Content about Branding

How much is a brand worth? If the brand in question happens to be Walmart, the answer is an eye-popping $139 billion, according to Interbrand Design Forum’s ranking of the top 50 U.S. retail brands by brand value. The study calculates the financial net worth of retail brands based on three metrics: the brand’s financial performance, the role the brand plays in driving consumer selection, and the ability of the brand to secure the delivery of expected future earnings.

New York City -- The government said it would lift the current 51% ownership limit on foreign companies that sell just one brand of products — a group that would include such companies as Gap, Apple and Starbucks — if they met certain strict conditions, the report said.

The requirements include a purchasing condition that single-brand retailers buy 30% of the value of their products from small Indian businesses and artisans, which are defined as businesses and individuals that have invested less than $1 million in factories or equipment.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Trademark Property Co. said it is relaunching its WestBend mixed-use development in Fort Worth, Texas.

The move comes after strategically halting construction in fall of 2008 to wait for a recovery in the retail market. The first order of business will be the completion of the seven-level garage providing 798 parking spaces to serve the existing office buildings and restaurants. Additional new retail construction is slated to begin in mid-2012 with a grand opening projected for late 2013.

By Jeff Weidauer, jweidauer_@_vestcom.com

One of the drawbacks of today’s connected global economy is the pervasive homogeneity in nearly everything. One can visit any state -- indeed, nearly any country -- and see many of the same stores and restaurants offering the same products.

New York City -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

Charming Charlie took a simple idea — arranging merchandise by color — and has parlayed it into a burgeoning fashion accessories retail empire, recognized in 2010 by the International Council of Shopping Centers as one of its premier “hot concepts.”