the store names are in one column on sheet 2 as
acme-south, acme-north,... i need a count of all the acme stores
regardles of the south north whatever

Assume the names are in A2:A100 in Sheet2
In say, Sheet3, put in B2:
=SUMPRODUCT(--ISNUMBER(SEARCH("acme",Sheet2!A2:A100)))
This gives you the count of all "acme" stores
Note that case insensitivity is presumed (e.g. acme = ACME)

.. in a seperate column there are numbers,
so i need to find all the acme stores with that specific number... i.e.
JEWEL-OSCO 3003 303 HOLMES AVE CLARENDON HILLS IL 60514 DU PAGE 8904 003
ok thats how the columns look...
so on a seperate page, i need to find out how many stores are in the
JEWEL area no matter what the -osco or whatever, and that fall in 003.

Assume this whole lot of text:
JEWEL-OSCO 3003 303 HOLMES AVE CLARENDON HILLS IL 60514 DU PAGE 8904 003
is in Sheet2, in a single cell B2
(with other similar text in B3, B4, .. up to B100)

In Sheet3, put in C2:

=SUMPRODUCT((ISNUMBER(SEARCH("acme",Sheet2!A2:A100 )))*(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("jewe
l",Sheet2!B2:B100)))*(RIGHT(Sheet2!B2:B100,3)="003 "))

This gives you the count of all "acme" stores in the "JEWEL" area that fall
in "003". Note that case insensitivity is presumed (e.g. JEWEL = jewel), and
the "003" is presumed to refer to the rightmost 3 digits at the end of the
text in B2 (or in col B) in Sheet2
--
Rgds
Max
xl 97
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