Bioworld Acquires Vandor

Bioworld Merchandising acquires Vandor, expanding its reach into home and housewares products. Salt Lake City-based Vandor primarily focuses on drinkware, but has been extending its lines to include kitchenware (teapots, measuring cups, bento boxes, canisters), home décor (wall clocks) and tote bags and lunch boxes. The companies both have licenses for Disney, Sesame Street, Sanrio and Dr. Seuss. Bioworld also has licenses for a broad array of film (Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, Miramax) and videogames (Activision Blizzard Entertainment, Ubisoft, Sega, Capcom and Mojang) properties. Vandor also has lines of “By Design” internally-developed, non-licensed drinkware.

“This strategic acquisition is consistent with our mission to continue to expand our business into new licenses, channels of distribution, and international markets while continuing to bring an unparalleled consumer experience across all our product categories,” said Bioworld CEO Raj Malik. The acquisition followed Bioworld’s purchase in February of children’s apparel supplier Global Design Concepts.

Contact:

Bioworld, Jennifer Staley, VP Licensing, 972-812-2813, jennifers@bioworld.com

Vandor, Lynn Keller, VP Licensing, 801-952-4603, lkeller@vandor products.com

Mattel Paying Genius Brands $5 Million Guarantee for Rainbow Rangers

Mattel is paying Genius Brands International a $5 million guarantee as master toy licensee for Rainbow Rangers, Genius CEO Andy Heyward said as the company reported Q2 financial results.

Mattel, which signed the deal last year, expects to deliver the bulk of its products in Q3 2019. The 52-episode show will launch on Nickelodeon on Nov. 5; a second season is in production.

Genius has signed licensing deals for Rainbow Rangers with 22 companies covering 12 categories, including publishing (MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group), apparel (Bentex) sleepwear (American Marketing Enterprises) and bicycles (Dynacraft). Discussions are under way across several other categories including crafts and activity kits and bath products, Heyward said.

In the case of Genius’ “Llama Llama” series that debuted on Netflix last December, 14 licensees are bringing 177 SKUs to market this year across games, puzzles, sleepwear and apparel, Heyward said.

Meanwhile, Genius’ net loss widened 75% to $2.1 million in Q2 ended June 30 as the company took a $549,117 writeoff on SpacePop.

Genius had developed about 100 short-form episodes and music videos since SpacePop debuted in June 2016. More than 100 SpacePop products were released.

Genius’ Q2 revenue plunged to $76,411 from $195,132 a year earlier as licensing and royalty revenue fell to $24,653 from $118,351 due largely to sharp declines in sales of SpacePop products, Genius said.

Contact:

Genius Brands International, Andy Heyward, CEO, 310-273-4203, andy@gnusbrands.com

Executives

Daniel Dienst, ex-Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, named Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer at Authentic Brands Group. The role of executive vice chairman, which reports to CEO Jamie Salter, is new. As Chief Strategy Officer, Dienst fills a position vacant since Chris Farrell departed last September, but with different responsibilities. In his new role, Dienst will help shape ABG’s long-term strategy, lead the company’s global business development and have oversight for media and digital strategy. Farrell’s position was largely focused on mergers and acquisitions, a responsibility that has since been given to EVP Jeff Branman, a former Hilco Brands executive who was hired in December… Steve Tutzke, Mattel EVP and CMO, promoted to Chief Commercial Officer, new position.

Contacts:

Authentic Brands Group, Daniel Dienst, 347-344-6121, ddienst@abg-nyc.com

Mattel, Steve Tutzke, EVP and CMO, 310-252-2000, steve.tutzke@mattel.com

Jakks Pacific Sales Shift Toward Target with Toys R Us Demise

Jakks Pacific’s sales shifted slightly to Target in Q2 ended June 30 with the demise of Toys R Us (TRU), the company said in an SEC filing. Target accounted for 20.4% ($21.5 million) of Jakks Q2 sales ($105.7 million), up from 17.2% ($20.5 million) a year earlier. In Q2 2017, sales to TRU accounted for 11.9% ($13.7) of Jakks revenue of $119.5 million.

At the same time, Walmart’s share of Jakks’ Q2 revenue declined to 17.4% ($18.4 million) from 18.1% ($21.6 million).

In the quarter, Jakks collected $12 million from an insurance carrier in Q2 related to the TRU liquidation and $1.9 million from TRU tied to a $35 million accounts receivable.

Overall, Jakks’ Q2 net loss grew to $17.6 million from $14 million a year ago as revenue slipped 11.7% to $105 million. Increased sales of Nintendo and Incredibles 2-related products were offset by declines in Tsum Tsum, Beauty and the Beast and Frozen products.

Contact:

Jakks Pacific, Brent Novak, CFO, brentn@jakks.com

Stanley Black and Decker Unveils 1,200 Craftsman Products

Stanley Black and Decker expects to have 1,200 Craftsman brand products by year-end, the bulk of which are internally developed. About 100 licensed items from about 40 licensees will be on retail shelves (Lowe’s and Ace Hardware) by year-end, including powerwashers (Briggs and Stratton), flashlights and lanterns (Ningbo Futai Electric) and two-way radios (Altis Zenus Group, which also is a licensee for SBD’s DeWalt brand), says SBD’s Todd Snellenburg.

SBD also wants to add Craftsman brand products for the lawn and garden. The products were unveiled late last week at a product showcase at SBD’s “Craftsman Garage” in Maryland where the company has been taking customers to preview the line. Some of SBD’s internally developed products, largely metal storage items, have been available since spring and  generated about $30 million in sales in their first three months on the market.

Contact:

Stanley Black & Decker, Todd Snellenburg, VP Sales, 443-927-5483, todd.snellenburg@sbdinc.com

Tom Ford Brand Boosts Estee Lauder Sales

Estee Lauder’s fragrance-related revenue rose 9% to $403 million, led by a double-digit percentage increase sales of Tom Ford-licensed products, which “resonated across all global The Ford brand, which has been marketed by Estee Lauder since 2005, also contributed to a 2% increase in the company’s makeup sales to $1.35 billion.

Estee Lauder’s Q4 net income decreased 18.7% to $186 million amid restructuring charges, while revenue jumped 17.8% to $3.3 billion.

Contact:

Estee Lauder, Tracy Travis, CFO, 212-572-4200

Meyer Corp. Renames Ayesha Curry Line

Meyer Corp. has shortened the brand name of a housewares line it developed with Food Network chef Ayesha Curry to “Ayesha”.  The line debuted in 2017 as the Ayesha Curry Home Collection of cutlery and cast iron cookware. The products were developed as part of an effort to expand Meyer’s roster of celebrity brands to appeal to Millennials. In addition to Curry, Meyer also sells cookware under licenses with Rachel Ray, Paula Deen and The Cake Boss. Meyer earlier this year also introduced the College Collection of chili bowls, platters, frying pans, skillets and serving bowls featuring the names of colleges and universities as part of an effort to attract college-age consumers.

Contact:

Meyer Corp., Darrin Johnston, Managing Dir., 707-551-2800, darrinj@meyer.com