Custom Sort in Crystal Reports

We have a report that has one group. The group header is based on a (rather extensive) formula which says if the item number is equal to "AAAAAA" then the header should read one of the following:

Conduit
Metal Flex
Copper Wire
Aluminum Wire
Aluminum SE
SO Cord
SQ D
Breakers
etc.

Currently, the groups are sorted in alphabetical order when the report is run. How can we change this so it prints in the order we want (for example as above)? On the "Use a Formula as Group Sort Order" formula, it says we can only return the group sort order constants as Ascending, Descending or Original order. I tried Original Order seeing as how the group formula is set up in the order wanted, but it still does it in alpha order.

Is the data coming from a database source? If so, can you specify the database? Because when I wanted custom sorting, I had to use a procedure and did not use sorting in Crystal.

Yes, the information is coming from a database, but I'm not following how that specifically would help. It is a custom view that we created.

In oracle, you can query data using a decode statement, assigning a number to specific values (that can then be sorted on). If you have a lot of categories that won't help. But another option is to make a sort table in your database. So, knowing the database can allow someone to give a database specific answer, suggesting a way to provide the list already custom sorted to Crystal.