Taking a cue from successful retailers launching new concepts (and a classic baseball flick), we have learned that if you build it, they will come.

This month marks the launch of one of the most anticipated retail events in recent times — British retail giant Tesco has opened its doors on the West Coast, vowing to create a shopping experience that understands American consumers. Tesco plans to blend those needs with the company’s own retail expertise to create a convenient and satisfying shopping experience. The brains behind the Tesco operation are committed to understanding the retailer’s role in the current environment, yet remain steadfast in the belief that they will offer something this country needs, whether we know it yet or not. Tesco execs believe that if they build it, the customers will come.

Now, after all the build-up to this event, we have to watch and see how it unfolds and how consumers react. I’ve got a hunch they’ll like what they see, so even the nation’s strongest retail players should be strategizing appropriately to grow their own businesses. Work diligently to identify new opportunities in your markets, whether they are large-scale format changes or introductions, or more simple product extensions and private label growth. Like Tesco did, find an opportunity and seize it.

Our Newest Opportunity

Over the years, the PL Buyer staff has had invaluable opportunities to interact with retailers, suppliers and industry consultants to be sure we’re staying on top of the trends impacting retail every day. Thanks to so many of you who have kept us in the loop and continue to do so.

And because of many of you, an opportunity became very clear to us this year — while not the same business, yet very closely related, contract manufacturing and packaging practices are making a sizeable impact on the overall consumer-packaged-goods industry, whether you’re in the private label or national brand arena. So we launched a new sister publication to PL Buyer covering this industry, and we discovered that when we built Contract Manufacturing & Packaging (CM&P), the readers and advertisers came.

Following the lead of the famous baseball flick Field of Dreams, we’re listening to “the voice” because we believe in this publication and plan to grow it throughout 2008 with bi-monthly issues.

What does that mean to PL Buyer and to you, our very loyal and valuable readership? It means that I will be focusing my efforts on building CM&P in the coming year, and handing the editorship of PL Buyer to Kathie Canning, a very seasoned and professional trade magazine editor. We welcome Kathie to the PL Buyer team, and look forward to the next evolution of PL Buyer.

Look for us on the show floor at the PLMA, we’ll be there!