Archive for CLUB
Sam’s Club Introduces Private Brand Spanish Wine
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Bentonville, Arkansas based wholesale club and Walmart division Sam’s Club is adding to its portfolio of Private Brands by expanding its wine offerings with the introduction of Infinite — a 2008 Spanish red wine. The traditional Tempranillo variety is the basis of Infinite, complemented by a small proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon. Infinite will join several other Private Brand wines designed to meet the increasing demand for entertaining solutions in meals and beverage categories at Sam’s Club.
Infinite possesses a deep, dark cherry color and the seductive aromas of red fruits—blackberries and blueberries—alongside bold spices. Flavors are consistent with the nose, offering a hip flavor profile with smooth, silky fruit on the palate, and soft tannins that evolve into a pleasant finish.
“Infinite is a great example of excellence in Spanish red wine. The thought and care in the making of this limited release wine is exceptional, and we are proud to be introducing it this season for under $10,” said Mark Kenny, Director Wine, Beer and Spirits at Sam’s Club.
Selling for about $8 a bottle in more than 400 Sam’s Club locations that are authorized to offer wine, (A Sam’s Club membership is not required to purchase alcohol on location) Kenny advised that Infinite would be the perfect wine accompaniment for typical traditional dishes from legumes to rice plates with meat and vegetables.
The Spanish winery Bodegas Torres produces Infinite and is the first winery to make The Drinks Business’ “Green List.” In this prestigious ranking, only 50 entities throughout the world are recognized for their contribution and commitment to sustainability. Torres was named for its efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, as well as environmental awareness campaigns aimed at consumers in the more than 140 countries that import Torres wine.
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Private Brand Tequila Shots With Costco
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This month in the Costco Connection magazine Costco introduces Kirkland Signature Private Brand premium tequila. Kirkland Signature Añejo Tequila, is available in select Costco warehouses in states that allow retail liquor sales. The fine tequila is aged an average of three years to achieve a smooth, complex taste. Añejo tequilas, are distilled from pure blue agave and be must aged exclusively in oak barrels for at least a year.
“This finely aged tequila is dark amber in color and features smooth pepper and smoky wood flavors with a hint of sweet spice,” says Annette Alvarez-Peters, who oversees Costco’s wine, spirits and beer program. “The savory, spicy finish is long and complex.”
Try it neat or on ice, as an aperitif or after dinner, or on any occasion calling for a special spirit, and discover the sophisticated side of tequila.
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The Best Private Brand Products of 2009
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In yet another list this time from ShopSmart, magazine the publisher of Consumer Reports, the best (and worst) products of 2009 are revealed. The list contains a number of Private Brand standouts with Target, Costco and Amazon each getting a mention.
ShopSmart Crowns Best Products of the Year
More than 60 Winners in Home, Food, Beauty & Fitness, Electronics and Cars, Plus 20 Losers
ShopSmart, from the publisher of Consumer Reports, is revealing the best (and worst) products of 2009, selected from the thousands of home, food, beauty and other products that were tested throughout the year. Featured in the January 2010 issue, the products range from e-book readers and fuel-efficient hybrid cars to store brand food and wrinkle creams.
“What’s unique about our list is that it’s 100 percent unbiased. Unlike other magazines, we don’t recommend products based on popularity or brand,” said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart. “Our favorite products — which include everything from pancake mix and coffee makers to cars and treadmills — were the top performers in laboratory and real-world tests. And because we don’t have to answer to advertisers, we can bring you the year’s biggest losers too.”
ShopSmart has named more than 60 products as their favorite “stuff” of the year. Below is a sampling of these items. For a complete list of ShopSmart’s best products of the year, please visit ShopSmartmag.org.
Best of the Best Food
- Kirkland Signature (Costco) Organic Salsa Medium, $5.89, beat out Old El Paso salsa.
- Market Pantry (Target) Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal, 15.1-oz. package, $1.67, is hearty and flavorful, packs about 3 grams of fiber per packet and cooks in a flash.
Best of the Best Electronics
- Amazon Kindle 2, $360, is cool and sleek, with fast page turning and enough memory to read for days.
Shop Smartly with Kirkland Signature from Costco
Posted by: | CommentsThe Honolulu, Hawaii daily the Star Bulletin published this nice look at Costco’s Kirkland Signature Private Brand. The article features the now standard Compare & Save instore promotion as well as a overview of the brand.
Let’s face it. We all head to Costco, and sometimes end up picking up a few more items — a DVD, iPod or a Prada handbag that was on sale — than we were planning to on the way in.
Costco Wholesale Corp. has a knack of tantalizing customers with an array of impulse items before you reach the produce at the back of the store. You actually might spend more money even though you’re supposed to be saving by shopping in bulk at a membership warehouse for $50 a year.
Still, everyone from the mom feeding a family of eight to the chief executive officer of your bank is shopping at Costco in Hawaii.
Here’s the deal: If you shop smartly, and go for Costco’s Kirkland Signature house brand, you can save money.
Costco wants to let consumers know how much they could save by buying its private, in-house Kirkland Signature brand. Some stores recently had a display — two shopping carts filled with items side by side — one with national brands amounting to $437.85 and the other one with the Kirkland brand amounting to $229.35. The resulting difference is $208.50, or 47.6 percent in savings.
If you enjoyed this post, get FREE updates when you subscribe to Myprivatebrand’s Blog by Email.Kirkland Signature & Up&Up go Head to Head.
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This fascinating article appeared yesterday in the New York based web mag Brokelyn.com. According to their “About” page they are: “busy finding new ideas for bargain obsessive’s, stoop-sale sartorialists and wallet-aware foodies.” The article presents a compelling side-by-side comparison of Target’s new Up&Up brand and Costco’s Kirkland.
Who do you think wins?
Store-brand smackdown: Costco vs. Target
Is it possible to go to Costco without wondering: Is this really worth it? The crowds, the Zipcar to Third Avenue and 38th Street, the existential despair of seeing your future in jumbo-sized cereal boxes, the inevitable 12-pound bag of frozen salmon filets you’ll never get through, the paradox of spending more to make sure you get your $50 membership’s worth.
That annual fee, of course, is the biggest question of all. Brooklyn College finance professor Charles Stone estimates that Costco prices have traditionally been roughly 10 percent less than average retail, which means you’d have to spend at least $500 a year to make your $50 back. For some people, that are not hard to do, what with all the crap they wind up buying while they’re there.
If you enjoyed this post, get FREE updates when you subscribe to Myprivatebrand’s Blog by Email.Kirkland’s Takes Center Stage At Costco.
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According to an article published by the Instore Marketing Institute on their website this past month Costco featured their Private Brand Kirkland Signature as part of a strong value message throughout the store.
Costco Flaunts Kirkland’s Value
Costco last month delivered a strong value message to promote its Kirkland Signature private-label brand throughout the store.
The warehouse club chain positioned shopping carts filled with products at store entrances to greet members with a side-by-side comparison of the price difference between national brands and Kirkland Signature equivalents. (The merchandising tactic has long been used by supermarkets, usually to compare themselves with rival chains.) An accompanying sign designed as a giant checkout receipt listed the prices of all the items (including eight Procter & Gamble brands), which totaled $524.90 for the national brands and presented savings of $193.78 for the Kirkland alternatives.
If you enjoyed this post, get FREE updates when you subscribe to Myprivatebrand’s Blog by Email.Sam’s Club Introduces New Fair Trade Certified Private Brand Coffee
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In a press release, Walmart, TransFair USA, SEBRAE-Minas Gerais and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that a new Fair Trade Certified coffee from Brazil will be sold to Sam’s Club members across the country. The two new Fair Trade Certified Member’s Mark Private Brand coffee products will be available in more than 600 Sam’s Club nationwide. These new products are part of the Responsible Sourcing Partnership Project that links Brazilian coffee farmers with mass-market coffee consumers in the United States through Fair Trade certification.
“We are excited to be expanding our offering of high quality Fair Trade Certified coffee at clubs throughout the US,” said Jill Turner-Mitchael, senior vice president of Merchandising, Sam’s Club. “This partnership falls in line with the company’s mission of providing opportunity in communities around the world, as nearly 30,000 Brazilian producer family members are being positively impacted.”
Through the Responsible Sourcing Partnership Project, Brazilian producers and their families receive increased employment opportunities, expanded access to new domestic and international markets, increased use of environmentally-sound production methods, and, in turn, improvements in their quality of life. Partner cooperatives are located in the Brazilian states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo.
Jeffery Bell, director of USAID/Brazil, said, “USAID believes that public-private partnerships are the most effective mechanism to respond to global challenges. The Responsible Sourcing Partnership Project is a successful alliance that combines our complementary assets to promote sustainability, expand social and economic opportunities within the Brazilian coffee value chain.”
The project aims to expand and improve the quality of Fair Trade Certified coffee supply through investments in infrastructure, technical assistance with production and post-harvest processing, as well as training in coffee quality management. These investments will result in increased producer capacity through organizational strengthening including financial management operations and marketing. The partnership also raises the marketing capacity of Brazilian coffee growers to improve the reputation of Brazilian coffee, raises awareness of Fair Trade impact and empowers producers in the marketplace.
Paul Rice, TransFair USA president and CEO, said, “Sam’s Club is an innovative partner in offering high-quality Fair Trade Certified coffee in a manner that both expands the marketplace and delivers value back down the supply chain to the farmer. A year from now we will be able to trace Member’s Mark coffee sales directly to improved environmental management at Fair Trade coffee farms and higher quality of life in farming communities.”
In 2008, imports of Fair Trade Certified coffee grew more than 30 percent. Fair Trade is a market-based approach to sustainable development, seeking to empower millions of disadvantaged producers worldwide while protecting the environment for future generations. Fair Trade empowers U.S. consumers to make a difference in the world simply by adjusting their shopping list. The dramatic growth of Fair Trade products proves that consumers are voting for a better world with their purchases, demanding sustainable, ethically-sourced goods.
Roberto Simões, SEBRAE Minas Gerais president, said, “The Fair Trade program is in line with the purpose of SEBRAE’s activity to increase business and promote Small and Medium Enterprises with social, environmental and economic sustainability. We support entrepreneurship and cooperation, and the program matches with our intention of helping local producers access international markets.”
Walmart has sold several Private Brand coffees’ that meet these criteria as part of the Sam’s Choice Private Brand. With the relaunch of Great Value and the transition of many of the Sam’s Choice products to Great Value it should be revealing to see how this new coffee is branded in the new Walmart Private Brand portfolio.
Walmart Grows Private Brand.
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This past week Forbes featured a great article on Walmart and Private Brand with commentary on both Kroger and Costco.
Wal-Mart Turns To Private-Label Products
Looking to take back market share from competitors like Kroger, the discount giant expands other divisions. As budget-minded shoppers roll through grocery store aisles looking for ways to stretch their cash, grocers are responding to the competitive pricing environment by doing their own share of penny-pinching.
For Wal-Mart Stores which touted itself as the low-price leader even when other stores tried to lure higher-income shoppers with remodeled stores and improved product mix–private-label products are the key. In March, the retailer said it would expand its Great Value store brand to offer more cheaply priced groceries and consumer staples to its customers.
Supermarket operator Kroger, which has one of the best-developed private-label businesses in the sector, has been able to win market share from rivals because store brands grant retailers more control over costs and pricing. In Kroger’s first quarter, private-label revenue accounted for 35% of the quarter’s sales.
If you enjoyed this post, get FREE updates when you subscribe to Myprivatebrand’s Blog by Email.Innovation, Clarity, Commitment and the Brand Wars.
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Private Brand excellence requires retailers to have a very different mindset. it requires that the retailer incorporate Private Brand as the critical part of their differentiation strategy – and not as a “nice add-on’. The retailer must then live and breathe Private Brand in every part of their operation and consistently implement marketing and in-store communications that support that strategy.
Over the last thirty years few retailers have been able to apply a consistent day in and day out effort that truly built their Private Brands. Target, Loblaw’s, Tesco and Trader Joe’s have been able to capture share and to one degree or another build customer loyalty, but even they have had their missteps and at times lost their focus.
So what are the keys to Private Brand Success
one: Commitment to innovation
- Build a culture that both rewards and expects innovation
- Develop brands who at their core are innovative
- Encourage and reward all partners who bring innovation to the table
two: Clarity of focus
- Create a dedicated Private Brand team that has the skill, time and resources to create and build brands.
- Commit to long-term brand loyalty while encouraging short-term growth.
- Create one, three, five and ten year plans and enlist the entire organization to make them happen
three: Consistency of execution
- Consistent pricing clarifies the brand positioning
- Consistent packaging validates the customer decision and lets the customer easily recognize the brand
- Consistent quality is essential; the customer should never be disappointed
- Consistent merchandising enhances the brand recognition
- Celebrate your brands as assets and tell customers about them, marketing is crucial
Today more than ever retailers have the opportunity to grow Private Brand, to take advantage of a weak economy and floundering CPG’s to transform their Private Brands into National Brands. To use the consumers need to save money as a free sampling opportunity for their Private Brands, if the brands can meet or exceed the promise of national brands at a better price, they have the opportunity to create Private Brand loyalist. If not they will squander the opportunity and make short term margin instead of long term profits.
What will YOU do?
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