store brands

In this economy, cash-strapped consumers have become more budget conscious and less concerned about appearing cheap. As a result, better-known brands have steadily been losing ground to store-branded food products.

When a recent Nielsen report published in the Boston Globe said sales of grocery chains' own discount brands had increased 8% since 2007, I thought the number was conservative. Who is going to sweat the negligible difference in packaging and quality -- if any -- when buying ketchup when the rent is...

Wal-Mart's great value line of products already includes over 5,200 items, offering savings to its customers on everything from paper goods to beauty products to snack foods. So in normal times, expanding the offerings by about 80 new products might not be the most headline-inducing news, except...

Up until very recently, Wal-Mart had looked unbeatable. Nobody could touch it: Not the recession, not competitors, not its own employees and their various lawsuits. But now it seems the veneer is cracking,and the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), for one, is piling on with the...

Browse any grocery aisle, endcap display, dairy case and frozen food section and you'll find them: Store brands and generics are more sought after than ever. Even if there was no recession and gas prices hadn't gone north of $4/gallon, perhaps fans of store brands know something you don't ---...