The end of an Era... is Brand Loyalty Finally Over?

[toys]

Dumped! Brand names fight to stay in stores

Wal-Mart is not the only one doing this, according to Dibadj. He says leading drug store chains, including CVS and Walgreens, grocers such as Kroger (KR, Fortune 500), and Wal-Mart's rival discounter, Target (TGT, Fortune 500), are also looking to simplify their store shelves.

So unless a particular brand is a top seller in its category, it's getting knocked off the shelf -- and sometimes getting replaced by a cheaper store brand.

How will the major brands respond? - more advertising, lower prices?

Will we see a huge wave of coupons attempting to keep us loyal?

Has it already begun? - I've noticed a new set of junk-mailers recently, anyone else?

And when you get those coupons, where will you find the products?

Are you willing to travel to extra stores just to find the brands you crave?

[disneysteve]

What I wish would happen is a contraction of product varieties. That is something that has gotten insane in recent years. Have you walked down the shampoo aisle lately? A brand that used to have a single product now has 10 or more varieties between different scents, ones for dry hair, normal hair, oily hair, colored hair, gray hair, itchy scalp, etc. Same for toothpaste - regular, whitening, sensitive teeth, with mouthwash, tartar control, etc. Do we really need 20 different kinds of Colgate? Half the time, it is impossible to find the plain old product.

[irmanator]

I agree with DisneySteve, however when they discontinue they should keep MY brand and variety. =) (or at least give me notice so I can stock up)