Last week, Naperville, Ill.-based OfficeMax announced that it would expand its premium private label brands into national standalone brands.

West Des Moines, Iowa-based grocer Hy-Vee named Randy Edeker its new CEO, effective Friday. Edeker will replace Ric Jurgens, who will retire Friday after 43 years with the company, an announcement made in December.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets announced that it has launched its own line of gluten-free products that will appear in the Nature’s Marketplace section of the grocery store, as well as the regular aisles for pasta and baking.

New research on private label sales by Ft. Lee, N.J.-based Perception Research Services shows that for the first time, cookies and salty snacks have moved into the top tier of regularly purchased private label products.

Cincinnati-based Kroger said private label share and sales grew faster than national brands in the first quarter this year, helping the retailer to post a 4.2 percent increase in same-store sales from the previous year.

Kroger on Wednesday announced two senior vice presidents in appointments that it said supported the company’s long-term growth plans announced last week.

A new comparison released by the Private Label Manufacturers Association shows that consumers can save 30 percent or more by switching from national brands to private label products.

A new whitepaper from Schawk shows that the expansion of the private label industry in Russian is far from certain.

Stater Bros. has promoted Dan Meyer to the position of executive vice president retail operations.

Profitect today announced that David Minster has joined the company’s Board of Advisors.