• Chicago Tribune, Thursday, January 25, 2007 12:30 PM

Sara Lee Corp. is building a 150,000-square-foot Kitchens of Sara Lee and is increasing its research staff by 50% to improve the flow of innovative new products. When completed in 2009, Sara Lee's R&D campus near corporate headquarters in Downers Grove, Ill., will centralize its research at a single location.

Sara Lee, which doesn't break out its research and development spending in financial statements, has had a reputation of skimping on research spending. The move is key to keeping Sara Lee competitive, analysts say, in a marketplace where companies are carving out high- and low-end niches.

Sara Lee executives say their R&D push is crucial to its reinvention of the company as an American food company. Executives hope the changes will lead to innovations, boost sales and earnings, and move its stock price--which is down 23% since 2005--up.

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