Procter & Gamble Cleans Up With Luxury Paper Towels

Consumer-focused companies have long built their business models on a three-platform system: entry-level, mid-tier, and luxury. It works for cars (see: Chevy, Buick, Cadillac) and it works for clothes (see: Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic). Why wouldn’t it work for paper towels, detergent, and tampons?

Procter & Gamble in the past 18 months or so has been betting heavily that it will pay off. The consumer-goods giant is expanding its high-end offerings in a bid for affluent—or at least spendthrift—customers. Call it toilet paper for the 2 percent, paper towels for the pampered.