Texaco would do well to craft a strong separate identity from Chevron. For years, Texaco had separate brands like Havoline oil and Marfak lubrication, and a connection to the wealthy through its support of the Metropolitan Opera.
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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Kmart, a unit of Sears Holdings, has struggled for the last two decades. In the last two years, management has tried to give the brand focus, all the while suffering from old stores and less viable locations. This month, more bad news came as more storeMORE HERE

Kodak is taking a route back to move forward as it reintroduces the Super 8 camera. In a press release, the company said it had built a “roadmap” that includes a range of cameras, film development services, post production tools and more. “It is an ecosystem for film” said JeffMORE HERE

WEST CONSHOHOCKEN – The Ritz cloth brand was originally founded in 1892 by the John Ritzenthaler Company. This lower Manhattan (aren’t so many great brands founded there?), was started by John Ritzenthaler, a German immigrant, who gave the products the name Ritz Cloths. Cheese cloth is one of those productsMORE HERE

MONTVALE, N.J. – A&P, one of the greatest brand names in the history of the United States, is up for auction, along with all the assets of the annoyingly mismanaged and bankrupt Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. Joan Verdon of The Bergen Record reports on the upcoming sale, whereMORE HERE

DENVER – One of the great cracker brands, still independent, is Bremner. They are classic cocktail party crackers, and none better. Of course, Mr. Bremner said that himself in 1890. “We acknowledge no superior in the quality of our goods and fear no competitors on that score.” – D.F. BremnerMORE HERE

OMAHA – ConAgra has consolidated itself into a purveyor of dozens of some of the best-known brands in the United States, including Hunt’s, Swiss Miss, Peter Pan, Blue Bonnet, La Choy, Mueller’s, Jiffy Pop and Banquet. However, if you look at its stock price over the last 20 years, itMORE HERE

NEW YORK– CBS is the nation’s most credible name in radio. This week, it debuted a new online experiment that marries the best of online and terrestrial radio. It’s CBS Sports Radio Roundup, a 12-hour weekday online stream that aggregates the best interviews from across the CBS radio spectrum, takingMORE HERE

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – It has been nearly a generation since Morton Frozen Foods products graced the shelves of grocery store freezers.  The venerable brand was phased out in the late 1990s by its current owner ConAgra after a storied 60-plus year history. This was done reportedly as part of aMORE HERE

NEWPORT BEACH – Ellia Kassoff, the man behind number of successful brand revivals, is bringing back Hydrox Cookies. The cookies began production again this week. Hydrox was often perceived as the “other” brand of stuffed cookie, Nabisco’s Oreo being more famous most of the 20th century. Hydrox was made byMORE HERE