Private Labeling and You

Private labeling is on the increase for most retailers. In the United States, where approximately 25 percent of all products sold are private labeled, major hardware stores have increased the number of products they cany under their own label by more than 12 percent in the past year alone. In Europe,

there has been a huge growth in private labeling as major U.S. retailers open stores and stock them heavily with their own brands. Some studies show as many as 45 percent of all the goods sold by major European retailers are under private label. In some cases, the private label brand is exactly the same product and made by the same manufacturer of a competing brand - just 10 to as much as 25 percent less expensive.

In other cases, the private label brand is less expensive, but the product's quality simply does not measure up to similar products sold by leading manufacturers. And in a few situations, price is not the issue at all. The retailers decide to produce their own brand, under their own label, because they want "added value" and are dissatisfied with similar products made by the major manufacturers.