CONSUMER BRIEFS / RETAIL

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.