"Store brands have come a long way," said Tod Marks, a senior editor at Consumer Reports, which has tested store brands against national brands for quality and customer response. "Over the years, retailers realized that store brands were not just something to be floated out during hard times."
Stores generally reap higher profit margins by selling their own brands -- also called corporate brands, private labels or generics -- and use them to build customer loyalty.
"All of us are creatures of habit, and when things are going well, you just buy what you bought last week," said Kroger's vice chairman, Rodney McMullen. "Customers are much more willing to try a corporate brand when the economy gets tough, and when we can get the customer to try it, they like it. It just makes it so much easier for us to get the customer to try it."
Shores has been buying more store-brand diapers, costing about 30% to 40% less, but sticks with Procter & Gamble Co.'s Pampers for use at night because they're more absorbent, she said. She tried store-brand spaghetti sauce, then went back to Prego, a Campbell Soup Co. product she says is thicker and vegetable-rich. But she doesn't taste much difference in the store versions of canned vegetables and many other grocery items.
"For oatmeal, there's almost a $2 price difference," she said. "That adds up."
Surveys have shown that most people have been very satisfied with most store brands, Marks said, and testing found many of them held their own against the national brands. In some cases, he said, shoppers must decide whether "good enough" at a lower price is the best choice.
"Some stores do it better than others," said Sonya Redwine, 35, of Knoxville, Tenn., who usually steers her shopping cart toward store brands.
She does prefer Pampers diapers for her daughter and also P&G's Gain detergent for her heavy laundry loads, so she watches for sales and coupons and stocks up on those items. But she's happy with Kroger and Target Corp. store products for most groceries.
"Just because it's a store brand doesn't mean it's not the best for your family," she said.
Trying to capitalize on what Safeway Chief Executive Steve Burd recently called "an extraordinary shift," stores are offering more new products and increasing their marketing.
