Unilever CEO Patrick Cescau is taking resources, people and projects away from the company's home base of Western Europe and shifting them to markets in the developing world it considers more promising. For years, Unilever has been losing consumers to rivals like Procter & Gamble, which have proved more creative in introducing new products. The company is also getting squeezed by giant retailers like Wal-Mart, which sets exacting standards for suppliers to place and keep their products on its shelves. Brands like Bertolli olive oil--once a jewel in the consumer giant's Italian pantry--have seen their budgets slashed, …

Borders, the No. 2 bookseller in the U.S., will reopen its own branded e-commerce Web site in early 2008, ending an alliance with Amazon.com. At the same time, Borders announced it is giving up on a decade-long effort to expand its own book-superstore concept internationally and will sell or franchise most of its 73 overseas Borders stores. The company also plans to close nearly half the Waldenbooks outlets--smaller stores operated mainly in malls--it owns throughout the U.S. In a move mirroring a similar venture by its larger rival--Barnes & Noble Inc.--it plans to build a proprietary publishing …

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced the much-rumored signing of Sir Paul McCartney to the company's newly created Hear Music record label yesterday. He also confirmed at the company's annual meeting that Starbucks would open 10,000 stores globally in the next four years--a strategy that had been divulged earlier in a leaked memo.,br> The company's previously stated ultimate goal--20,000 Starbucks in the USA and 20,000 elsewhere--has not changed, Schultz says. With 13,500 stores now, that means more than 25,000 on tap. McCartney, who recently left EMI's Capitol Records after 43 years, says that the one-record Starbucks deal is about …

A summer reality TV show sponsored by Gillette will feature six NASCAR drivers training 12 celebrities to drive a race car. The series--called "Fast Cars and Superstars-The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race"--consists of six one-half hour episodes. An hour-long finale pits the celebrities against one another during a time-trial race. The Gillette brand is embedded in the show, including branding on race cars and fire suits worn by the celebrities and on-track signage. Gillette TV spots will air during the programming. Retail promotions will support the program, which will run on ABC sometime this summer, says Gillette spokesperson …

After many delays, Apple TV went on sale yesterday for $300. Basically, it's an iPod for your TV, copying the iTunes library (music, podcasts, TV shows, movies) from one Mac or Windows PC on your wired or wireless home network to its 40-gigabyte hard drive, keeping the copy updated. Apple is not the only company trying to solve the "last 50 feet" problem. A couple of prominent examples: Microsoft's Xbox 360 ($400) performs a similar PC-to-TV bridging function and even has its own online movie store. Netgear's week-old EVA8000 ($350) also joins PC and TV, but adds an Internet …

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The recall of 60 million cans and pouches of wet pet food sold under more than 80 brands is revealing the industry's well-guarded secrets: Some of the premium pet-food brands in the U.S. use the same manufacturer that processes dozens of low-priced private-label products. Though the formulations may be different, canned or pouch pet food for Procter & Gamble Co.'s Iams and Eukanuba, Colgate-Palmolive Co.'s Science Diet and Nestle Purina's Mighty Dog brands have been caught up in the same recall by processor Menu Foods as private labels for retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, Food Lion and Meijer. …

The "Pottery Barn Look" became a decorating style all its own in the late 1980s, but since then, the home-furnishing field has become crowded with competitors. The chain is no longer considered to be a trendsetter, says JMP Securities analyst Kristine Koerber. Some of Pottery Barn's challenges are a byproduct of its success and maturation as a retailer, according to industry analysts. It has created new chains of stores, catalogs and Internet sites selling products for children and teenagers. Last year, its parent company--kitchen-related retailer Williams-Sonoma--launched a line targeting living rooms and bedrooms. And the company's West Elm brand …

Silk Soymilk and Kashi teamed up for a recent breakfast promotion targeting office personnel to drive trials of the soymilk with Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal products. Brand reps hit about 600 offices in Chicago, Los Angles and New York from Feb. 1 to March 9 with samples in hand. They surprised employees of PR firms, ad agencies, travel companies, law offices and service providers, among others, with free breakfast. The target was college-educated women ages 25-54 and others who are looking to make healthier food choices. The reps handed out informational booklets about healthy lifestyles from Kashi …

As part of its efforts to reinvigorate its Buick brand in the USA and grow in China, General Motors says it will soon unveil the "Super" line--last used in 1958--in versions of the LaCrosse and Lucerne sedans. The line comes amid a push of new vehicles that Buick general manager Steve Shannon says will help better define the brand--reflecting a focus on design, comfortable quiet interiors and quality. Longer-term, Shannon says there will be a focus on rolling out fewer--but better--Buick models to keep the brand profitable.,br> The average Buick car buyer is about 67, while the average …