Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. Of the $15,915 million in licensed retail sales attributable to sports-based brands in the U.S./Canada, almost 80% is from traditional brick-and-mortar sales, according to TLL's Annual Licensing Business Survey. The remainder—mostly comprised of ecommerce at 12.0% share, institutional/venue at 8.4%, and mail order at 1.0%, … [Read more...] about Ecommerce, Venue Channels Drive Sports-based Growth in U.S./Canada
Retailers
Retailer Watch: Sears, FAO Schwarz, TRU & NRF
By Karina Masolova. Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. Sears Holdings is joining the bankruptcy club, facing down $12 billion worth of debt (compared to $8.1 billion in assets). The retailer will undergo Chapter 11 reorganization and is expected to close 142 stores as part of those proceedings. Sears hasn't turned a profit since 2010 and has $134 million of … [Read more...] about Retailer Watch: Sears, FAO Schwarz, TRU & NRF
Retail Watch: Holiday, Online & Experiential
Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. Online holiday shopping sales hit a record $108 billion last year, per ORIS Intelligence. The research firm identifies Amazon Prime Day, the 36 hour-long global shopping event, as the leading such event, beating out Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined. And with greater sales comes an increase in pricing parity: ORIS … [Read more...] about Retail Watch: Holiday, Online & Experiential
Roundup: M&A & Partnerships
Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. New Media Frontiers At a London event, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish shared that the company is looking at launching a branded AVOD portal that will draw in viewers by providing them with free digital content. Viacom will not, however, "follow Disney down the path of developing a Netflix-type streaming service because of the massive … [Read more...] about Roundup: M&A & Partnerships
Specialty & Discount Lead Distro Channels for Licensed Art Brands
Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. In 2017, specialty retailers and discounters tied for equal share in distribution of licensed products based on art properties in the U.S./Canada, according to TLL's Annual Licensing Business Survey. At just over $2 billion each, or 34.9%, the share of licensed goods sold through specialty stores and the discounters segments … [Read more...] about Specialty & Discount Lead Distro Channels for Licensed Art Brands
Experiential & Content Initiatives: From Theme Parks to Boxing Matches
Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. CBS Films enters into an exclusive national partnership with Six Flags Entertainment for a unique Halloween theme park experience that brings horror flick Hell Fest to life in CA, NJ, and IL. New themes areas include The Mausoleum, an increasingly narrow hall that forces guests to feel the touch of death; The Mask Room, a … [Read more...] about Experiential & Content Initiatives: From Theme Parks to Boxing Matches
Retail & Experiential: Theme Parks, Amazon Go & More
A Nickelodeon theme park is headed to the Mall of China in Chongqing, China. The 28,000 sq. meter (or just over 300 sq. ft.) park will showcase 29 attractions and 14 Nick properties, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and PAW Patrol. The theme park is slated to open in 2020. Animaccord and Italian theme park Leolandia will open a … [Read more...] about Retail & Experiential: Theme Parks, Amazon Go & More
Consumer Research: Affluents, Students & More
By Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. Along with Gen Z, Millennial spending power will account for 45% of the global personal luxury goods market by 2025, according to a recent study by Bain & Company. The global toy market is forecast to hit $139 billion by 2025, according to the market research firm Coherent Market Insights. Its latest report forecasts that … [Read more...] about Consumer Research: Affluents, Students & More
E-commerce Sales Surge as Specialty Purges Entertainment/Character
By Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. Retail sales of licensed merchandise based on entertainment/character properties grew to reach $31.1 billion worldwide, according to TLL's Licensing Business Survey. In the U.S./Canada, retail sales grew 3.4% to reach $13.2 billion. Across the board, Survey respondents reported that social media is now a dominant means of fan … [Read more...] about E-commerce Sales Surge as Specialty Purges Entertainment/Character
The Low-Down on Amazon Merch Collab
Ask any licensing executive what they think is the next big meteor to hit the business and you'll get one answer: Amazon. At this year's Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, Amazon VP Nicholas Denissen gave a keynote address where he revealed an out-of-this-world Amazon projection—the global licensing industry will grow to $1 trillion in the next ten years. Part of that increase, of … [Read more...] about The Low-Down on Amazon Merch Collab