I had a chance to look back through our most-read stories of 2012 on the website recently, and one of the biggest stories of the year that wasn’t on the news-dominated list was our inaugural live conference in June.

Our conference brought together 140 people from throughout the private label industry, and everyone came away a winner. From the outstanding retail presentations from companies such as Safeway, Supervalu, Family Dollar and Price Chopper to insight and analysis from research companies and design firms alike, our first get-together was an unqualified success.

This year, we set out to improve on what we learned the first time around. And we think we’ve got another great show in store June 11-13.

First, we’re moving from downtown Chicago to the suburbs, to the Intercontinental O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill. But to provide a downtown experience from the suburbs, we partnered with Walgreens to conduct a store tour of the company’s second flagship drugstore, launched in November in the neighborhood of Bucktown. As a bonus, tour guests are encouraged to prepare questions for Vice President of Retail Brands and Global Sourcing Moe Alkemade, who will be one of our keynote speakers Thursday June 13.

Alkemade will start a day of retailer presentations, with OfficeMax Director of Consumer Brands Kurt Denham and Sam’s Club Vice President of Proprietary Brands Paul Hunt to follow.

Other great speakers are on our agenda as well, with Shoppers Drug Mart Director of Corporate Brands Marketing Paul Goldsmith joining Shikatani Lacroix President Jean-Pierre Lacroix for a presentation on private label at Canada’s largest drugstore chain. Nielsen’s Todd Hale and industry veteran Terry Lee are on the speaker list with Paula Rosenblum and Nikki Baird from Retail Systems Research and Jonathan Asher of Perception Research Services.

There’s a welcome reception Tuesday night after the Walgreen store tour, our signature private label taste tests, again conducted by UL, the presentation of our annual Category Colonel supplier awards, and more to come.

If you’re interested in becoming part of our conference, visit www.plbuyerconference.com for all the details on how to sign up.