The Rise of the New House Labels Is Reshaping Retail

Store brands have come a long way from blah boxes of knockoff Cheerios: Americans are increasingly piling their virtual and IRL shopping carts with in-store brands of everything, whether coffee, batteries, suit jackets, or midcentury modern sofas. Because stores don’t have to hand over part of each purchase price to Coca-Cola Co. or Levi Strauss & Co., they’re often able to sell their own brands for less—and make more money.

House brands in the U.S. date to at least the 19th century, but their popularity has ebbed and flowed. To the surprise of many, a number of store brands have managed to build loyal followings of their own in the last decade. What’s more, they’ve managed to do so even while the economy was strong, which would seem to remove price as a factor and may mark a more significant change in what Americans buy and how companies sell us stuff.