Jim Holbrook

Earlier this year, I was invited to the annual National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York City to share my two cents on the industry that never sleeps: private brands. As I was debating what to discuss at the conference, my mind gravitated to the topic of the year — retail Armageddon. While this…

Pundits will say that we're in the midst of a retail apocalypse. In 2017 alone, 21 major retailers closed their stores and dozens of brand-name chains around the country filed for bankruptcy. But before you start building your bunker, there's an opportunity for retailers looking for a saving grace: reinvention. To outwit the competition, retailers…

Today, 80 percent of consumers say private-label products meet expectations. And we can all guess why, right? Value prices for quality products are all the rage. But while it’s great that people are onboard the private brand gravy train, the truth is that this transition has been especially beneficial for shoppers on the hunt for…

I read an article recently that found that AmazonBasics was driving more sales than some other Amazon.com private brands. The article’s conclusion was that the success of AmazonBasics meant that the company may not need to “disguise” its private brand by removing the Amazon name from its products to drive sales. This premise didn’t sit…

I was walking through a grocery store recently, searching for the perfect sausages to grill on a hot summer day. Easy enough, right? Well, not when your local store carries more than 30 brands of sausages and more than 70 SKUs. I was instantly paralyzed by choice as I stared at the assortment within the…