The Cincinnati Enquirer reports on how two of that city’s most prominent businesses – Kroger and Procter & Gamble – are experiencing very different recessions.
“As shoppers have become tougher and smarter about saving money, P&G has watched sales of its products, many of them carrying premium prices like Iams, fall,” the Enquirer writes. “P&G sold 3 percent fewer products in its 2009 fiscal year than it did the year before, and its prices, which it raised across all segments of its global business, were in part blamed. To battle back, P&G management has promised to cut prices where it sees the need, increase couponing and offer consumers inexpensive ways to try its products … Meanwhile, Kroger's private-label brands, such as Private Selection, now account for 35 percent of all items sold in its stores, up from 31 percent in 2003. Kroger is promising to keep pushing its store brands and is even treating them more like name brands, improving the appearance of packaging and pumping up advertising.”
“As shoppers have become tougher and smarter about saving money, P&G has watched sales of its products, many of them carrying premium prices like Iams, fall,” the Enquirer writes. “P&G sold 3 percent fewer products in its 2009 fiscal year than it did the year before, and its prices, which it raised across all segments of its global business, were in part blamed. To battle back, P&G management has promised to cut prices where it sees the need, increase couponing and offer consumers inexpensive ways to try its products … Meanwhile, Kroger's private-label brands, such as Private Selection, now account for 35 percent of all items sold in its stores, up from 31 percent in 2003. Kroger is promising to keep pushing its store brands and is even treating them more like name brands, improving the appearance of packaging and pumping up advertising.”
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