The world’s most famous golf course, St. Andrews Links, has signed up with The Point.1888 as its brand extension partners. The news comes just weeks after the brand licensing specialist added Williams Racing to its growing roster of sports brands. Hannah Stevens, Head of Retail and Sports continues to grow this important division within the business, which also counts Team GB and the British and Irish Lions as clients. St. Andrews, located on the east coast of Scotland, is known as the Home of Golf because the sport was first played on the fairways of what is known as the Old Course. That course is indeed old, as the first balls were shanked into the rough in the early 15th century. For those who are counting, that’s before golf balls had… . . . read more
ZAG Invests In Interactive Storytelling Tech Firm Epopia
Who says letter writing is dead? Not ZAG, which announced on April 21 that it has acquired a stake in Epopia, a French tech company that developed a “unique epistolary letter format that encourages children to read and write through interactive storytelling.” To put it more simply, Epopia has created a software solution that allows for personalization of content, based on the responses they get to story prompts sent to them by mail. That’s right. Not email, but actual, old-fashioned, pick it up with your hands snail mail that is hand delivered by a postal worker to your mail box. The new deal is an extension of the existing agreement between the two companies, with Epopia holding the global licensing rights in the category for Miraculous™- Tales of Ladybug & Cat… . . . read more
Fanatics & Lids Reach Long-Term Deal With BNED
The sports merchandise company Fanatics has added to its long list of critical deals in 2020 with a long-term merchandising partnership with Barnes & Noble Education Inc. (BNED), the campus store division of the Barnes & Noble parent company. Fanatics will offer BNED campus stores an expanded product selection and a direct-to-consumer platform. Fanatics’ partly-owned Lids will also provide BNED trend and sales performance data on licensees, product styles and design treatments from more than 1,200 Lids stores. As well, Fanatics and Lids will jointly make a $15 million strategic equity investment in BNED and receive 2.3 million shares of BNED in exchange, representing a share price of $6.50 per share. BNED expects to use these proceeds for its strategic growth initiatives. BNED is a college retailer that was spun off from bookseller… . . . read more
Poetic Brands Launches Baby Line With Brambly Hedge
Poetic Brands is creating a line of baby clothing and accessories based on the Brambly Hedge children’s books by Jill Barklem. Poetic signed the deal this week with Rockpool Licensing, which manages the Brambly Hedge intellectual property worldwide. Under the agreement, Poetic plans to produce a new collection including layette and fashion daywear, nightwear, snow suits sleeping bags, accessories and changing bags inspired by the adventures of the iconic community of mice in the idyllic English countryside. Brambly Hedge joins a number of prestigious new children’s partners for Poetic Brands, as the licensee establishes its new Baby, Children’s Wear and Accessories division. Brambly Hedge began life in 1980 as a series of intricately illustrated books following a family of mice in the English countryside. Written by Jill Barklem, the brand… . . . read more
Licensed Back-to-School Sales Expected to Rise 2.0% in 2020
Licensed back-to-school sales are expected to climb to $9.6 billion in the U.S. and Canada, according to The Licensing Letter’s estimates. With licensed retail sales up 2.0%, or $188 million, the back-to-school season is expected to help bolster recovery…
Living Coral: 2019 NSS, NY Now & Surtex Edition
Conscientious, Organized, Retro, and Animated Living—From the floor of the 2019 National Stationery Show (NSS), Retail Renaissance NY Now, and Surtex, TLL brings you the latest in home, stationery, and surface design…
Spending Up as Love Sets In
The lastest consumer research on Valentine’s Day spending; in-store remains the most popular choice with roughly one-third to one-half of Americans expected to celebrate…
Top Trends for the $27-30 Billion Back-to-school Season
Rosy estimates from NRF and Deloitte place K-12 back-to-school retail sales at their highest levels yet. Unpacking the numbers…
Apparel Fuels 3.1% Growth in U.S./Canada Fashion Licensing—Global Growth Is Even Higher
For all of its challenges, the fashion licensing industry continues to post strong sales in the U.S. and abroad. Global retail sales of licensed fashion goods totaled…
‘Homegating’ Drives Sales of NFL-Licensed Products
The growing popularity of watching football at home with friends is helping business for the NFL…