Private Label Buyer

Sam Mayberry, vice president, private brands, at Supervalu will be a featured keynote speaker at PLBuyer’s June 5-7 private label conference, Private Label: the Next Generation in Chicago.

More retailers are implementing and expanding economy and second-tier private label options, according to the report “The Times They Are A-Changing: 12 Trends for 2012” released Jan. 31 by Barrington, Ill.-based research firm Willard Bishop.

Safeway is seeing a re-emergence of optimism among shoppers as some return to pre-recession buying behavior, said Michael Minasi, president of marketing for the Pleasanton, Calif. retailer, Jan. 31 during a panel discussion at the Food Marketing Institute’s Midwinter Executive Conference.

CVS recorded the largest drop of six major retailers who showed double-digit declines in private label ads in the week ending Jan. 18.  During the same week, however, six retailers saw major upticks in their private label ads, led by CVS rival Walgreens whose private label ads rose 65.6 percent compared with the same week in 2011.

7-Eleven, Inc. announced last Friday that it plans to bring its private label products to the company’s newly acquired Sam’s Mart stores in North and South Carolina.

Arlington Heights, Ill.-based Federated Group, Inc., on Jan. 27 announced the appointment of Pam Boynton as its new chief strategy officer.

Topco Associates, LLC appointed Juan De Paoli as its new vice president of center store program management, the Skokie-Il.-based company announced Jan. 30.

Although they’re disappointed in how they finished 2011, officials from Oak Brook IL-based private label processor TreeHouse Foods said private label sales are making for a solid start to 2012. The company announced Jan. 20 that it expects fourth quarter earnings of between 84 and 87 cents per share, well below analyst expectations of $1.07 per share.