Holy crap, this store brand is sexy...

Oh boy. Truth time. I'm kind of a brand snob. I see store brand and I'm usually like - eh, I'll stick with what I know and like - the real stuff. I own all Apple products, I drink Starbucks coffee, I wear Brooks Brothers shirts, I eat Kashi cereals, I clean with Method products. Pretty consistent...that is, consistently paying a price premium for premium brands.

However, economic recession/downturn/bubble/blahblahblah has caused a bit of a mix-up in the market - specifically in CPG. Walmart (see also: big) and Target (see also: cool) are not dumb (both recruit Kelley MBAs, obviously). They both (among others) saw a HUGE opportunity to liven up their slightly sketchy store brands and create an interesting mid-tier player. Great Value (Walmart's bread and butter - literally) all of a sudden looks clean and refreshing. Up and Up (Target) exudes form and function. So now, instead of easily brushing past the usual stale, commodity junk on the bottom shelf - I am increasingly noticing "better" store brands almost everywhere. Even Trader Joe's...wait a minute...it's pretty much ALL store brand. I LOVE Trader Joe's. I've been buying Trader Joe's for a long time - even made special trips to Indy just to get some nuts, hummus, and English muffins! Pfew, such a relief - I'm NOT a brand snob!...err...wait. Trader Joe's is a brand. A very cool brand, even if a "store brand". And perhaps that is the direction that Great Value and Up and Up are headed. And perhaps I am only beginning to notice them because they are starting to evolve as brands of their own. And perhaps...yup, I'm still a brand snob.

(I must apologize for the time lapse since my last post - school has been incredibly busy, along with finalizing details of my future employment. Stay tuned - next post: Where in the World is Jamesgoingtobeworkingnextyear?...)