NEW YORK (September 18, 2013) – Knockout Licensing Co-Presidents Carole Postal and Tamra Knepfer today announced that Weeks Roses (www.weeksroses.com) has been granted the right to breed new hybrid rose varieties inspired by the hit television series and to then sell its Downton Abbey roses to Nurseries, Garden Centers, and Wholesale Traders who cater to independent retailers around the world.
“Our Downton Abbey roses will be elegant, beautiful, and romantic but also surprisingly dramatic and tenacious… just like the show and characters that so many have come to love,” says Karen Kemp-Docksteader, Sales & Marketing Manager for Weeks Roses.
Weeks Roses, located in Wasco, California, is an award-winning wholesale rose grower with a reputation for high quality and unique offerings. Founded in 1938, Weeks is one of the largest commercial rose growers in the United States and the only company with a dedicated R&D department with hybridizer and staff for the development and creation of new rose introductions.
“One of the things that makes the Downton Abbey license special is that it offers so many opportunities to expand into non-traditional product categories,” says Knepfer. “In thinking about Downton Abbey, we saw that a rose or breed of roses, would be an ideal representation of the timeless beauty and elegance the brand represents.”
As the licensing agency entrusted with management of the Downton Abbey licensing program, Knockout Licensing has already built a broad and successful licensing program including both aspirational and fan-based product lines. Knockout continues to actively seeking appropriate licensing partners for high-quality product categories including furniture, bedding, kitchen accessories, lighting, timepieces, tableware, and formal attire.
About Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a Primetime Emmy™ and Golden Globe™ award-winning British television series produced by Carnival Films, a division of NBCUniversal International Television Production. The popular period drama is screened in the U.S. on PBS/MASTERPIECE and is transmitted to more than 200 other territories around the world. Downton Abbey’s audience continues to grow each year: the third season drew 24 million U.S. viewers and its season finale earned an 8.1 rating to top everything else on broadcast or cable television that night (February 17, 2013). Downton Abbey is set to return to PBS with the Season 4 premiere in January 2014.
About Knockout Licensing
Knockout Licensing (www.knockoutlicensing.com) is a full-service licensing agency for big-name brands. Knockout was formed as a joint venture in 2012 with Carole Postal, President of CopCorp Licensing, and Tamra Knepfer, President of TK Brand Group, combining forces as Co-Presidents. Together Postal and Knepfer bring decades of combined experience to their agency.