By: Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com
I try to trek down to 34th St. Herald Square, in central New York City, every once in a while. As we enter the holiday shopping season, there were some interesting licensed retail activities in and around town.
The newest addition to Herald Square is the Build a Bear Workshop. The central attraction is the retailer’s three major licenses—Pokémon, Hasbro’s My Little Pony, and Disney’s Star Wars.
Also spotted were Sesame Workshop properties and Nickelodeon’s Paw Patrol—which had a scattered, but store-wide, presence. Scroll through the slider below to see more.
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The Amazon Book store had its top five holiday toy picks on display, all tied down to prevent runaways. You guessed it, they’re all robotic play toys with at least 4.5 stars on the ecommerce giant’s site.
On the apparel side, one store window featured a recent collaboration between Primitive Skate and Huy Fung Foods. Apparently, the larger-than-life stuffed hot sauce bottles are just for display.
Uniqlo moved its massive display of licensed t-shirts up to the third floor, and the variety has shrunk. The bulk of the space is dedicated to the House of Mouse, with Disney’s Mickey and Minnie Mouse boasting a variety of different lines.
The store’s window hints at the upcoming Peanuts collaboration, launching Nov. 20. Also spotted were LEGO, Star Wars, and some more unique licenses and design collaborations. The t-shirt selection is getting more mainstream, so it’s not clear how profitable a certain class of licenses have been.
Curiously, the Nindendo-branded t-shirts do not have a spot in the museum-quality display—they have been regulated to the men’s sale section. You can find one of the shirts in the clearance bin for $1.90 (don’t judge me for looking).
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And of course, you can’t miss the flagship Macy’s. While I couldn’t spot the Popsicle licensed apparel line upstairs (it’s gone), there were a couple of licensed lines on the main floor.
First, the Mickey Mouse x Kiehl’s holiday collection celebrating the Mouse’s 90th birthday (essentially, pretty gift sets of popular health and beauty products meant to keep you looking sharp until you hit 90-years-old).
The retailer also featured some FAO Shwartz toys, including games and plush, as well as Pusheen plush of different sizes.
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And this one is a bit closer to home (on 38th Street), but M&J Trimming began heavily promoting iron-on patches a couple of months ago, and interest hasn’t let up. I spotted DC Comics, Marvel, Sanrio’s Hello Kitty, Nirvana, KISS, emoji/Smiley-esque designs (probably not officially licensed), and Disney characters like the Princesses, Frozen, and Mickey & Friends.