Best Buy
The biggest consumer electronics outlet in the US is also the best -- Best Buy, that is. The company operates a chain of almost 785 stores in the US and Canada offering a wide variety of electronic gadgets, movies, music, computers, and appliances. In addition to selling products, the stores offer installation and maintenance services, technical support, and subscriptions for cell phone and Internet services. Covering an average of about 42,000 sq. ft., the big box stores are located in 49 states and five Canadian provinces. In addition to the Best Buy brand, the company operates under the names Magnolia Audio Video (20 stores in the US) and Future Shop (about 120 locations in Canada).

Twentieth Century Fox
The Day After Tomorrow, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (TCF) hopes to still be lighting up the big screen. The company, a division of Fox Filmed Entertainment, produces, acquires, and distributes media conglomerate News Corporation's big budget motion pictures. In addition to working on its own films such as X-Men: The Last Stand and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, TCF also distributes movies for Regency (Mr. and Mrs. Smith). The company has had a hand in two of the top five highest grossing US movies of all time: Titanic, which it co-produced with Paramount Pictures, and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, distributed for Lucasfilm.

With industry-wide box office returns in a persistent funk for much of 2005 (especially for the summer films), TCF managed to stay a bit above the fray thanks to some big name summer releases - most notably Fantastic Four and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (distribution only). But that doesn't mean TCF didn't also have several misses during the fiscal year, including Elektra and Kingdom of Heaven. The studio finished the year in second place by grossing $1.3 billion in box office receipts (it was barely edged out by Warner Bros.).

Going forward, sequels seem to be the name of the game for TCF, with plans for everything from a fourth Die Hard to second installments of Mrs. Doubtfire and Big Momma's House. Its 2006 release of the third installment of its popular X-Men franchise hit big over Memorial Day weekend as one of the biggest movie openings ever. The company also scored a winner with 2006's The Devil Wears Prada, as well as that year's controversial hit Borat.