Specialty Store

Cullen’s Play Pen/BabySuperMarket Corporate Office

Cullen’s Play Pen was founded by the Mizel family in 1954. BabySupermarket was founded in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1989 by current owner and CEO Philip Gangi. The company operates a specialty store, as well as an online store, that features items for babies and young children. Gangi purchased Cullen’s Play Pen from the Mizel family in 1989.

Cullen’s Play Pen is the name of the retail store, with Babysupermarket being the name of the online store. The two story retail location has 8,000 square feet of space and sells everything except clothing and diapers. The company also has an 8,000 square foot warehouse for the retail store and a 35,000 square foot warehouse for the online store.

The online store, BabySupermarket, does sell clothing, but like the retail store, no diapers. Combined, the company had an estimated annual revenue in 2015 of $2 million and employs approximately 25 persons.

BabySuperMarket/Cullen's Play Pen

History

Lids Corporate Office

Lids was founded in 1995 in Zionsville, Indiana. The company operates a chain of hat and sports apparel stores, as well as an eCommerce site.

The company sold more than 6,000 hats alone during its first 5 years of business. The majority of items sold are sports or sport team hats, however, other brands are also available, including Columbia, Nike, and Hurley. In addition to hats, the company offers pennants, jewelry, bumper stickers, storage systems for hats, and Nike footwear.

Lids also goes by the name of Hat World. Hat World and Lids were acquired in April of 2004 by Genesco, Inc. Lids and Hat World has more than 1,130 locations, mainly in malls, airports, and factory outlet stores. Most locations offer embroidery and custom designs.

Hat World, Inc. was acquired in April 2004 by footwear retailer Genesco, Inc.

In December 2022, the company announced it would offer a new service called Lids Hat Drop, which allows clients to purchase exclusive and limited-edition product releases from noteworthy celebrity, designer, influencer, and athlete collaborations.

In-store shoppers will be the first to access and buy exclusive hat releases at 11 a.m. ET each Friday, an hour before the products drop online.

Lids maintains a corporate office in Indianapolis, Indiana

Lids

Lids was founded in 1995 in Zionsville, Indiana. The company operates a chain of hat and sports apparel stores, as well as an eCommerce site.

History

Hat World, Inc. was acquired in April 2004 by footwear retailer Genesco, Inc.

In-store shoppers will be the first to access and buy exclusive hat releases at 11 a.m. ET each Friday, an hour before the products drop online.

Lids maintains a corporate office in Indianapolis, Indiana

LA Skate Company Corporate Office

LA Skate Company was founded in 1979 by current CEO Dave White in Los Angeles, California. The company operates a skate board and roller skate shop.

The company specializes in building custom made skateboards, but also offers factor made skate boards. The company has thousands of boards available, as well as graphics. In addition to skate boards, wheels, graphics, and accessories, the company also sells roller skates with a wide variety of wheels and boots.

LA Skate Company recently launched a line of “gently used” skating apparel, such as T-shirts, hoodies, and jeans, as well as skate shoes. The company accepts telephone orders, PayPal, and online orders.

LA Skate Company

LA Skate Company was founded in 1979 by current CEO Dave White in Los Angeles, California. The company operates a skate board and roller skate shop.

History

Zondervan Corporate Office

Zondervan was founded in 1931 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by Peter and Bernard Zondervan. The brothers were nephews of publisher William Eerdmans. The company began by selling excess books and bibles out of the family barn.

Today, Zondervan is one of the largest sellers of Christian themed books, bibles, music, and movies. The company is now a part of the HarperCollins Christian Publishing Company. In addition to Christian themed books and music, the company has a division of books on tape, children’s books, and religious home decor, including candles and wall plaques.

The company has been highly criticized by some fundamentalist groups for publishing different versions of the bible, including their gender neutral Today’s New International Version. Rolling Stone magazine received criticism after refusing to accept an advertisement for Zondervan’s bibles.

Zondervan

History

Costa Del Mar Corporate Office

Costa Del Mar was founded in 1983 in Daytona Beach, Florida, by Ray Ferguson. Ferguson designed a pair of polarized glasses that he sold to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The NOAA found them extremely useful and later endorsed these glasses.

The company designs and manufactures sunglasses and casual apparel. Although the company states that all their sunglasses are made in the USA, this has been criticized as being misleading. Costa Del Mar sunglass frames are made in either Taiwan, China, Japan or Mauritius, depending on frame style. Sunglasses are finished with lenses at the Daytona Beach facility. Costa Del Mar is perhaps best known for their lifetime warranty on defects, as well as their repairs, which are performed in Florida.

Costa Del Mar sells their products via their eCommerce site, as well as via authorized distributors, such as Amazon. The company operates as a subsidiary of Essilor, Inc.

In 2013, the company had annual revenue of $100 million. Headquarters for Costa Del Mar are located in Daytona Beach, Florida. In April 2018, the company announced that it was planning on building a new headquarters building and that it would remain in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Costa Del Mar

History

Costa Del Mar sells their products via their eCommerce site, as well as via authorized distributors, such as Amazon. The company operates as a subsidiary of Essilor, Inc.