including ALFANT sportswear, intimate apparel, jewelry, shoes and accessories, first impressions clothing for newborns and infants, HOTEL COLLECTION luxury bedding, bath and mattresses, and Tools of the Trade cookware.22 Home Depot offers numerous private brands, one of which (Hampton Bay electric fans) accounts for half of all fan sales in the United States. Home Depot’s main competitor, Lowe’s also deals in numerous private brands such as Kobalt tools. In the food and drug field, private brands are also prevalent and growing. Safeway’s O Organics cereal, for example, is aimed directly at taking market share from General Mill’s iconic Cheerios.23 Retailers love to sell their own brands not only because gross margins are higher, but because they can control their own destiny rather than be beholden to powerful manufacturers. Moreover, private brand that are available only from a particular retailer reduce price-focused comparison shopping by consumer because the products are available exclusively from that retailer. Finally, if consumers really like particular private label products, they may grow loyal to them become steady repeat purchasers of those products. As competition between manufacturers and retailers intensifies, this vertical competition could become vertical conflict whereby one channel member acts to directly impede another channel member’s attempt to achieve its objectives. This possible conflict aspect will be discussed in detail in Chapter 4.