Spirit of America Bookstore

Major U.S. Companies, A to Z
{ Page 2 of U.S. Business - Part 2 }

Amazon, Inc. [est. 1994]    •    Apple, Inc. [est. 1975]    •    Ben & Jerry's [est. 1978]    •    Enron [1985-2006]    • Google, Inc. [est. 1998]    •    IKEA [est. 1943]    •    McDonald's [est. 1948]    •    Microsoft [est. 1975]   • Monsanto [est. 1901]    •    The New York Times    •    American Railroads    •    Sizzler Restaurants [est. 1958]   • Starbucks Coffee [est. 1971]    •    Tupperware [est. 1946]    •    TimeWarner [est. 1990]    •    Verizon [est. 1994]    • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. [est. 1962]    •    Wikipedia [est. 2001]    •    Yahoo! [est. 1995]    •    and many more ...

Major Movie Studios Pages
at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

Spirit of America Bookstore's Corporations & Brands Page

U.S History / Business books search at Amazon

Magic Lantern's "Rat Race" Film Festival Page

Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Corporations vs. America Page

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allBusiness [est. 1999] world's largest online resource for small businesses

back on Page One:   U.S. Business Leaders & Crooks, A to Z
top of page   •   links

John Deere [1804-86]    •    Henry Ford [1863-1947]    •    E. Haldeman-Julius [1889-1951]    •    Hugh Hefner [1926-2017]    •    Kirk Kerkorian [1917-2015]   •
Henry Luce [1898-1967]    •    'Bernie' Madoff [1938-2021]    •    Elon Musk [b. 1971]    •    J.C. Penney [1895-1971]    •    T. Boone Pickens [1928-2019]   •
John D. Rockefeller [1839-1937]    •    Martha Stewart [b. 1941]    •    Cornelius Vanderbilt [1794-1877]    •    The Wright Brothers   •
Mark Zuckerberg [b. 1984]    •    and many others ...

as well as individuals with their own page
P.T. Barnum [1810-91]    •    Warren Buffett    •    'Buffalo Bill' Cody [1846-1917]    •    Walt Disney [1901-66]    •    Thomas Edison [1847-1931]   •
Fred Harvey [1836-1901]    •    William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951]    •    Howard Hughes [1905-76]    •    Thomas H. Ince [1882-1924]   •
The Koch Brothers    •    The Studebaker Brothers    •    Preston Tucker [1903-56]    •    Ted Turner [b. 1938]    •    George Westinghouse, Jr. [1846-1914]

on Page Three:   books   •   magazines & newspapers

Major U.S. Companies, I to Z

I Heart Media, Inc. radio network [est. 1972, renamed 2014]
Founded as the Clear Channel Communications radio network; the September 2007 leveraged buyout and sell-off was by vulture capitalists Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners. Of the 539 fully-owned small-to-medium market radio stations, around 100 medium-market radio stations were sold to Aloha Station Trust; the temporary holding company Newport Television (Providence Equity) bought the 42 TV stations and sold them off. Company took the name 'I Heart' based on the success of the 'I Heart Radio' music-on-smartphone app; I Heart Media filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2018 to deal with $10B in debt remaining from the leveraged buyout; headquarters is in San Antonio, Texas.

Live Nation music concerts was spun off in December 2005; remaining divisions include radio stations (858 in 150 markets), Clear Channel Outdoor (advertising),
Mediabase (music industry statistics), and Clear Channel Vertical Real Estate (over 1,500 broadcast transmission towers).

IKEA International A/S [est. 1943]
While IKEA – the world's largest furniture retailer – is officially based in Sweden, revenues are deposited to a non-profit structure in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg & The Netherlands,
which is reported to control twelve billion dollars in cash. The U.S. division includes manufacturing plants. As-of October 2011, IKEA operates 326 stores in thirty-eight countries.
company website • entry at Wikipedia
Ingvar Kamprad started Ikea in 1943 at age 17 and became the world's fifth-richest man; he died at home in Smaland, Sweden in January 2018 at age 91.

"The Truth About IKEA: The Secret Behind The World's Fifth Richest Man and The Success of The Flatpack Giant" [2010 bestseller] by John Stenebo Kindle Edition from Gibson Square [11/2010] for $9.99 Gibson Square Books 9x6 pb [11/2010] out of print/used

In-N-Out Burger [est. 1948]
company official website

"In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-The-Counter Look At The Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All The Rules" [2009] by Stacy Perman Harper 7¾x5¼ pb [10/2010] for $10.19 Collins Business 8¼x5¾ hardcover [4/2009] for $16.49

J.A.B. Holding Company of Germany [est. 1899]
J.A.B. is an acronym for Johannes A. Benckiser [1782-1851], founder of a German chemical company; descendants of son-in-law Ludwig Reimann own the company, which started adding consumer goods manufacturing, distribution & retail, forestry, and luxury fashion companies in 1952. J.A.B has owned stakes in Coty, Inc., Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee Company, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (beverages), Einstein Noah Restaurant Group (bagels & coffee), Bally, Belstaff, Zagliani, Espresso House, and Baresso Coffee A/S. Recent J.A.B acquisitions include Mighty Leaf Tea (2014), Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea (2015), Stumptown Coffee Roasters (2015), Keurig Green Mountain beverages (2016), Krispy Kreme Donuts (2016), the Panera Bread bakery-caf้ chain (2017), Bruegger's Bagels (2017), Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (2018), and the Pret a Manger U.K. sandwich shop chain (2018).

The Coffee & Bagel Brands division includes Bruegger's Bagels, Einstein Brothers Bagels, Manhattan Bagels, Noah's Bagels, and Caribou Coffee;
the division announced in July 2018 that it will be adding Caribou Coffee stores inside its bagel locations.

Jewel Tea Co. [est. 1899]

Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson brands include Band-Aid bandages, Clean & Clear anti-acne cream, Listerine mouthwash, Motrin, Neosporin ointment,
Neutrogena skin products, Rogaine hair-growth aid, Splenda sweetener, Stayfree female hygeine, Sudafed, and Tylenol

Ben E. Keith Company [est. 1906]
distributes commercial food products & Anheuser-Busch beer in 11 states
company official website

King Biscuit Flour

  Koch Industries [est. 1940] of Wichita, Kansas
Founded in 1940 by oil baron Fred C. Koch [1900-67]; inherited by four sons in 1967 and currently run by fascist political idealogues
Charles G. Koch & David H. Koch. Brother William I. Koch gave $3M for anti-Obama TV ads in 2012; David & Charles raised $400M for the 2012 campaign;
the Koch brothers have pledged $889M for anti-American propaganda in the 2016 election cycle.
“Koch Industries is the poster child of a company run amok.” — Charles Lewis, Center For Public Integrity
company official website • company entry at Wikipedia

Spirit of America Bookstore's Koch Brothers Page

“The fundamental purpose of the Kochs’ [political] spending is to rig the economic system for their benefit.” — New York Times, 2014

"Koch Brothers Exposed 2014" video [Brave New Films April 2014]

Co-produced & directed by Robert Greenwald; featuring Charles & David & Bill Koch DVDs available with donation via Brave New Foundation with free s/h same credits at IMDb as 2012 • official website • watch official trailer [2:00] on YouTube watch entire movie [55:56] free at YouTube

"Citizen Koch: A Film About Money, Power & Democracy"
[indep June 2014]

Funding from Kickstarter; examines political issues in Wisconsin, featuring the millions of dollars contributed by Koch Brothers dark money groups. Co-produced, co-written & co-directed by Carl Deal & Tia Lessin DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • entry at Wikipedia watch official trailer [2:25] at Vimeo

LinkedIn social network [est. ?]
operates the Lynda for-fee service

Mad Magazine [est. 1952]

   McDonald's Restaurants [est. 1948]
The grand opening took place on December 12, 1948 in San Bernardino, California.
The McDonald brothers sold their business to investing partner Ray Kroc in 1961 for $2.7 million.
The company and its franchises serve over 68 million customers daily in 119 countries across more than 36,000 outlets (2016).
company official website • company entry at Wikipedia

Spirit of America Bookstore's McDonald's Corp. Page

McIlhenny Company [est. 1868]
producer of Tabascoฎ brand products

"McIlhenny's Gold: How A Louisiana Family Built The Tabasco Empire"
[2007] by Jeffrey Rothfeder /0060721847/

Meredith Corp. [est. 1902]
U.S. media conglomerate that owns 22 magazines, 18 TV stations, and 7 radio stations; the magazines include American Baby, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Life,
Every Day with Rachael Ray, Family Circle, FamilyFun, Midwest Living, Parents (and its Spanish-language counterpart, Ser Padres), Shape, Successful Farming (2017)
company official website • company entry at Wikipedia
Announced 11/2017: Meredith Corp. is purchasing Time Inc. for $2.8 billion (or more) with the help of an investment of $640M from the Koch Brothers.

Microsoft, Inc. [est. 1975] producer of software for personal computers
Founded in April 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Bill Gates & Paul G. Allen
company official website • company entry at Wikipedia

Spirit of America Bookstore's Microsoft, Inc. Page

  Monsanto Company, Inc. [est. 1901]
company official website • company entry at Wikipedia

Spirit of America Bookstore's Monsanto Company, Inc. Page

March Against Monsanto [May & October 2016] in over 400 cities in over 50 countries

  Nestles []

News Corp.
News Corp. Section on 20th Century Fox Page at Magic Lantern

"The Man Who Owns The News: Inside The Secret World of Rupert Murdoch" [2008] by Michael Wolff Broadway Books 8x5¼ pb [5/2010] for $13.78 Broadway Books bargain priced 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/2008] for $11.11 Broadway Books 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/2008] out of print/dozens used

  Nike []

       
Office Depot [est. 4/1988] / OfficeMax [est. 3/1986]
Announced 2/2013: Merger of OfficeMax [900 stores] and Office Depot [1675 stores] in a $1.2B stock swap.

Organized Crime
Spirit of America Bookstore's Organized Crime Page
'The Godfather Saga' Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Gangster Film Festival Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

"The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime In The United States" [1976] by Humbert S. Nelli Univ Chicago Press 8¼x5½ pb [4/81] for $29.00 Oxford Univ Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [8/76] out of print/used

Pabst Brewing Co. [est. 1844]
Beer brands controlled by Pabst include Heileman, Lone Star, Pearl, Piels Lager, National Bohemian,
Primo of Hawai'i, Rainier Ale, Schaefer, Schlitz, and Stroh's
http://www.pabstbrewingco.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pabst_Brewing_Company
Working Minds / Things To Worry About / Monopolies / Beer

"The Pabst Brewing Company: The History of an American Business" [1948] by Thomas C Cochran
http://www.amazon.com/Pabst-Brewing-Company-American-Business/dp/0966208455/
http://www.amazon.com/Pabst-Brewing-Company-American-Business/dp/1258054434/
http://www.amazon.com/Pabst-Brewing-Company-American-Business/dp/1258159252/

Pilot Flying J Travel Centers [chain est. 1981]
Announced in October 2017: Warren Buffett-controlled Berkshire Hathaway is acquiring 38.6% of Pilot Flying J, with plans to increase its stake to 80% in 2023;
company has more than 750 locations in 44 states and six Canadian provinces; #10 on the Forbes Magazine Top Ten Private U.S. Companies List in November 2020.
http://www.pilotflyingj.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilot_Flying_J

The Pony Express [April 1860 to October 1861]
The Pony Express was strategically necessary because of the start of the War Between The States, and was doomed
from the beginning because wires for the transcontinental telegraph system were already being extended rapidly across Western America.

information moved to 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Western Bookstore's Pony Express [1860-1861] Page

Procter & Gamble []
The brands manufactured by P&G include: Align, Always feminine hygiene, Aussie Men, Bounce fabric softener, Bounty paper towels, Braun shavers, Cascade, Charmin bathroom tissue, Clairol hair coloring, Cover Girl makeup, Crest, Dawn soap, Downy fabric softener, Duracell batteries, Fabreze, Gillette, Head & Shoulders shampoo, Herbal Essence shampoo, Iams pet food, Ivory soap, Metamucil, Mr. Clean, Nyquil, Olay, Old Spice, Oral-B, Pampers disposable diapers, Pantene, Prilosec, Puffs, Scope mouthwash, Secret deodorant, Swiffer, Tampax feminine hygiene, Tide soap, Venus razors, Vidal Sassoon

"Rising Tide: Lessons From 165 Years of Brand Building At Procter & Gamble" [] by Davis Dyer
http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Tide-Lessons-Building-Procter/dp/1591391474/

R.C.A. {Radio Corporation of America} [est. 1919]

"Capital Moves: RCA's 70-Year Quest for..." [] by Jefferson R. Cowie
http://www.amazon.com/Capital-Moves-70-Year-Quest-Cheap/dp/1565846591/

Spirit of America's
American Railroads Pages
on page one:  top of page • Links • Museums • Class I Railroads • Class II Railroads • Shortline Railroads

on page two:  top of page • Model Railroads • Live Steam • Railroad History • Narrow Gauge • Historic Rail Lines • Books

on page three:  top of page • Transcontinental Railroads • Railroad Moguls • Railroad Recordings

Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Railroads in Fiction' Pages

Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Non-Fiction Books About Railroads' Pages

Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Film Festival Pages

Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Pioneers, 1802-1840 Page

Spirit of America Bookstore's Railroad Equipment Pages
Spirit of America Bookstore's Private Railcars U.S.A. Page
Spirit of America Bookstore's Geared Steam Locomotives Page

America's Shortline Railroads Pages

Spirit of America Bookstore's Scale Model & Toy Trains Page
Spirit of America Bookstore's Lionel Trains Page

Schwan's Home Service, Inc. [est. 1952] in Marshall, MN

See's Candies [est. 1921]
Founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California; sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 1972.
official website • company entry at Wikipedia

"See's Famous Old Time Candies: A Sweet Story" [2005] by Margaret Moos Pick Chronicle Books 7¼x7 hardcover [12/2005] for $11.64

  Shell Oil []

I.M. Singer & Co. [est. 1851]
Singer Manufacturing Company [renamed 1865]
The Singer Company [renamed 1963]
official website • company entry at Wikipedia

"The First Conglomerate: 145 Years of The Singer Sewing Machine Company" [6/2010] by Don Bissell
http://www.amazon.com/Conglomerate-Singer-Sewing-Machine-Company/dp/0967595509/

Sizzler Restaurants [est. 1958]
Founded in 1958 as Del's Sizzler Steak House at Airport Village in Culver City, California.
official website • entry at Wikipedia

click for larger photo {in new window}

Stanley Tools and Black & Decker

The Stanley Rule & Level Company was founded in 1857 by Henry Stanley in New Britain, Connecticut; in 1920, the company merged with the separate but related Stanley Works, founded by Henry Stanley's cousin Frederick Trent Stanley. Black & Decker Corp. was founded in 1910 by S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1917, Black & Decker obtained a patent for a hand-held drill combining a pistol grip and trigger switch. 153-year-old Stanley and 100-year-old Black & Decker quietly merged in March 2010.

official Stanley Black & Decker website   •   Stanley Black & Decker at Wikipedia
official Stanley website   •   Stanley Tools entry at Wikipedia
official Black & Decker website   •   Black & Decker entry at Wikipedia

Starbucks Coffee [est. 1971]

Starbucks Coffee began in 1971 as a seller of freshly-roasted coffee beans in Seattle, Washington. In 1987, the three owners sold out to a competitor (and former employee). Starbucks had grown to 165 locations in the U.S. and Canada by the time the company went public in 1992. The rapid expansion of the chain purposely trampled on local coffee shops, and thousands of small businesses disappeared as Starbucks grew to its current monster footprint of 16,600 stores in 49 countries (over 11,000 in the U.S.).

official website   •   company entry at Wikipedia

Spirit of America Bookstore's Starbucks Corp. Page

Robert Redford's Sundance Companies

Target Corp. [est. 1902]
Target is the second-largest retailer in the country (after Wal-Mart, of course)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Corporation

TimeWarner [est. 19xx]
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Game-Steve-Creation-Warner/dp/0140244549/

Tupperware [est. 1946]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupperware

Verizon Communications [est. 1984, renamed 2000]

In 1984, the United States Department of Justice mandated AT&T Corporation [est. 1885] to break up its Bell System monopoly; in 2000, Bell Atlantic acquired G.T.E., which operated telecommunications companies across most of the rest of the country that was not already in Bell Atlantic's footprint; the surviving entity changed its name to Verizon.
Low-cost cell phone providers that rely on Verizon’s network include their own Visible, Total Wireless, Xfinity Mobile, Spectrum Mobile, Straight Talk, and Red Pocket Mobile.
official company website • company entry at Wikipedia
Verizon mobile network entry at Wikipedia

Verizon Fios fiber-optic service is available in 20 East Coast cities - in DC, MA, MD, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA (2018)
official company website • company entry at Wikipedia

Visible [est. 2018] all-digital wireless carrier in the United States
Visible offers unlimited text, talk, data, and hotspot services on Verizon’s 4G LTE and 5G networks that supports Apple and Android devices ONLY!; there are no physical stores or sales staff; customer support is available through chat, text, and Facebook; the prepaid cost is $40 per month, with 'no speed cap' for Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or Google Pixel devices.
official company website • company entry at Wikipedia

The Visible website was hacked in October 2021; 'threat actors' were able to access username/passwords from outside sources, and then exploit that information to login to Visible accounts; the damage being done is that hackers order an iPhone costing $1,000 and have it shipped to some other address; main website is shut down while the company 'deploys tools to mitigate the issue and to enable additional controls to further protect our customers'.
10/2021 news story at Light Reading tech website

Walgreen Company / Walgreens Drugs [est. 1901]
Walgreens is the nation’s largest pharmacy retailer with 8,200 stores that are located in all 50 states, plus Guam & Puerto Rico.
official website   •   entry at Wikipedia

In 2014, Walgreens management started consideration of purchasing a Swiss company for the purpose of an 'inversion' - switching ownership
of the U.S.-based company to a foreign entity - thus avoiding $4B in U.S. taxes over the next five years – while still using infrastructure and
other benefits here; after a public outcry, the deal was cancelled.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. [est. 1962]

Spirit of America Bookstore's Wal-Mart, Inc. Page

You have two options: you can say "Boycott WalMart!!" or say "Boycott WongMart!!"
Working Minds / Things to Worry About / Corporations vs. America / Boycott Wal-Mart !!

    
Wikimedia and online encyclopedia Wikipedia
"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing."
— Wikimedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, in July 2004

Wikipedia [est. 2001]: official company website • entry at Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation [est. 2003]: official website • entry at Wikipedia

"The Wikipedia Revolution: How A Bunch of Nobodies Created The World's Greatest Encyclopedia" [2009] by Andrew Lih, Foreword by Jimmy Wales Kindle Edition from Hachette Book Group [3/2009] for $13.99 Hyperion 9¼x6 hardcover [3/2009] for $21.86

Yahoo!, Inc. [est. 1994]
Founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994; incorporated in March 1995; Yahoo! hired Marissa Mayer (ex-Google) as president & CEO in July 2012;
in July 2016, Verizon Communications agreed to purchase Yahoo's internet business for $4.8 billion.
official company website • entry at Wikipedia

Marissa Mayer, president/CEO at Yahoo!
  listed on TIME Magazine World 100, April 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marissa_Mayer

"Marissa Mayer and The Fight To Save Yahoo!" [2015] by Nicholas Carlson Kindle Edition from Twelve/Hachette [1/2015] for $14.99 Twelve/Hachette pb [1/2016] for $13.21 Twelve/Hachette 9½x6½ hardcover [1/2015] for $18.42

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Yahoo!
Yahoo! owns GeoCities [est. 1999, US closed 2009]
Yahoo! owns 24% of Chinese firm Alibaba (IPO soon?)
purchased 3/2005: Yahoo! bot Ludicorp/Flickr online photo management [est. 2002] for $40M
announced 4/2013: Yahoo! bot news aggregation app Summly of U.K. for $30M
announced 5/2013: Yahoo! buying photo blog Tumblr for $1.1B, deal expected to close late 2013
announced 5/2013: Yahoo! also buying PlayerScale, a cross-platform game infrastructure startup that provides tools for games
announced 7/2013: Yahoo! bot Ztelic Chinese social media data analysis startup for undisclosed figure
announced 7/2013: Yahoo! paid $70M for Xobni email & contact mgt startup
announced 7/2014: Yahoo! shutting down Yahoo! Shine women's site at end of July
announced 7/2014: Yahoo! closed Xobni after one year - cost not wasted, since the technology is now incorporated into Yahoo! Mail
announced 7/2014: Yahoo! People Search shut down in July, that technology now part of basic Yahoo! Search

U.S. Business Pages at Spirit of America Bookstore
Page One: U.S. Business Leaders & Crooks, A to Z • links
back on Page Two A: Major U.S. Companies, A to H {top of page}
here on Page Two B: Major U.S. Companies, I to Z {top of page}
Page Three: U.S. Business - Books & Magazines

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