My Private Brand, the store brand thought leader, has announced Velocity: The My Private Brand Conference. With the recent announcement of Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, the opening of the first ten Lidl stores, and the rapid evolution of the customer in the age of Google, private brand has never been more important. The speed of change and the increase in competition is rapidly forcing retailers to transition from private label basic knockoff products to building consumer informed differentiated brands.

Running September 13-15, 2017, at the Omni Hotel in Charlotte, NC, Velocity is bringing together industry leaders to accelerate the pace of change and uncover private brand’s potential to win. With exclusive speakers from top retailers, as well as challengers and thought leaders, the conference is guaranteed to educate and inspire, as attendees learn how some of the most successful companies in the world manage and grow their brands.

"It's time to throw the traditional private label rule book out the window, you'll hear retailers and disruptors who are creating the private brands necessary to win in the new age of retail,"  says Christopher Durham, President of My Private Brand.

Velocity: The My Private Brand Conference brings together the perfect balance of retailers, manufacturers, service providers and agencies to reveal the latest insights and strategies you need to compete in this new age of retail. Retailer speakers include executives from Walmart, BJ’s, Fresh Direct, Staples Giant Eagle, Big Lots!, Boxed.com, Circle K, Petsmart, and Lowe’s Foods.

Featured presentations include:

Jack Pestello, Senior Vice President, private brands, at Walmart U.S. leads the largest private brand program in the world. Hear him answer the question of what customers are telling us about the future of private brands.

Disruptive online retailer Boxed.com took the best elements of wholesale clubs, combined it with a strong mobile app, a consumer-focused modern private brand, and turned shopping on its ear. Hear Jeff Gamsey, vice president, private brands, share the story of how they went from garage to $100M+ in three years.

Scott Williams, Vice President of own brands and quality, BJ’s Wholesale Club asks, What if it was easy? How do we convert to a commercialization program with our private brands?

Other speakers include Paul Hunt, Petsmart; Chris Demeo, Staples; Carrie Mesing, Fresh Direct; and many more.

“Velocity offers a focused single-track schedule with keynote level speakers in every slot, so attendees don’t have to choose who they’re going to listen to,” says Durham. “All our speakers are retail executives, world-renowned experts, authors or up-and-coming mavericks in the private brand industry. Attendees will walk away with ideas they can immediately put into action to grow their brands.

“The intimate format of the conference allows participants the opportunity to meet the retailers and network with their peers, share best practices and build strategic partnerships. In this unique format, we bring together manufacturers, suppliers, agencies, service providers, everyone from the birth of the product to the moment it hits the store shelf.”

For more information, and to register today, visit http://mpbvelocity.com/. The cost of registration is $1,595 for standard registration and $1,195 for retailers.