family-owned-business
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AriZona Beverage Co.
AriZona turned a tall can, loud colors and a stubborn price into a household ritual. The trick is not nostalgia alone - it is a tightly controlled machine built to make value visible.
STIHL USA
STIHL built its American business around machines that can be serviced, dealers who know their customers and a Virginia factory that makes more than many buyers realize. Its next test is carrying that old-school advantage into the battery era.
K. Hovnanian® Homes
For 65 years the Hovnanian family has been putting keys in first-time buyers' hands and building 55-and-up communities where the lawn mows itself. Here is how a New Jersey homebuilder turned patience into a business model.
Alpha Industries, Inc.
Alpha Industries is an American outerwear company that started in 1959 as a U.S. Department of Defense contract manufacturer and turned its government-spec flight jackets into a global fashion label. It produced the MA-1 bomber, the M-65 field coat and the N-3B parka to military specification for decades, then began selling civilian versions in 1970 under a distinct three-bar label. Now in its third generation of family ownership under CEO Michael Cirker, the company sells through wholesale accounts, department stores, licensed sports collections, its own e-commerce site and a small number of physical stores, and it uses a steady stream of designer and streetwear collaborations - Supreme, Vetements, BAPE, Lee, Cecilie Bahnsen among them - to keep a 1963 pattern relevant to buyers who were not born when it was drafted.
Century 21 Stores
Century 21 Stores is a New York City off-price fashion retailer, founded in 1961, known for selling designer and luxury apparel, footwear, handbags and accessories at deep discounts. After filing for bankruptcy and closing all 13 locations in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gindi family reacquired the brand and reopened its Financial District flagship at 22 Cortlandt Street in May 2023. Rebranded 'Century 21 NYC,' the retailer pairs its trademark 'treasure hunt' in-store experience with a growing e-commerce presence, live shopping and a TikTok Shop.
Glik's
Glik's is a fifth-generation, family-owned specialty apparel retailer founded in 1897 and headquartered in Collinsville, Illinois. It operates roughly 70 boutique-style clothing and footwear stores across 11 Midwestern states, plus an e-commerce site, carrying denim and trending national brands like Judy Blue, Birkenstock, The North Face, Silver Jeans, Roxy and Simply Southern. One of the oldest continuously operating retailers in the United States, Glik's focuses on smaller communities and personalized service.
Jim Collins
Jim Collins is the Chief Executive Officer of Basic American Foods, a 90-plus-year-old, family-owned food manufacturer headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. He stepped into the CEO seat in 2023 after serving as the company's CFO. Before BAF, his career wound through PwC, Foster's Group in Australia, Robert Mondavi, Beringer, and a stint at telecom-era start-ups Yipes and Spinway. A Chico State business graduate, he runs a roughly $625M revenue, 1,300-employee enterprise best known for instant mashed potatoes, dehydrated onion and garlic, beans and foodservice ingredients sold under brands like Idaho Spuds, Potato Pearls, Santiago, and Golden Grill.