Seen at the NYNow home and gift show in New York:

• Waddle and Friends is expanding its infant licensing business with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse beanies, tights, teething rings and “rattle” socks (with small rattles built-in) under a three-year agreement with Disney. The line will further expand with Simba and Dumbo ride-on toys in the spring. Waddle also showed its first Fire Department of New York (FDNY), New York Police Department (NYPD) and New York taxi-licensed ride-on toys and rattle socks that will be available this fall.
• The McGee Group, best known for its licensed optical eyewear, is expanding its reading glass business via its newly formed The Reading Glass Co., which introduced Life is Good and Vera Bradley licensed models along with an internally developed Totally Rimless (TR) brand. The glasses, available this fall in magnification strengths ranging 1.0-3.0 and priced at $20-$50, will target gift stores, spas and specialty stores. McGee also has those licenses for prescription eyewear.
• Dutch artist Dick Bruna’s Miffy, a longtime licensing stalwart having established a licensing foothold in U.S. mass retail,is making a push to expand distribution in specialty and gift stores. Agent Big Tent Entertainment took booth space to display a range of Miffy-licensed products, including new toddler apparel from licensee Kira Kids. The line features adult and toddler t-shirts available separately and in matching sets, pins and zipper pouches. Kira also has sold Miffy infant apparel through Barney’s and other U.S. retailers. Stitches & Stories (knitting kits for booties, beanies and baby blankets) and Cool Décor Co. (lamps) took out separate booths to display their Miffy wares. UK-based Stiches & Stories is expanding into the U.S. for the first time. Netherlands-based Mercis manages the Miffy rights.
• Vista Alegre is launching 10-store tests at Nieman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s of artist Christian Lacroix’s new Primavera porcelain collection, ranging from dessert ($50) and cake plates ($150) to hand-painted bird-themed candle holders ($1,680) and salt and pepper shakers ($700 each). The line, which will be available in October, will extend to include dinnerware in 2019, says Vista Alegre’s Roseann Ferrer.
• Stationery supplier teNeues adds abstract artist Josef Albers’ work to its line of mini-notecards that also includes Vincent Van Gogh and Jean Michel Basquiat. The Harper Group division also features licensed art of notebooks and mini-notebooks.
• Picnic Time is launching a line of NHL-licensed products this fall, including a collapsible 24-can insulated cooler, picnic basket stocked with wine glasses and flatware, a three-piece barbeque tool set and folding chair. Picnic Time is talking to other studios about expanding its entertainment licensing business after signing its first such deal (with Disney) last year.
• Temporary tattoo supplier Tattaly launches a four-month test of sales at Starbucks featuring a handful of its licensed artists. The tattoos, sold in single packages at $4.95, include the work of Julia Rothman (popsicles), Jessi Arrington (rainbows), Kate Bingaman (diamonds) and Jess Mussari (feathers). Tattaly has grown its portfolio of designs to more than 700 from 16 at its start and has a roster of about 120 artists. The tattoos, which last about four days, are made using vegetable-based ink.

Contacts:

• Big Tent Entertainment, Kathy Iwasaki, EVP Creative, 212-604-0684, kiwasaki@bigtent.tv
• The Reading Glass Co., John Nides, Pres., 833-884-4445, john.nides@readingglassco.com
• Tattaly, Karen Lockhart, Sales Dir., 347-335-0893 x1007, Karen@tatally.com
• teNeues, Rose Schipano, Stationery Sales & Marketing Coordinator, 212-627-9090 x116
• Vista Alegre, Roseann Ferrer, VP Sales Specialty Stores, 917-831-4377, x4, roseannferrer@vistaalegre.com
• Waddle and Friends, Stacy Able, VP Sales and Marketing, 206-890-9313, stacy@waddleandfriends.com