The Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank with a vision of one-stop shopping for the do-it-yourselfer. The first two Home Depot stores opened in 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The largest mall in the United States is currently Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., which includes a seven-acre amusement park, nightclubs, restaurants and covers 4.2 million square feet (with about half devoted to retailing).

Jason’s Deli - Founded in 1976 by Joe Tortorice, Jr. who believes in treating employees as family and backs it up by making remarkable investments in our people.

7-Eleven was the first to … operate 24 hours a day … sell fresh-brewed coffee in to-go cups ... have a self-serve soda fountain … and offer super-size fountain drinks.

The nation’s largest specialty retailer of fabrics and one of the largest specialty retailers of crafts, operates 790 stores in 49 states as of July 28, 2012.

The concept of developing a shopping district away from a downtown is generally attributed to J.C. Nichols of Kansas City, Mo. His Country Club Plaza (opened in 1922) was constructed as the business district for a large-scale residential development. It featured unified architecture and was managed and operated as a single unit.

On July 2, 1962, Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas.

LA Fitness was founded by Chin Yol Yi and Lewis Welsh in 1984 with one location in Los Angeles, California.

Starbucks opened its first store in 1971 in the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.

Aspen Dental’s history started in Syracuse, New York, at a dental lab called Upstate Dental, which began operations in 1964.