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Signs of an improving economy might be in your kitchen or bathroom cupboards.
Consumers are showing a willingness to pay a little more to get big-name brands, including Colgate toothpaste, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Gillette Fusion shavers. That's good news for the economy and the multibillion-dollar companies that make those products and have been battling to keep shoppers from trading down to store brands to save money.
Procter & Gamble Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Kellogg Co. all gave upbeat earnings reports last week and even stronger outlooks for next year.
"The strongest brands are the most resilient to economic stress and the first to bounce back as soon as consumers can pay for it because they don't want to trade down," said Allen Adamson, managing director of San Francisco-based branding firm Landor Associates.
P&G said sales were rebounding faster than expected after a year of declines -- and following price cuts to narrow gaps with cheaper competitors biting into its market share. P&G is an economic bellwether as the world's largest consumer products maker and seller of a broad range that includes cleaners, baby, grooming and beauty products.
Costco to accept food stamps
Costco Wholesale Corp. says it will start accepting food stamps at its warehouse clubs nationwide after testing them at stores in New York.
It's a big about-face for a retailer that has catered to bargain-hunting but affluent shoppers, and it's a sign of the grim reality facing retailers and their customers. The number of Americans relying on government food subsidies to eat recently hit a record 36 million.
Executives said they had doubted that many customers in the New York test would use food stamps, but it turned out that new members said they were joining precisely because the Issaquah, Wash., company accepted the assistance program.
Costco said it hoped to accept food stamps at half of its 407 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico by Thanksgiving and at the remainder as soon as it wins regulatory approval in each state.
HEALTH
Vicks marketing draws a warning
Procter & Gamble Co.'s Vicks DayQuil Plus Vitamin C and Vicks Nyquil Plus Vitamin C are illegally marketed combinations of drug ingredients and a dietary ingredient, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The FDA said it sent a warning letter to the company over Vitamin C in the over-the-counter medicines to clarify that combinations of drug ingredients and dietary ingredients legally can't be marketed because they haven't been proven safe and effective. In addition, the agency noted that it previously determined that there are insufficient data to show that vitamin C is safe and effective in preventing or treating the common cold.
P&G said it believed that it was marketing the products within FDA guidelines and would work with the agency to resolve any concerns.
RESEARCH
Why black bears prefer minivans
What's bigger than a picnic basket and even better than one in the eyes of black bears that call Yosemite National Park home?
Minivans driven by families who leave behind a trail of juice boxes, Cheerios and coolers carrying other snacks, according to a study published in the Journal of Mammalogy.
Park scientists set out to study whether the bears had developed a taste for certain vehicle models after noticing that minivans seemed to get broken into more often than other types of cars.
Their research proved them right. Minivans made up 29% of the 908 vehicles torn into by bears from 2001 to 2007, even though they made up just 7% of the cars that visited Yosemite, according to the study titled "Selective Foraging for Anthropogenic Resources by Black Bears: Minivans in Yosemite National Park."
RECALL
Flashlights pose burn hazard
Target Corp. has recalled 610,000 Halloween flashlights after learning that the lights could heat up, melt and burn hands.
Two types of Halloween-themed flashlights are involved in the recall: "mini" Halloween flashlights and "standard size" Halloween flashlights sold with stencils, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement.
The recall was prompted by eight reports to Target of flashlights overheating and melting, including one person burning a hand, the commission said.
The mini flashlights have a key ring on the bottom and were sold in packs of three colors: black, green and orange. The standard-size flashlights are black with an orange top and sold with six stencils: a pumpkin, a skull and crossbones, a ghost, a spider, a cat and a witch.
Target stores across the U.S. sold the flashlights -- priced at $1 for the mini flashlights and $2.50 for a standard flashlight with stencils -- from August to September, the commission said.
Consumers should stop using the flashlights and return them to any Target store for a full refund. For more information, contact Minneapolis-based Target at (800) 440-0680 or www.target.com, or visit www.cpsc.gov.
-- times staff and wire reports
Consumers are showing a willingness to pay a little more to get big-name brands, including Colgate toothpaste, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Gillette Fusion shavers. That's good news for the economy and the multibillion-dollar companies that make those products and have been battling to keep shoppers from trading down to store brands to save money.
Procter & Gamble Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Kellogg Co. all gave upbeat earnings reports last week and even stronger outlooks for next year.
"The strongest brands are the most resilient to economic stress and the first to bounce back as soon as consumers can pay for it because they don't want to trade down," said Allen Adamson, managing director of San Francisco-based branding firm Landor Associates.
P&G said sales were rebounding faster than expected after a year of declines -- and following price cuts to narrow gaps with cheaper competitors biting into its market share. P&G is an economic bellwether as the world's largest consumer products maker and seller of a broad range that includes cleaners, baby, grooming and beauty products.
Costco to accept food stamps
Costco Wholesale Corp. says it will start accepting food stamps at its warehouse clubs nationwide after testing them at stores in New York.
It's a big about-face for a retailer that has catered to bargain-hunting but affluent shoppers, and it's a sign of the grim reality facing retailers and their customers. The number of Americans relying on government food subsidies to eat recently hit a record 36 million.
Executives said they had doubted that many customers in the New York test would use food stamps, but it turned out that new members said they were joining precisely because the Issaquah, Wash., company accepted the assistance program.
Costco said it hoped to accept food stamps at half of its 407 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico by Thanksgiving and at the remainder as soon as it wins regulatory approval in each state.
HEALTH
Vicks marketing draws a warning
Procter & Gamble Co.'s Vicks DayQuil Plus Vitamin C and Vicks Nyquil Plus Vitamin C are illegally marketed combinations of drug ingredients and a dietary ingredient, the Food and Drug Administration said.
The FDA said it sent a warning letter to the company over Vitamin C in the over-the-counter medicines to clarify that combinations of drug ingredients and dietary ingredients legally can't be marketed because they haven't been proven safe and effective. In addition, the agency noted that it previously determined that there are insufficient data to show that vitamin C is safe and effective in preventing or treating the common cold.
P&G said it believed that it was marketing the products within FDA guidelines and would work with the agency to resolve any concerns.
RESEARCH
Why black bears prefer minivans
What's bigger than a picnic basket and even better than one in the eyes of black bears that call Yosemite National Park home?
Minivans driven by families who leave behind a trail of juice boxes, Cheerios and coolers carrying other snacks, according to a study published in the Journal of Mammalogy.
Park scientists set out to study whether the bears had developed a taste for certain vehicle models after noticing that minivans seemed to get broken into more often than other types of cars.
Their research proved them right. Minivans made up 29% of the 908 vehicles torn into by bears from 2001 to 2007, even though they made up just 7% of the cars that visited Yosemite, according to the study titled "Selective Foraging for Anthropogenic Resources by Black Bears: Minivans in Yosemite National Park."
RECALL
Flashlights pose burn hazard
Target Corp. has recalled 610,000 Halloween flashlights after learning that the lights could heat up, melt and burn hands.
Two types of Halloween-themed flashlights are involved in the recall: "mini" Halloween flashlights and "standard size" Halloween flashlights sold with stencils, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement.
The recall was prompted by eight reports to Target of flashlights overheating and melting, including one person burning a hand, the commission said.
The mini flashlights have a key ring on the bottom and were sold in packs of three colors: black, green and orange. The standard-size flashlights are black with an orange top and sold with six stencils: a pumpkin, a skull and crossbones, a ghost, a spider, a cat and a witch.
Target stores across the U.S. sold the flashlights -- priced at $1 for the mini flashlights and $2.50 for a standard flashlight with stencils -- from August to September, the commission said.
Consumers should stop using the flashlights and return them to any Target store for a full refund. For more information, contact Minneapolis-based Target at (800) 440-0680 or www.target.com, or visit www.cpsc.gov.
-- times staff and wire reports
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