Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. FAO Schwarz has returned to New York City with a brand new flagship store at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The toy store spans 2.5 levels with over 20,000 sq. ft. of FAO's signature toys, interactive experiences, and themed partner areas. In addition to holiday exclusives, the store's collaboration with specialty candy retailer … [Read more...] about Store Check: Holiday 2018 at Rockefeller Center
LEGO
One-Quarter of Top 2018 Holiday Toys are Licensed
Contact the Editor at karina@plainlanguagemedia.com. Roughly 29% of the top 2018 holiday toys are licensed, according to lists created by Walmart, Target, Amazon, and Kmart. In 2017, retail sales of licensed toys/games sank -4.4% to $7.7 billion in the U.S./Canada, according to TLL’s Annual Licensing Business Survey. This was largely due to the impact of the Toys 'R' Us … [Read more...] about One-Quarter of Top 2018 Holiday Toys are Licensed
Experiential, Content & Alternative Initiatives
FC Barcelona is ending its 17-year partnership with Nike where it ceded its retail and licensing rights to FCBMerchandising. The football club forms a new company to manage its retail, licensing, and merchandising activity. The newly formed Barça Licensing and Merchandising will take over its rights on July 1 and oversee a $77 million merchandising business spanning three of … [Read more...] about Experiential, Content & Alternative Initiatives
M&A & Experiential
American households are loading up on credit card debt, according to data from the Federal Reserve and a related study by WalletHub. By the end of 2017, credit card debt in the U.S. reached $1.01 trillion, beating out the previous record of $984 billion at the end of 2008 and the start of 2009, the tipping point of the Great Recession. Just this past holiday season, WalletHub … [Read more...] about M&A & Experiential
Entertainment/Character Roundup
Disney's Star Wars will see a new film trilogy from The Last Jedi frontman Rian Johnson, separate from the episodic Skywalker saga. The media giant is also planning a new live-action Star Wars TV series for its SVOD service to launch in 2019. Also headed to SVOD are original TV series adaptations of Pixar’s Monsters Inc., Disney Channel’s High School Musical franchise, and … [Read more...] about Entertainment/Character Roundup
M&A & Promotions
CORRECTION: On Sept. 9, we reported a new “patent cross-licensing” deal between Scientific Games and Intl. Game Technology (IGT). The agreement only covers "game features" patents, and does not, as our earlier story might have suggested, cover other types of intellectual property such as brand licenses. Learfield and IMG make their union official, formally announcing a … [Read more...] about M&A & Promotions
Roundup: Experiential Initiatives
Live arena production Fast & Furious Live is set to debut on a global tour in January 2018. Produced in partnership with Universal Brand Development, Fast Live Productions, and Live Nation, the show launches in London before racing through 23 other European cities. The two-hour show features cars, locations, and scenes from the film series through state-of-the-art 3D … [Read more...] about Roundup: Experiential Initiatives
Who’s News — 9/18/2017
Julia Jensen is SVP, Publicity & Communications for Warner Bros. Entertainment Consumer Products. Nickelodeon names Jose L. Castro as SVP Softlines. Castro will manage existing partnerships and develop new business opportunities across all categories including apparel, accessories, and home goods. He will also serve as the liaison for all global fashion collaborations and … [Read more...] about Who’s News — 9/18/2017
Retailer’s Top Toys of the 2017 Holiday Season
By Karina Masolova, karina@plainlanguagemedia.com The top toy lists from Toys 'R' Us, Target, Amazon, Walmart, and Kohl's are out! Just over one-third of the top toys of the holiday season are licensed offerings. This year, we've identified which toys are licensed, their respective manufacturer, and which are exclusive to the retailer. See the complete list below. In 2016, … [Read more...] about Retailer’s Top Toys of the 2017 Holiday Season
Toy Roundup: Top News & Trends
Retail sales of licensed toys and games grew 7.0% to reach $8.06 billion in the U.S./Canada in 2016, according to TLL's Annual Licensing Business Survey. Here are some of the latest developments in toy trends expected to impact the holiday season. Sales of hobby games in the U.S./Canada reached $1.44 billion in 2016, according to ICv2—growing 21% thanks to growth of … [Read more...] about Toy Roundup: Top News & Trends