How did it all begin?

ASDA: A merger between Asquith chain of three supermarkets and Associated Dairies in 1949, Leeds, UK. It was bought later by Wal-mart in 1999. Today, it is the supermarket with the second largest market share (after Tesco)

Charlieissocoollike - posted his first video "How To Get Featured on YouTube". Ironically, he is now one of the most featured YouTube vloggers in the UK! After finishing his school in Bath, he devoted himself to making videos and he earns money for that (not a bad job to have!)

Aldi - the story began back in 1913, when a mother of two brothers opened a a small store in Essen, Germany.  The shop was buying discounted goods from other stores that were left on the shelves. Later, the two brothers became owners of the shop and started opening new branches. They split the company into two, but remained in good relationships.

Maybelline - In 1915, a chemist from New York, who was in his 20s, noticed that his young sister applied Vaselline and coal dust to make her eyes look darker and deeper. In his small laboratory, he produced some cosmetics based on her sisters' idea and soon gained popularity. The name wasn't that attractive itself, so it was changed. Two years later, he created Maybelline Cake Mascara, and Ultra Lash, which was a hit in the mass-market. And the name of the chemist's sister was Maybel. 

Amazon - founded in 1995 by two men who started it as a small online bookstore. They chose the name because they wanted to be found quickly when searched in alphabetical order and Amazon specifically because it reminded them of something exotic and also the name of the biggest river - hopefully, something that they would eventually achieve. They had an unusual business plan that didn't forecast any profit up to the 4th or 5th year. However, the slow and steady growth turned out to end pretty well and their profits started to skyrocket. Amazon even won an award for contributing for the online commerce. By the way, the logo means "from A to Z".

Zara's first shop was opened in 1975 (in Spain) by Amancio Ortega and contained cheap clothes imitating the big and expensive brands. 1980, after the owner noticed the success and the potential of Zara, he changed completely the distribution, the production and the design of the clothes. Relying in information technology and on groups of designers instead of on single ones, he was more able to be up-to-date with the world's trends and to create something unique, which didn't imitate another brands. Zara is now a multi-national corporation, with shops in more than 70 countries. If in a certain country, the laws don't allow an international company to exist, the problem is solved by franchising. 

Subway. The American fast-food restaurant chain started in 1965 when Fred De Luca borrowed $1,000 from family friend Peter Buck for his first sandwich shop. Two years, the second Subway was opened. In 2008, Subway was marked as the second most successful franchises by Franchise 500 . Although at the end of 2010 McDonald's had a bigger revenue, Subway beat it by the number of restaurants.