Store brands are taking over the marketplaces

[Graham Smith]

It seems that more and more, the stuff that I like is being pushed aside to make way for store brands. Sometimes the store brands are OK and have better prices. But often they are no where near as good and have prices that are really not that great.

I'm going to be traveling next month and wanted to get a travel size tube of Coppertone Sport and one of their sunscreen sticks for my face. These should be easy to find but after going to two local drug stores, the only thing I could find was the store brand. They had the big bottles of the Coppertone but the only sticks they had were their own.

And to make it worse, the variety of things carried is increasing which reduces the shelf room for any one thing, and with the store brands taking over, sometimes it's not just a choice between my brand and the store brand. It's the store brand or go somewhere else.

It's a little thing, granted, but it's the sort of little thing that really gets on my nerve. And forget telling the management, they will tell you they can only stock what sells and the cheaper store brands sell. Perhaps, but I do own a car and can and will go places that have what I want.

[The_Vigilante]

Amazon is your friend

[Nik Habicht]

Amazon is your friend

+2. I share the hate, Graham -- and as a result have all kinds of grocery and drug store supplies delivered to my house on a regular basis. Amazon will even ship you refills, on a set schedule of your specification, if you like....

[Steve RA]

Usually, but not always, the store brand is the same stuff you get in the name brand.

[GIO]

I deal with this as part of my job. Consumers are demanding lower and lower prices which causes retailers to focus on their store brands. National brands do not have the same pricing flexibility and have a hard time keeping up with the growing demand for cheaper goods. From a pure quality standpoint, store brands can be/are just as good but the aren't the "same". If you grew up with a specific brand you will have a certain expectation or comfort level and you will never have an exact formula match with a store brand.

Hate to say it but you may see more and more of this as the economy continues to struggle under our fearless leader.

[Mastiff]

Usually, but not always, the store brand is the same stuff you get in the name brand.

Steve, sorry, let's try that with your Winchestern 748 or H335 powders. Then we will see if the store brand is the same.

[Steve RA]

Well, Grape Nuts and Wally Worlds, Kroger house brand all look the same, taste the same. Pretty sure it's that way with a lot of goods as most of the store chains don't have the facilities to process or manufacture their own.

[Graham Smith]

If this is going to turn into a discussion, it will have to be moved. That said...

Sometimes, it doesn't really matter. But when I want some cannellini beans for a salad and the only thing the in store is a some Value Brand and I buy them and get them home and they taste like congealed library paste and end up in the trash. Or when I want a small jar of mayo and the only small jars are the store brand and my brand is only available in the 3 quart economy tub (no one needs that much mayo unless it comes with free bypass surgery).

This is not done by accident. The items that clear the shelves fastest are the first ones target to be replaced by the store brand. Doing this allows the store to show you how much you save by shopping there. It goes not just for the item but the size. In some cases, the large size is replace in other cases it's the smaller size. It's the stuff that sells out the fastest.

And it's also the shelf quantity. Two rows of the store brand to one row of the national brand, so the store can say it carries both. When the national brand runs out (which is will), the only thing left is the store brand. I see this happening all the time.

Store brands can also be very inconsistent and change without notice. My neighborhood store used to have a store brand of buttermilk that I loved. Best I have ever had. Then one day, with no change in the packaging or anything, their buttermilk went from being the absolute best to probably the worst I've ever tasted. I asked the manager and he said that he was unaware that there was any change. Within the month, three other store brand dairy product changed for the worse. Clearly the supplier had changed but the packaging had not. No national brand could get away with that without a public outcry but we accept it from store brands.

Then there's the game of putting "store brands" on the shelves with names that make them look as if they are national brands or some kind of specialty brand. Trouble is, you will never find "Prairie Farms Cheddar Cheese" on the shelves of any store but this chain. I don't care if they want to sell a store brand, but I want to know that it is.

[Flexmoney]

A lot of things are similar. A lot of things are not.

[Youngeyes]

You are having a heart attack. The Dr offers you a well known brand drug or a Wally World generic. Hmmmmm.............. Just sayin'.