YOUR
BRAND
HERE
MEDIA BAKERY
•A quick overview of
the history and growth
of private label.
Page 24
• Costco’s approach
to its own private label
and a closer look at a
few representative
Kirkland Signature
products. Page 28
The power of
prıvate label
• Recipes featuring
many of our favorite
Kirkland Signature
foods. Page 36
Qualıty, innovation and value
boost private brands’ appeal
By Kathie Canning
THESE DAYS, scarcely a day goes by in the retail
business without a newspaper headline or TV news
segment heralding the recent growth of private-label
products. Yes, those items once known as generics—or simply store brands—are creating quite a
buzz, thanks to quality improvements, a surge of
innovation and an economy that has increased
interest in value-priced o;erings.
“Private Label 2009,” a study by Information
Resources Inc. (IRI), a Chicago-based market
research ;rm, notes that nearly 80 percent of U.S.
shoppers now exhibit “positive attitudes” toward
private-label products, up 7 percent from 2008. And
those attitudes are working a bit of magic on sales.
In fact, The Nielsen Company of New York
reports a 7. 4 percent gain in dollar sales within U.S.
food, drug and mass-merchandise outlets during
the 52 weeks ending July 11, 2009, reaching $85.9
•Delicious choices for
holiday entertaining.
Page 40
billion and accounting for a 16. 9 percent share of the
overall market.
In putting this section
together and talking
with buyers, we learned
of many new Kirkland
Signature products
under development.
Watch for them in the
coming year.—Ed.
Private label: a brief history
;is rosy store-brand scenario
is somewhat new for U.S. retailers,
although private-label products
were among the very ;rst items
sold at the retail level here. For example, A&P introduced its iconic
Eight O’Clock Co;ee brand way
back in 1859, operating it as a
store brand until the retailer sold
it in 2003. And Sears launched its
famous Kenmore appliance brand
in 1927.
But private-label products
began to lose their luster in the
