01.01.70
Colgate-Palmolive is navigating a finical tightrope, as it
raises prices in North America for the first time in more than two
years.
The associates, best known for its toothpaste and dish soap, said
Thursday it had raised prices in North America by an customarily of 0.5
percent in the fourth quarter, after cutting prices every rooms
since the summer of 2009. The news emerged as the company reported
a 5 percent worsening in net income that it blamed on higher costs
for raw materials.
Raising prices can be a touch-and-go move, because cash-strapped
customers can drop even their favorite brands to retrieve a few cents.
Paychecks are already stretched thin and the government's most
recent data on jobs, also released Thursday, show that the issue
of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week. There are
signs that the control is healing, but raising prices in North
America had been something that Colgate, until recently, had been
unwilling to try.
Many of Colgate's rivals raised prices last year, as well as
many restaurants, clothing stores and other industries. But Colgate
had captivated a different strategy, raising prices in fast-growing
Latin America, where customers seemed acquiescent to stomach the higher
costs, but lowering prices in North America through discounts and
other promotions.
Source: Sioux City Journal