MCM 100: The Major Players

	A family affair

Many of the MCM 100 are multititle mailers. Here's a guide to who owns what:

1-800-FLOWERS.COM includes Cheryl & Co., DesignPac Gifts, Fannie May, HearthSong, Magic Cabin, Plow & Hearth, The Popcorn Factory, Wind & Weather

ARISTOTLE CORP. includes American Educational Products, Nasco, Summit Learning, Triarco

CABELA'S includes Antique Hardware and Home, Ducks Unlimited, Van Dyke's Restorers, Van Dyke's Taxidermy, Wild Wings

CHARMING SHOPPES includes Bedford Fair Lifestyles, Brownstone Studio, Coward Shoes, Figi's, Intimate Appeal, Lane Bryant, Lew Magram, Monterey Bay Clothing Co., Old Pueblo Traders, Willow Ridge

DIRECT MARKETING SERVICES INC. includes Charles Keath, Home Visions, Montgomery Ward, Popular Club Plan, Room for Kids

HANOVER DIRECT includes Company Kids, The Company Store, Domestications, International Male, Silhouettes, Undergear

IAC/INTERACTIVECORP. includes Alsto's, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Home Focus, Improvements, IOS, Isabella Bird, Smith + Noble, The Territory Ahead, TravelSmith

INTERLINE BRANDS includes Barnett, Copperfield Chimney Supply, Hardware Express, Leran, Maintenance USA, Sexauer, SunStar Lighting, U.S. Lock, Wilmar

ORCHARD BRANDS includes Appleseed's, Blair Corp., Draper's & Damon's, Gold Violin, Haband, Norm Thompson Outfitters, Sahalie, Solutions, The Tog Shop, WinterSilks

PATTERSON COS. includes Masune First Aid & Safety, Medco, Sammons Preston, Webster Veterinary

POTPOURRI GROUP includes Back in the Saddle, Catalog Favorites, Expressions, In the Company of Dogs, Nature's Jewelry, NorthStyle, Pyramid Collection, the Stitchery, Serengeti, Whatever Works

SCHOOL SPECIALTY includes ABC School Supply, Abilitations, Brodhead Garrett, Childcraft, Delta Education, Frey Scientific, Hammond & Stephens, Sax Arts and Crafts, Sportime

SPIEGEL BRANDS includes Spiegel, Newport News, A.B. Lambdin, Carabella, Venus

STAPLES includes Quill Corp., Smilemakers, and Medical Arts Press

TAYLOR CORP. includes Colorful Images, Current, G. Neil, Paper Direct, Sa-So

W.W. GRAINGER includes AW Direct, Ben Meadows, Gempler's, Lab Safety Supply, Rand Materials Handling

	Wheeling and Dealing

Some of the most notable mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures involving MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT 100 companies during the past 18 months.

	JANUARY 2007

• Electronics components distributor TTI, parent company of cataloger Mouser Electronics, is acquired by holding company Berkshire Hathaway

	FEBRUARY 2007

• Brady Corp. acquires Clement Communications, a direct marketer of safety-related posters and newsletters

• Guitar Center, the parent company of cataloger Musician's Friend, acquires multititle cataloger the Woodwind & the Brasswind out of bankruptcy for $29.5 million

	APRIL 2007

• Apparel and home goods mailer Blair Corp. is acquired by Orchard Brands (formerly Appleseed's Topco), a unit of Golden Gate Capital

• Pet supplies mailer Doctors Foster and Smith agrees to buy Web merchant Neeps

• Food gifts merchant Harry & David Holdings sells its horticultural brand, Jackson & Perkins

	MAY 2007

• CDW Corp., a technology products and services provider, agrees to be bought by equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners for $7.3 billion

• VWR International, which sells laboratory supplies, also agrees to be bought by Madison Dearborn Partners

• Staples acquires American Identity, a distributor of corporate branded merchandise

	JUNE 2007

• Lab Safety Supply buys McFeely's Square Drive Screws

• Ingram Micro acquires wholesale consumer electronics distributor DBL Distributing for $96 million

• Private equity giant Bain Capital pays about $2.1 billion to acquire Guitar Center

	AUGUST 2007

• Home improvement products retailer Home Depot sold its HD Supply business to Bain Capital Partners, Carlyle Group, and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $8.5 billion — 18% less than the price the group had initially agreed to pay two months earlier

• Outdoor sporting gear cataloger/retailer Cabela's buys S.I.R. Warehouse Sports Store, a Canadian retailer of hunting, fishing, camping, and related outdoor merchandise

	SEPTEMBER 2007

• Multititle cataloger Redcats USA acquires United Retail Group, a specialty retailer of plus-size women's fashion apparel, for $198.9 million

	OCTOBER 2007

• K+K America sells Conney Safety Products to private equity firm Caxton-Iseman Capital for $48 million

	DECEMBER 2007

• AmeriMark Direct buys fellow multititle cataloger Dr. Leonard's Healthcare Corp.

	JANUARY 2008

• Computers and industrial suppliers marketer Systemax buys the CompUSA brand, trademarks, and e-commerce business for approximately $30 million

• Fruit gifts mailer Harry & David Holdings acquires breakfast foods cataloger Wolferman's from Williams Foods; sources say the deal was worth about $22.5 million

	APRIL 2008

• Current USA, a subsidiary of Taylor Corp., agrees to buy personalized gifts merchant Lillian Vernon Corp. for $15.8 million

	MAY 2008

• 1-800-Flowers.com buys DesignPac Gifts for $36 million

• Gadgets and gifts cataloger/retailer Sharper Image Corp., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, agrees to be acquired by a joint venture led by units of private investment firms Hilco Consumer Capital Corp. and Gordon Brothers Group

• Provide Commerce agrees to acquire substantially all of the assets of gifts mailer Red Envelope, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April