Better World Books: The Book Store with a Cause

Better World Books was established in 2002 by a group of friends studying in the University of Notre Dame. They started selling textbooks through a web-based shop to earn additional money, which eventually led to the founding of a groundbreaking social enterprise – a venture that aims to promote literacy. The company sells new titles, funds book drives and collects old and used books through a wide network of nearly 2,500 schools and partnerships with more than 3,000 libraries across the globe. So far, Better World has transformed over 58 million books to almost $11 million in funding of education and literacy, and along with that, it has also diverted over 40,000 tons of books from the landfills.

Ever since its inception, Better World Books has been blazing a trail in online book-selling. It believes that education and easy access to books are basic rights of any human being, which is why all of the books it sells help fund several high-impact literacy programs in America and all over the world. Every book sold in Better World corresponds to a book donation to an individual in need, and all books are delivered for free wherever the customer or receiver may be. Furthermore, Better World Books also ensures that all of its operations do not contribute to the worsening of the planet’s environmental problems. Every order delivered from its headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia is carbon-balanced with Green-e Climate accredited offsets from a leading carbon-balancing, green power firm.

Every book purchased at Better World contributes to literacy, education and environmental protection all over the world, and provides opportunities for a better life. Needless to say, the company cannot do this without the help of its customers, which is why they always strive to do their best in offering the greatest selection, prices, services and overall shopping experience – and succeeds in doing so.

Indeed, Better World Books is not like any other traditional business with a supplementary “cause” constituent, but truly one that puts social responsibility and environmental stewardship at the very core of its operations.

WaterFilters: The One-stop Shop for Water Treatment Needs

WaterFilters.net can take care of everyone’s water treatment concerns. With a goal to construct a website that makes it a whole lot easier for its customers to find the perfect water filter systems or cartridges, the company makes sure that it will only offer the best and widest range of products, spanning from simple whole house water filters to state-of-the-art reverse osmosis systems. WaterFilters also takes pride in its capability to deliver the water filters its customers’ needs promptly and hassle-free.

The company stocks a massive selection of water filtration products and systems, as well as replacement cartridges and accessories. It has already shipped huge quantities of water filters ever since its inception in 2002. As an Inc. 500 corporation, WaterFilters is able to offer a wide array of topnotch water filter brands including Whirlpool, GE, Hydronix, Omnipure and many more. They also boast of a highly knowledgeable team of experts that are more than willing and always available to help out with every customer’s water treatment needs.

PromGirl: Making Every Prom Girl’s Dream Come True

Established in 1998, PromGirl is a company committed to bringing the teenage prom and special occasion fashion to an entirely new strata of sophistication and choice. Ever since its inception, the company has grown to become the country’s leading prom resource and came to be known as the Online Prom Superstore, where ladies can find the perfect dress in just a few clicks of the mouse.

PromGirl was created on the premise that every girl should have instant access to topnotch special occasion fashion, from long gowns to hip dresses to trendy accessories to chic footwear, and should be able to shop for all of these in one place. Headquartered in New York City, PromGirl’s fashion team scours multiple markets in order to ensure the latest and hottest prom looks for its customers. Moreover, the company offers graduation, sweet 16, homecoming and Quinceañera dresses – a collection that is far larger than any other online retailer can ever grab a hold of.

PromGirl treats its customers like sisters, which is why they always strive to make them happy by providing a highly knowledgeable, in-house customer service team that is always ready to help out. They know that every dress is important to any girl preparing for a big event so they ensure that all those dresses are handled with utmost care and delivered with unparalleled style. Not only that, the company also offers speedy delivery with incomparable same-day shipping to get their customers that special dress just in time for the special occasion.

PromGirl works hard in making the company a fun and safe online shopping destination. It is incredibly important to feel secure while doing some web-based shopping, which is why it obtains personal information with Comodo certificates and will never give away their clients’ contact information. For its customers’ convenience, PromGirl happily accepts payments through Paypal and major credit cards.

Davide Grasso: Forging New Nike Online Marketing Strategies

Originally from Turin, Italy, Davide Grasso has leveraged a background in high-end fashion to achieve significant sales and marketing gains for Nike, Inc. apparel and sportswear brands worldwide. As Vice President Global Brand Marketing, he focuses on guiding media campaigns that extend beyond traditional print ad and television commercial formats.

In the past decade, online marketing platforms have increasingly come to the forefront, with Nike promoting many of its recent commercials via Youtube. Several campaigns have been accompanied by Twitter and other viral marketing efforts that created novel brand positioning. An early 2012 CNN article highlighted this transition, with the Nike budget for television and print advertising reported to have dropped by approximately 40 percent in a three-year period. During the same timeframe, the corporation’s total marketing budget rose to a record $2.4 billion.

A key reason for this advertising transition involves emerging demographics of teen and young adult consumers who are not connected with traditional media to the same extent that they are with websites and mobile-based social media. In addition to focused Facebook, Twitter, and website advertising efforts, Nike is expanding its marketing initiatives designed exclusively for tablet PCs and smart phones.

Davide Grasso’s leadership experience with Nike extends to the 1990s, when he led sales and marketing efforts throughout Italy and Europe. From 2004 to 2009, he was Vice President of Brand & Category Management for the Asia Pacific region, which represented a $2.5 billion in annual sales. Mr. Grasso notably managed a $270 million budget in initiating sponsorship deals and promotional campaigns. Over the years, he has helped launch and promote successful Nike product lines such as Free, Joga Bonito, Speed, and Airmax.

Sbarro’s Transformation from a Small Grocery Store to Restaurant Giant

Most big companies come from humble beginnings and Sbarro is no exception. This Italian-American restaurant giant’s road to success began in1956 when Gennaro and Carmela Sbarro and their children migrated to the US and opened a small Italian grocery store (known as a Salumeria) in Brooklyn, New York. They sold fresh Italian cheeses, homemade mozzarella, and delicious sausages. The Sbarro Italian Delicatessen became so popular that they were able to open branches in other parts of New York.

In 1970, The Sbarro family ventured into the restaurant business with their first mall-based fast food Italian restaurant at the King’s Plaza Shopping Center in Brooklyn. From there, the Sbarro restaurant empire grew to the Sbarro that we know and love today. The company went through some financial problems during the financial crisis in 2011, but they have since reemerged, stronger than ever. Truly, conquering every problem only means a better and stronger business.

From the USA to Australia: The Gloria Jean’s Coffee Story

In the last few decades, we have seen an increase in the appreciation for high-quality, gourmet coffee as evidenced by the abundance of specialty coffee shops popping up in every neighborhood across the country and across the entire world. 

Gloria Jean’s Coffee was one of the first coffee shops that started this worldwide trend when Gloria Jean and Ed Kvetko bought a small gift shop in the northern part of Chicago in 1979 and converted it into a quaint little coffee shop where they served their own brand of gourmet coffee. Their unique coffee blends were reason enough for the small company to expand in just a small period of time. In the middle of the 80s, the company began franchising, and soon more and more Gloria Jean’s coffee shops opened up in the rest of the US.

Sixteen years after the Kvetkos opened up their first coffee shop, Australian businessman and coffee connoisseur, Nabi Saleh and his business partner Peter Irvine got their taste of Gloria Jean’s coffee when they were in the US on a business trip. Saleh was so impressed with the quality of the coffee concoctions that he decided to take the brand to their homeland. After acquiring the franchise to open Gloria Jean’s stores in Australia, they decided to take it a step further and acquired the International branding rights to Gloria Jean’s Coffee which spans every other country around the world except for the United States and Puerto Rico. Under Sale and Irvine, Gloria Jean’s became a household name when it comes to delicious gourmet coffee all over the world.

In the US, Gloria Jean’s Coffee has over a hundred stores in the US and its international counterpart has over a thousand stores spread around 39 countries, including almost 500 stores in Australia alone.