery Ward and Company. With thirty employees working ten-hour days, Carlisle Tire and Rubber Company began producing automobile inner tubes. The Company continued to grow and prosper through the 1920s. With the Stock Market crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Depression, Carlisle Tire and Rubber, like most other companies during that era, found itself in a desperate struggle to stay afloat. Near the end of the 1930s, in order to avoid bankruptcy, Moomy turned all of his common and preferred stock over to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia which by then, as the largest shareholder, had control of the company. The end of the depression and the beginning of World War II forced changes upon the rubber industry.

Wachovia (former NYSE ticker symbol WB) was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States based on total assets. Wachovia provided a broad range of banking, asset management, wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. At its height, it was one of the largest providers of financial services in the United States, operating financial centers in 21 states and Washington, D.C., with locations from Connecticut to Florida and west to California. Wachovia provided global services through more than 40 offices around the world. The purchase of Wachovia by Wells Fargo and Company was completed on December 31, 2008. Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia after a government-forced sale to avoid a failure of Wachovia. Starting in 2009, the Wachovia brand was absorbed into the Wells Fargo brand in a process that lasted three years. On October 15, 2011, the Wachovia brand was retired when the last bank branches in North Carolina were converted to Wells Fargo. The company was organized into four divisions: General Bank

Pharmaceutical Product Development, LLC (PPD) is a leading global contract research organization (CRO) providing discovery, development and post-approval services as well as compound partnering programs. The company’s clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. While PPD is mainly known for conducting all aspects of drug development for its clients, it also invests directly in developing new products through its compound partnering program. PPD was founded by Fred Eshelman, Pharm.D., as a one-person consulting firm in 1985. The following year he expanded the company's scope to include development services and relocated operations from Maryland to North Carolina. PPD is headquartered in Wilmington, N.C. The company has approximately 11,500 employees in 45 countries. PPD operates in two main segments: development services and discovery sciences/compound partnering. PPD has also forged strategic alliances with various biopharmaceutical companies and consulting firms in key areas of drug development. PPD provides clinical development and post-approval services for biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. In

Dex One Corporation provides online, mobile and print search marketing via their DexKnows.com website, print yellow pages directories and pay-per-click ad networks in the U.S. Dex One Corporation was formed in February 2010. It was previously the R. H. Donnelley Company, which was founded in 1886 by Reuben H. Donnelley, son of RR Donnelley founder Richard R. Donnelley, as The Chicago Directory Company. Donnelley primarily contracted with The Chicago Telephone Company to publish telephone directories for Chicago Telephone customers. In 1906, however, Donnelley would venture outside Chicago, contracting with Bell System firms such as New York Telephone, Wisconsin Telephone, and Cincinnati Suburban Telephone Co. In 1917, The Reuben H. Donnelley Company was incorporated and moved to New York City, retaining some offices in Chicago. In 1925, Donnelley died, leaving behind his company which continued to contract with the Bell System to publish telephone directories. In 1961, Dun & Bradstreet Corp merged with R.H. Donnelley becoming a wholly owned subsidiary. Following its merger with D&B, the company began a series of partnerships with several telephone companies to publish directories.

Lowe's Companies, Inc. is an American chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores that has retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,714 stores in the United States and 31 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in 2007, with the opening of a store in Hamilton, Ontario, in early 2008. Lowe's started the construction of two stores in the Mexican city of Monterrey officially entering the Mexican market. In 2011 Lowe's released plans to build over 150 stores in Australia over the next five years, hoping to compete with the A$46 billion industry. Lowe's Companies, Inc. is 43rd on the Fortune 500 list. As of 2010, the chain is based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Lowe's is the second-largest hardware chain in the United States, behind The Home Depot and ahead of Menards. Globally, Lowe's is also the second-largest hardware chain, again, behind The Home Depot and ahead of the European stores B&Q and OBI. Lucius S. Lowe opened Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in 1921. The business was inherited by his

Burlington Industries is a diversified U. S. fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1923, the company has operations in the United States, Mexico, and India and a global manufacturing and product development network based in Hong Kong. The company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2001. Its assets were acquired by International Textile Group (ITG) out of bankruptcy in late 2003. The Lees Carpet division was sold to Mohawk Industries as part of the deal. With only 500 employees remaining, the company moved out of its headquarters building on Friendly Avenue in October 2004. ITG continues to operate the companies Burlington WorldWide Apparel and Burlington House Interior Fabrics. ITG continues to protect with full force of law the brand name Burlington, which it owns. This has, on occasion, caused conflicts with Burlington Coat Factory, which was found in contempt of court for misusing the Burlington trademark and must disclaim in its advertising that it is not affiliated with Burlington Industries. For the US-American market, the brand name Burlington Socks is licensed to Kayser-Roth, Inc. of Greensboro, North Carolina (an affiliate of the

The Goodrich Corporation formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, was an American aerospace manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. The company name was changed to the "B.F. Goodrich Company" in 1880, to BFGoodrich in the 1980s, and to "Goodrich Corporation" in 2001. In 1869 Benjamin Franklin Goodrich purchased the Hudson River Rubber Company, a small business in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. The following year Goodrich accepted an offer of $13,600 from the citizens of Akron, Ohio, to relocate his business there. The company grew to be one of the largest tire and rubber manufacturers in the world, helped in part by the 1986 merger with Uniroyal (formerly the United States Rubber Company). This product line was sold to Michelin in 1988, and the company merged with Rohr (1997), Coltec Industries, and TRW Aeronautical Systems (formerly Lucas Aerospace) in 2002. The sale of the specialty chemicals division and subsequent change to the current name completed the transformation. In 2006, company sales were $5.8 billion dollars, of which 18%, 16% and 12% of total revenues were accounted

HanesBrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) is an American clothing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It employs 50,000 people internationally. On September 6, 2006 the company was spun off by the Sara Lee Corporation. HanesBrands owns several clothing brands, which are Hanes (its largest brand), Champion (its second largest brand), Playtex (its third largest brand), Bali, L'eggs, Just My Size, Hanes Hosiery, Barely There, Wonderbra, Duofold, Airé, Beefy-T, C9 by Champion, Cacharel, Celebrity, Daisyfresh, J. E. Morgan, One Hanes Places, Rinbros, Ritmo, Sheer Energy, Silk Reflections, Sol, Sol y Oro, Tagless, and Zorba. HanesBrands also operates and owns around 250 L'eggs Hanes Bali Playtex Factory Outlets or HanesBrands Stores across the US. They are a chain of outlet stores that offer discounts. HanesBrands Flagship store is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and opened in summer 2008. This store is the largest store and offers all of HanesBrands brands. HanesBrands has recently started opening Champion Outlet Stores in addition to their HanesBrands Stores. Currently there are 20 Champion stores open. HanesBrands has companies in various parts of Europe and Eastern Europe,

VF Corporation is an American apparel corporation. VF corporation sells jeanswear, intimate apparel, daypacks, and workwear. The corporate headquarters are in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company was established first as Reading Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company in Pennsylvania in October 1899 by John Barbey and a group of investors. The company was started with $11,000 and a 320-square-foot (30 m) factory that was leased for $60/month. It was incorporated in Pennsylvania on December 4 of that same year. The manufacture of undergarments began in 1919, accompanied by a name change to Vanity Fair Mills. Shares were sold to the public in 1951. The H.D. Lee Company (now Lee Jeans) was acquired by the company in 1969 and the corporate name was changed to VF Corporation to reflect the more diverse product line. Blue Bell Inc., the owner of such brands as Wrangler and JanSport, was acquired in 1986, effectively doubling the size of VF and making it the largest publicly-held apparel company. The company announced the purchase of VF Corporation's underwear business by Fruit of the Loom for $350 million in cash on January 23, 2007. On February 28, 2007, VF Corporation acquired