Born: Thomas J. Petters, July 11, 1957.
Hometown: St. Cloud, Minn.
Education: 1975 graduate of Cathedral High School in St. Cloud.
Work experience
1973: Starts Ear Electronics in St. Cloud in his junior year.
1980s: Works at Schaak Electronics in St. Cloud, then at electronics chain in Colorado.
1988: Starts Amicus Trading Group, which later becomes Petters Co. Inc.
1995: Opens Petters Warehouse Direct stores.
1997: Acquires eight World's Greatest Deals stores from Irwin Jacobs.