Excitement reaches peak for first PLBuyer conference, June 5-7 at the Hilton Chicago.

Nearly 140 people came to Chicago in early June to learn and share their time and experience about the private label industry at PLBuyer’s first conference, Private Label: The Next Generation.

More than 20 speakers. A group of 100 attendees. Some of the biggest names in private label retailing, gathered in one place.

Many of you reading this will be guests at our first conference, Private Label: The Next Generation. To all of you who found your way to Chicago in June to be a part of the event, we say welcome and thank you.

We asked some of the top speakers at the first PLBuyer conference what they were looking forward to, and hoped to get out of, the experience in Chicago. Here’s what they had to say:

The time has arrived. PLBuyer’s first conference has finally arrived. Are you attending?

The conference that we host in June is the culmination of the work of plenty of people who came before me, and many who will be alongside me at the event.

I’m reading the headlines about the recent NPD Group report, wherein the question is raised about whether brand name matters.

Safeway Senior Vice President of Consumer Brands Joe Ennen told a packed house Wednesday at the PLBuyer conference, Private Label: The Next Generation, at the Hilton Chicago that retailers needed to strive to create products that did more than national brand competitors.

It’s important to understand the lifestyles of those your serve and how they view themselves, Sam Mayberry, vice president, private brands at Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu told attendees during his keynote address Thursday at PLBuyer’s conference, Private Label: The Next Generation, at the Hilton Chicago.