PRIVATE PARTY

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Grand Hyatt at Gainey Ranch was the setting for the Private Label Manufacturers Association Leadership Conference here, an idea forum and progress report for the association and the industry held March 17 to 20 here.

with games of skill and chance, live music and dance, and even fortune-tellers.

More fortune-telling took place during subsequent meetings, when speakers and participants traded predictions about the battle for the attention of the consumer. Among the prophesies:

· "This will be the first year private label will go over 20% of total unit volume," said Burt Flickinger, management consultant with A.T. Kearney, New York.

· "I'm here to tell you, the cat-and-mouse game is almost over. National-brand owners are getting smarter," said Sidney Doolittle, retail consultant and founding partner at McMillan Doolittle, Chicago.

· "Self-reliant consumers trust marketers less and less; that is a formidable challenge to national brands," said Holly Heline, editor of Public Pulse, Roper Starch Worldwide.