By Mark Seavy 

Amid a recent wave of gift, home, and handcrafted products, licensing is increasingly coming into play. 

And while licensing has always played a role in the business of gift shops, museums, and other forms of retail, in crowded categories that can be a blur of products, licensed IP has become a deciding factor for retailers and consumers alike. 

That much was clear at the NY Now wholesale market show in New York this week, with suppliers big and small seeking to curry favor with retail buyers. 

Personal care brand Dr. Squatch, for example, which was acquired by Unilever last September, will expand its co-branded licensing program in 2027, said Sales Account Manager Thomas Finnigan, who declined to disclose details. But that program will build on a base that already includes deals with Toei Animation’s One Piece, Disney’s Nightmare Before Christmas, Toho Inc.’s Godzilla, Mattel’s Barbie, Universal Pictures’ King Kong, and Microsoft’s Halo. And the range recently expanded to include Lil’ Squatch natural bar soap targeting Gen Alpha (13 years old and younger). 

That’s a departure for a direct-to-consumer business that initially targeted adult males. The brand shifted to brick-and-mortar retail when it launched at Walmart in 2021, grew sales to $400 million three years later from (up from $4.3 million in 2019) and added Jukebox soap and deodorant for women. Retail now accounts for 70% of sales for Dr. Squatch, Finnigan said. 

“Co-branding is an opportunity for the gift shops that want to differentiate themselves from the mass retailers that already carry our core scents,” Finnigan said. “In many cases, the co-branding is how the consumer finds out about us and then they can come back.” 

Outside the personal care aisle, Ty Inc. continues to expand its four-inch Beanie Bouncers line, which was introduced last year and now encompasses 30 licenses across 144 styles, including the recent addition of Sega’s Rovio Entertainment’s Angry Birds, a sales representative said. The push for Beanie Bouncers comes as Ty has boosted licensed goods to 60-70% of its sales (up from 30%), according to the representative. 

“Each time a new generation gets to experience one of these brands, the energy of the brand is renewed,” the Ty sales representative said. “The kids are always changing but the product doesn’t have to. I think markets sometimes forget that and feel they must come out with something new all the time and make it expressive.” 

Many suppliers at NY Now were less concerned about potentially taking sales away from its core brand than giving it a new sheen. 

ESW Beauty, for example, introduced limited edition Liquid Death hydration, revitalizing, and blemish control face masks last year replete with the canned water brand’s flavors. It added TPG Growth’s SmartSweets gummy candy flavors for hydrogel eye patches this year. And Happy Little Paper Co. has launched notes under 3M Corp.’s Post-it brand featuring the designs of owner and illustrator Lindsay Liu. 

Metal bookmark and earrings supplier David Howell & Company, meanwhile, continued to expand its assortment of Frank Lloyd Wright licensed designs. It also fields designs from artists Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and William Morris, but has slowed sales of items inspired by Charley Harper’s work given its more regional bent, CEO David Howell said.  

“The deals don’t always get new distribution, but potentially different placement in stores with special displays that create brand awareness along with incremental sales,” said Francesca O’Donnell, Head of Sales at EWS, which sells the Liquid Death products through grocery chains Stop & Shop, Albertsons, and others.