With the growing realization that brands are one of a firm’s most valuable intangible assets, branding has emerged as a top management priority in the last decade.  Given its highly competitive nature, branding can be especially important in the retailing industry to influence customer perceptions and drive store choice and loyalty.  We integrate lessons from branding and retail image research to provide a better understanding of how retailers create their brand images, paying special attention to the role of the manufacturer and private label brand assortment.  We also highlight some important areas that deserve further research in the form of three sets of research priorities.