The latest blow came from Bank of America. The bank pulled its neutral call on Nike and moved the stock to a sell rating.

BofA also told investors to expect the share price to fall even further before any real recovery shows up.

For anyone holding Nike shares, or thinking about buying while the price is low, BofA believes the recovery investors are hoping for might take longer than expected.

Bank of America pulls its support for Nike stock

Bank of America analyst Lorraine Hutchinson, who has covered Nike for years and previously held a more positive view of the stock, downgraded the shares to Underperform from Neutral. She also cut her price target to $30 from $47, which means BofA thinks the stock could fall another 17% from its recent price near $35.75.

Hutchinson had defended the stock for much of 2026, arguing that the bad news was already priced in.

That view has changed.

She told clients Nike’s recovery is “taking longer to materialize as weakness in its larger lifestyle categories outweighs progress from newer product launches,” according to a note reported by CNBC.

Hutchinson summed up the shift in three words: “Risks are rising.”

Nike sells fashion and sports gear under the Nike, Jordan, and Converse brands. It makes money through its own stores and website, and through retail partners like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker.

When both sales channels slow down at the same time, the company’s revenue and profits take a hit.

Nike’s older styles and retail partners are both struggling

BofA pointed to three problem areas. Nike’s classics business, which includes older, popular shoe styles that usually sell steadily without heavy promotion, is selling fewer items, and Nike’s newer products have not been strong enough to fill the gap.

Another issue is how Nike sells through other retailers. Nike has been shipping shoes and clothing to stores, but those products are not selling fast enough on shelves. When that happens, retailers tend to order less in the future, and that delays any recovery.

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The company’s China market is also struggling. BofA said the “China reset faces a tougher demand backdrop.” Chinese competitors Anta and Li Ning have been winning over local shoppers for eight straight quarters. That makes it harder for Nike to grow in one of its biggest markets outside the U.S.

Hutchinson also lowered her profit forecasts. She cut her fiscal 2027 earnings-per-share estimate by 11% to $1.43, and her fiscal 2028 estimate by 12% to $1.87. Her fiscal 2027 number now sits 14% below what most other analysts on Wall Street expect.

Sell ratings on Nike just hit a 30-year high

BofA is not the only one changing its mind about the stock.

JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss, a veteran retail analyst, cut Nike to Underweight in August with a $40 target.

“Our timeline for NKE to return to a 10% operating margin now extends to FY29,” he told clients.

Boss believes it could take three more years for Nike to get its profit margins back to healthy levels. 

Oppenheimer and Barclays trimmed their Nike price targets this week, and Goldman Sachs also pulled back, according to Barron’s.

BofA’s new $30 target values Nike at about 16 times its expected earnings, down from its previous 22-times figure. That lower number treats Nike more like an average retail company than a premium global brand.

There is a counterargument worth knowing. A fair-value model from Investing.com puts Nike closer to $54, based on the stock trading near historically low valuations.

Investors will have to decide which side of the argument makes more sense, and the October 1 earnings report will give them fresh numbers to work with.

What Nike investors should watch in the first-quarter report

The upcoming earnings call will reveal how much of BofA’s bearish view is already playing out.

Analysts and investors will focus on how fast products are selling in North American stores, whether sales in China are still declining, and whether Nike can protect its profit margins. Order trends from retailers also matter, because they show what demand could look like six months from now.

Dividend investors have a separate concern. BofA warned that Nike is currently paying out more in dividends than it earns, which is not something the company can keep up for long. Nike’s management may hold the payment steady, but a dividend cut is possible if profits keep falling.

Nike CEO Elliott Hill has been direct about where the business stands.

On the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter call in June, he told investors, “Overall, the results aren’t there yet,” and added that customer demand in Nike Sportswear and Jordan Streetwear “remains challenged.”

A stronger update on those two areas next week could change the mood around the stock, while another weak report could push more analysts to downgrade.

Related: Bank of America resets Costco stock target ahead of earnings

For example, a trip from Orlando, Fla., to Miami is about 240 miles and can take about 4 hours to drive by car.

A non-stop flight from Orlando to Miami can take about an hour and 15 minutes one-way in the air and cost as low as $59 one-way as of Sept. 26 on Southwest for flights a month from now at last check, but that doesn’t include all the taxes and fees that drive up the cost. And it doesn’t include all the time you need to spend in the airport checking in and going through security.

A Brightline high-speed rail trip from Orlando to Miami can cost as low as $79 one-way and takes about 3-1/2 hours on the train. Ridership has been rising for Brightline, but that isn’t enough to prevent the company from filing for bankruptcy.

Brightline files for bankruptcy

Brightline, Florida’s high-speed private passenger train system, filed for a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy to recapitalize its business with $490 million in post-petition financing through a restructuring support agreement reached with its financial stakeholders, including Assured Guaranty Inc. and an ad hoc group of mutual fund bondholders.

Debtor Brightline Management LLC, which employs about 520 workers who operate the only private intercity passenger train system in the U.S., filed its petition along with 16 other affiliates in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Sept. 25, listing $1 billion to $10 billion in assets and debts.

The Miami-based debtor’s largest unsecured creditors include Virgin Enterprises Limited, owed over $8.6 million; Ankura Intermediate Holdings LP, owed over $1.1 million; AFCO Premium Credit LLC, over $880,000; and Aon Risk Services Inc. of Florida, owed over $615,000.

Train service has 6 stations over 235 miles

Brightline Florida provides high-speed rail service along a 235-mile corridor in Florida with six stations located in Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Orlando.

The company operates 36 one-way trains daily, which reach speeds of up to 125 miles per hour, which it believes is faster, safer, more eco-friendly, more reliable, less expensive, more productive, and more enjoyable than travel by car or air between Orlando and Miami, according to a bankruptcy declaration by Patrick Goddard, CEO of Brightline Florida.

“The trip between Orlando and Miami is ‘too long to drive, too short to fly,’ demonstrating the characteristics of other similar corridors globally that are served by intercity rail,” Goddard said in the declaration.

Brightline Florida, which built and owns its entire 235-mile rail system, began its train service in January 2018 between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Fla., and expanded service to Miami in May 2018. The rail system completed construction and opened its Orlando station in September 2023.

Ridership and revenue rising

The train system’s business has gained commercial momentum following the Orlando station opening, with ridership and revenue growing year over year. Its ridership increased by 14% year-over-year in 2026 through August and revenue increased by 17% in the same period.

Brightline filed its Chapter 11 case not because of its operating business, according to the declaration, but instead to address its holding company capital structure. While revenue and ridership continues to grow, results have materially lagged behind the company’s original projections and the reserves set aside to cover debt service through the ramp up were not sufficient to cover the slower ramp up.

The debtor faces substantial funded debt obligations with near-term maturities, interest payment deadlines, and mandatory tender obligations that placed unsustainable pressure on the company’s balance sheet, according to the declaration.

Seeks to rebalance debt, inject liquidity

Brightline seeks to rebalance its holding company funded debt obligations and inject additional liquidity into the company through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

The company’s $4.39 billion in bond debt remains outstanding, with no plans to reduce the aggregate principal amounts, according to a Sept. 25 company statement.

“Brightline is a critical part of Florida’s transportation network that has changed the way people move around the state,” Goddard said in the statement. “Today’s agreement brings $490 million in new long-term capital to Brightline from the stakeholders who know this business, and it comes at a time of real momentum.”

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The runaway success led to a wave of “cookie wars” and other businesses offering endless spins on what was once a simple homemade dessert opening on its heels, including fellow Utah competitor Crave Cookies and New York brand Chip City Cookies.

But amid shifting trends and an oversaturation of the market in certain cities, the period of growth for cookie businesses appears to have reached its ebb. Data from Restaurant Business Online shows that Crumbl store units dropped by 16% from 2024 to 2025 as the chain closed multiple underperforming stores while sales in the wider category stayed flat at $11.85 billion in the 52 weeks leading to July 2026.

Chip City cookie chain closes all three Connecticut stores

Launched out of the Queens borough in 2017, Chip City Cookies expanded quickly to nearly 50 locations both across New York and neighboring states such as New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois.

This week, local newspaper The Hartford Courant reported that all three of the cookie stores that Chip City had been operating in Connecticut were quietly removed from the chain’s website and marked as permanently closed on Google.

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The three locations were in Fairfield, Darien and West Hartford. The chain did not provide a comment and could not be immediately reached on the sudden exit from this market.

Chip City quickly found a fan following with a gooey texture and unique flavors such as cannoli, apple cider donut and the brownie-cookie “brookie” fusion. When they opened Chip City in 2017, childhood friends Teddy Gailas and Peter Phillips also leaned heavily into social media to quickly set off their brand by putting up a big sign telling visitors to follow them on Instagram at the original Astoria location and continuing to tease temporary flavors online.

Why is Chip City and so many other cookie chains now shutting down locations

The last time Chip City announced a new location was in December 2025 when it signed a contract to open a store in the 800-square-foot Marlton Commons shopping mall.

Once the store opens, it will bring the total number of Chip City locations in New Jersey to four.

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The wave of cookie chain closures and downscales has been in place for the last two years both as the trend for a specific type of food passes on to other things and, amid ongoing inflation and an economic downturn, consumers watch their spending on hyped-up, social media-viral artisanal versions of a common food more carefully.

In August 2026, 20-year-old New York State cookie bakery The Cookie Factory closed its last remaining brick-and-mortar stores to focus on selling exclusively at supermarkets and regional convenience stores. The entity behind The Cookie Factory had earlier filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York in September 2024.

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That is how somebody ends up in a plan that drops her cardiologist in March, or else she never learns she qualified for coverage built for her exact situation.

Open enrollment opens Oct. 15 and closes Dec. 7, and what you choose carries through all of 2027. A beneficiary can pick from 32 Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage this year, a count that excludes employer plans and Special Needs Plans, according to KFF.

Sorting that out used to mean a broker at your kitchen table, a stack of mailers or an afternoon on the government’s Plan Finder.

This fall, far more retirees will type the question into Google and read whatever the AI summary tells them.

A Medicare data researcher spent two months testing what those systems actually return, and found that the answer can turn on a single word the reader happens to choose.

Why Medicare questions are hard for AI to answer

Medicare is not one product. A beneficiary can choose Medicare Advantage, a Special Needs Plan, a standalone Part D drug plan, a Medicare Supplement policy or Original Medicare, and the right answer depends on county, plan year and personal circumstances.

Retirees are already bringing those questions to AI. More than 20% of U.S. adults use AI chatbots for health questions at least sometimes, while only 18% rate the answers as either extremely accurate or very accurate, Healthcare Dive reported, citing a Pew Research Center survey.

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That wary response to AI answers is justified. AI chatbots answered everyday health questions accurately 76.2% of the time, representing roughly double the error rate of human physicians, according to a Penn State study covered by Medical Xpress.

A Medicare data researcher spent two months testing how well AI systems work to inform beneficiaries, and found that the answer can turn on a single word.

What the Yuma County search test found

David Bynon has published Medicare data since 2012 and now runs a measurement project called the Medicare Visibility Monitor. In Yuma County, Ariz., he typed the kind of query an ordinary beneficiary would: medicare plans yuma county az.

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Conventional Google results read that phrase as Medicare Advantage and filled the page with Advantage advertising and insurance carrier web pages, Bynon told TheStreet. Somebody who did not already know the coverage types could reasonably conclude that Advantage was the entire menu.

After Google’s late-August update he ran the test again. The broad query produced an AI Overview centered on Medicare Advantage, and changing one word to medicare options yuma county az expanded the answer to include Advantage, Special Needs Plans and Medicare Supplement coverage.

“A consumer should not need to know the taxonomy of Medicare before asking what their Medicare choices are,” Bynon said.

That result is what pushed him to build a resource laying out every Medicare coverage type available in a given county. He put it on MedicarePlans.com, his experimental publishing site, then moved the implementation about two months later to Medicare.org, the production site he manages.

He then gave the system a realistic person: turning 65 next month, covered by Medicaid, living with type 2 diabetes and taking Metformin, and unsure what to do.

The AI Overview did well at first. It recognized that holding both Medicare and Medicaid mattered and identified Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans, known as D-SNPs, as the plan class that fit.

Then it slipped. Its recommendation led to a page listing standard Medicare Advantage plans rather than the D-SNP choices the system had just identified as relevant, according to Bynon’s account and screenshots he supplied.

Nothing in that answer was fabricated. The plans were real and the benefits were real, but a beneficiary following the recommendation would still have been shopping the wrong aisle.

Bynon calls it a context-continuity failure, where a system resolves who you are and what you need, then drops that thread when it picks the sources it hands you.

One stage of the test went better. When the beneficiary said he still did not know which plan to choose, the system stopped recommending and pointed him to the State Health Insurance Assistance Program and Medicare.gov.

5 ways AI answers go wrong on Medicare

• Mixing plan years, so 2026 costs get quoted for a 2027 plan
• Reading “Medicare plans” as Medicare Advantage only, dropping Part D, Supplement and Original Medicare
• Misassigning county service areas, so a plan looks available where it is not
• Inventing benefits such as buyback allowances or over-the-counter credits that a plan does not offer
• Losing track of your circumstances between diagnosing your situation and recommending where to go next

Source: Trust Publishing Institute baseline report, February 2026, and Bynon’s Yuma County testing supplied to TheStreet

His institute put the average hallucination rate in Medicare plan explanations above 27% in a 50-query sample. That figure comes from Bynon’s own testing, but the report does not publish the queries or the scoring method behind it.

Who is feeding AI its Medicare facts

This is the part of my reporting that should matter most to anyone shopping this fall.

Bynon argues the root problem sits upstream. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes authoritative plan data, he said, but spreads it across datasets and interfaces that are not organized around the way consumers actually ask questions.

That gap, in his account, leaves AI systems leaning on private publishers to resolve those questions and present the answers in a form built for retrieval.

To measure who that is, Bynon built a monitor that tracks 2,146 CMS plan IDs and records which publishers get retrieved and cited across Google, Bing, ChatGPT and Copilot. Google’s AI cited Medicare.org for 2,011 of those plan entities and generated 6,169 citations, Bynon’s September 2026 data report shows.

Medicare.org is a site Bynon manages. It is owned and operated by Health Network Group LLC, an Allstate (ALL) company. HealthCompare, a licensed insurance agency, may compensate the website when a reader enrolls through Medicare.org’s phone number or MedicareEnrollment.com, according to the site’s disclaimer.

The disclaimer adds that the arrangement does not influence what Medicare.org publishes. The roles are worth separating too, because Bynon runs the publishing technology and editorial systems while the enrollment arrangement belongs to the website’s owner and its licensed agency partner.

“I am compensated by HealthNetwork Group/Allstate to manage its web property,” Bynon told TheStreet. “I have no stake in its outcomes.”

I read the September report against that disclaimer twice. The publisher supplying a large share of the factual assertions inside Google’s Medicare answers is owned by an insurer and can be paid when a reader enrolls.

Bynon is careful about what his numbers prove. “I cannot establish that a particular markup change caused a particular ranking or citation outcome,” he said, describing the work as live-site observation rather than controlled experiment.

One finding in the September report deserves a retiree’s attention anyway. MedicarePlanLookup.com was almost absent from conventional Google and Bing results, yet ChatGPT cited it for 1,394 plan entities. MedicarePlans.com ran the same way in reverse, drawing 1,051 ChatGPT citations against 114 from Google’s AI.

“I therefore no longer treat search visibility and answer visibility as interchangeable measurements,” Bynon said. A site you would never find on page one can still be shaping the answer on your screen.

How to pressure-test an AI answer before you enroll

None of this means dropping AI during open enrollment is a good idea. It means treating the answer as a place to start rather than a verdict.

Checks worth 10 minutes before you pick a plan

• Ask about your Medicare options rather than Medicare plans, so the answer covers Advantage, Part D, Supplement and Original Medicare
• Ask which plan year the answer describes and discard anything still quoting 2026 figures
• Say plainly that you have Medicaid, a chronic condition or nursing home care, then check that every plan you are shown actually serves that group
• Look up any plan by name on Medicare’s Plan Finder with your own drugs and pharmacy entered
• Confirm directly with the plan that your doctors are in network for 2027, rather than relying on a chatbot’s provider-network information
• Get free help from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program or 1-800-MEDICARE

Bynon expects Plan-ID queries and AI assistants to take over more of Medicare shopping through 2028, and he has argued to federal regulators that the ecosystem needs a neutral structured publisher. He runs one of the most-cited ones.

Until CMS publishes plan data in a form the machines can read cleanly, the retiree at the kitchen table is the last line of verification. Ten minutes on Plan Finder and one call to the plan cost nothing, and they are the only part of this process that nobody is paid to influence.

Related: Medicare drug pricing shift carries alarming global risk

It’s, however, a really good feeling when something that disappeared makes a comeback. Those are emotions that retail giants, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi, like to manipulate.

Coca-Cola has not been kind when it comes to getting rid of slower-selling flavors, even when they have a dedicated fanbase.

The most famous example of that is the company’s 2020 decision to stop making TaB, its first diet soda.

That inspired the SaveTaBSoda Committee, a group of fans of the diet beverage who want to force Coca-Cola to bring it back.

“We’re TaB drinkers on a mission to save our soda. The SaveTaBSoda Committee was formed in October 2020, shortly after the Coca-Cola Company announced the planned discontinuation of TaB soda,” the group shared on its website.

Coca-Cola has not given in, despite a protest at the company’s headquarters, a petition, and multiple other efforts to force the company to bring back the classic soda.

That doesn’t mean Coca-Cola never brings back a classic flavor. The company has two cult-favorite holiday sodas, and one of them was discontinued in 2021. Another was canceled in 2018, but a variation of it will make a 2026 return to shelves.

Coca-Cola Cinnamon is not coming back

Coca-Cola Cinnamon, introduced in 2019, was a limited-time offer for the Christmas season. The company trumpeted the flavor in a 2019 news release, which is no longer on the company’s website.

“Coca‑Cola also is spicing up the season with the limited-edition launch of Coca‑Cola Cinnamon, which blends the delicious taste of Coca‑Cola with a warm cinnamon flavor associated with the holidays,” the company wrote.

The company brought back Cinnamon Coke in 2020 but not in 2021. It has not returned since.

In 2023, Coca-Cola ignored a request from TheStreet for a comment on the fate of Coca-Cola Cinnamon.

Coca-Cola brings back another holiday classic

In 2013, Coca-Cola introduced Sprite Cranberry for the holiday season.

“Both products take the refreshing taste of traditional Sprite and combine it with a splash of sweet and tart cranberry notes,” the company shared in a press release.

It was the first new Sprite flavor since Sprite Remix in 2005.

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“We’re incorporating one of the most popular flavors of the season with the No. 1 lemon-lime brand to celebrate the holidays,” Sprite Brands executive Kim Paige said at the time. “Over the years, our fans have increasingly demanded Sprite with cranberry flavor, and we’re excited to give it to them with the crisp, clear, caffeine-free, naturally flavored taste they already love about Sprite.”

That flavor was brought back every year seasonally until 2018, when it was discontinued. In 2019, however, Coca-Cola introduced a new take on the drink, Winter Spiced Cranberry.

“Coca-Cola changed the classic Sprite Cranberry — which had been a holiday staple for six years — to a new warm spice- and cranberry-flavored lemon-lime soda. The holiday Sprite became an immediate favorite,” Allrecipes reported.

While the new variant has appeared every year since the old one was killed, Coca-Cola had not commented on whether it will return this year. Several social media accounts that track beverage releases have, however, confirmed the return.

“Holiday soda season is coming very soon! Coca-Cola Holiday Creamy Vanilla and Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry are both set to return in mid-October 2026, including Zero Sugar options,” Snackwire reported.

All Things Hallows, which covers seasonal product releases, also reported on the return.

“Sprite Winter Spiced Cranberry: The seasonal favorite returns in Original and Zero Sugar,” it shared on its Facebook page.

Kroger has added a page listing the returning Sprite, but it’s still showing as unavailable. Walmart also has a product listing, but it shows no stock.

Pepsi’s holiday classic can’t return

In 2023, Pepsi discontinued a holiday favorite by killing the entire brand it was part of.

PepsiCo dropped its entire Sierra Mist product line. That meant Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash was quietly killed as the company replaced Sierra Mist with Starry as its lemon-lime soda. 

It won’t prevent Pepsi from offering a seasonal flavor this winter, according to Sodaseekers, a top Instagram page covering the beverage industry.

“The newest Pepsi holiday innovation is almost here! The product images seen here came from an official database, confirming this release,” the Instagram page wrote next to pictures of Pepsi Vanilla & Cream, in full and Zero Sugar.

It will be released in October and is expected at all Pepsi retailers, the site reported.

Sporked also confirmed that Pepsi would be releasing a Vanilla & Cream flavor.

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Increasingly, this has begun to mean putting more store brands in carts.

U.S. private-label consumer packaged goods sales have reached $330 billion, accounting for 24% of unit sales and 23% of dollar sales, according to Circana.

In food and beverages, private-label products now account for roughly 24% of sales value.

The shift accelerated as high grocery prices pushed consumers to search for less expensive alternatives to national brands.

But new research suggests that price is no longer the only reason shoppers choose them.

Ninety-two percent of U.S. grocery shoppers now have private-brand products in their homes, according to FMI-The Food Industry Association.

Nearly half said they increased their private-label purchases over the past year.

More strikingly, 94% said they would continue buying store brands even if grocery prices declined.

This suggests that some of the shopping habits consumers developed during the inflation surge may be sticking around.

And major retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Costco, and Aldi are investing heavily to make sure they do.

Store brands are more than a cheaper option

Private-label products once carried a fairly simple proposition: a similar product at a lower price.

But retailers are increasingly trying to move beyond that.

Circana research shows private-label growth has expanded into premium, wellness-focused, sustainable, and indulgent products.

Here’s some of my coverage of how grocery retailers are changing to win value-conscious shoppers:

• Aldi: The discount grocer is rapidly expanding across the U.S. as shoppers increasingly seek lower prices and store-exclusive products.
• Kroger: Kroger is adding exclusive products and new private-brand offerings as competition from Walmart, Amazon, and discount grocers intensifies.
• Grocery prices: Elevated food costs continue to pressure household budgets, pushing shoppers toward cheaper brands, promotions and value-focused retailers.

Meanwhile, consumers are increasingly viewing store brands as comparable in quality to national brands.

FMI found a similar shift.

Thirty-nine percent of shoppers who increased their private-brand purchases cited quality, up from 30% in 2023, while 37% cited taste, up from 26%.

Private labels are also influencing where consumers choose to shop.

56% of consumers said their primary retailer’s store-brand selection is very or extremely important when deciding where to shop, according to FMI.

That gives retailers another reason to invest in products shoppers cannot simply find at a competing supermarket.

Walmart makes bigger push behind Great Value

Few retailers have more at stake in private label than Walmart.

Great Value is Walmart’s largest private brand and, according to the retailer, the largest food and consumables CPG brand in the U.S.

The company says Great Value products are found in nine out of 10 U.S. households.

Earlier in April, Walmart announced the first complete redesign of the brand in more than a decade, covering nearly 10,000 food and consumables products.

Walmart says an average family can save about 35% annually by choosing Great Value products instead of comparable national brands.

But the redesign is not just about price.

Walmart said the new packaging is intended to improve visibility and make products easier to find in stores and online.

This is another sign that retailers increasingly want private labels to compete like national brands rather than simply serve as generic substitutes.

Kroger’s brands growing faster than national brands

Kroger is seeing similar momentum.

During its latest quarter, the grocer said its own-brand sales grew faster than national-brand sales, while sales of its premium Private Selection line increased by more than 14%.

The retailer has been expanding Private Selection, Simple Truth, and Smart Way into additional categories to give shoppers options across different price points.

Private Selection has also moved beyond basic substitutes for national brands.

Kroger has introduced premium and limited-time products, including ready-to-eat meals and seasonal offerings, as it tries to build demand for products shoppers can only buy through its stores.

The strategy reflects a broader shift across the grocery industry.

Retailers increasingly want shoppers to view their private labels as brands in their own right.

Aldi shows how far private-label model can go

Aldi provides one of the direct examples of a grocery business built around that strategy.

More than 90% of the products Aldi sells are exclusive brands, according to the company.

That is far above the private-label penetration of most conventional supermarket chains.

It has allowed Aldi to maintain tight control over its assortment and pricing, something it says sets the retailer apart.

The discounter has also been refreshing its packaging and placing the Aldi name more prominently across many of its store-brand products.

For Aldi, private label is not simply another section of the grocery aisle, but a core part of how the retailer operates.

Costco helped prove model works

Costco’s Kirkland Signature remains one of the biggest examples of how powerful this model can become.

Kirkland products are exclusive to Costco and span food, household goods, apparel, and other categories.

The brand has become a major part of Costco’s value proposition because shoppers cannot buy the same products at Walmart, Kroger, or any other supermarket.

This exclusivity gives private labels an advantage that national brands cannot provide.

A shopper who develops a preference for a particular Kirkland product has to return to Costco to buy it.

Circana said club retailers are now responsible for nearly half of all private-label growth, underscoring how important store brands have become for warehouse chains.

Will shoppers go back to national brands?

High grocery prices helped accelerate private-label adoption.

But the bigger question for retailers is whether consumers will return to national brands if food inflation cools.

So far, the data suggest many will not.

FMI found that nearly all shoppers expect to continue purchasing private brands even if grocery prices decline.

Younger consumers appear particularly receptive.

60% of Gen Z shoppers and 61% of millennials said a retailer’s private-brand assortment is very or extremely important when deciding where to shop.

Inflation may have pushed consumers to experiment with less expensive alternatives.

But quality, taste, and familiarity may be helping keep those products in their carts.

National brands, however, are not disappearing from grocery shelves anytime soon.

Large consumer brands still generate substantially higher total sales and maintain strong loyalty across many categories.

But private labels now account for nearly one-quarter of U.S. CPG unit sales, giving retailers a much larger share of shoppers’ baskets than they once had.

And unlike national brands that can be sold across competing chains, Great Value, Private Selection, Kirkland, and Aldi’s exclusive brands keep customers tied to a specific retailer.

As shoppers continue watching grocery bills closely, retailers have little incentive to slow their private-label push.

What began largely as a way for consumers to save money is increasingly becoming one of the biggest battlegrounds in grocery retail.

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