home | about us | subscribe | archives | contact info
1
   

New This Week!

Green Means Go for Covers by BG
New Environmental Initiative Fosters Company’s Continued Growth

When we reported on Covers by BG in the fall of 2008, the company was preparing for its debut at the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show. According to CEO Dick Slack, that maiden voyage was a success.

“We didn’t have any hard and fast goals going in,” he says. “We felt that it couldn’t hurt to get some wider exposure in the industry, but the show did a whole lot more than that. For us, the biggest thing turned out to be enhancing our sales force. We picked up some good distributors and sales reps.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Grill Dog on a Roll
New Product Provides Missing Link for the Dedicated BBQ’er

One good turn deserves another. That’s the old axiom that boosted Grill Dog into national prominence on the Today Show and in Men’s Journal during the last few months. (Not a bad start for a product that’s been available at retail for less than two years!)

The Grill Dog is a stainless steel linked meat cooker that sits atop a standard barbecue grill, rotating hot dogs, sausage, brats, etc. and thus eliminating the need to tend the fire and flip the meat. In test runs at Lowe’s in the U.S. and Wal-Mart in Canada, the Grill Dog was a sellout
success.

Click here to read the entire story.


Rising Star Retailer Awards Launched
50 Retailers to Be Honored in Las Vegas

The Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show has unveiled its Rising Star retailer recognition program, which honors 50 stores in 50 states for creating the hottest, coolest, most innovative environments for sports licensing and tailgating products. The Rising Star Awards will be presented during the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, January 20–22, 2010.

The Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show will be reaching out this summer to manufacturers, distributors, leagues and licensees to create a pool of nominees for the awards, which will recognize individual stores that rise to the challenge of complex and dynamic economic times. A nomination form is currently available on the show’s web site at showproco.com/risingstaraward. Up to five stores may be nominated on a single form.

Click here to read the entire story.


Riding the Wave
SportMast Giving Fans a New Way to Show Team Spirit

Throw the flag! Or better yet, hang it on the patented trailer hitch flagpole from SportMast. The company made its debut this past January at the Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show, and owner and creator Marc Oakley says his product has shown great promise. “So far we’ve sold primarily online, through our website and tailgating websites,” he reports. “But we want to expand and sell in as many different places as possible.”

To that end, SportMast is working on an infomercial that will run in July. Oakley expects the programming to have a big impact. “Sports enthusiasts and tailgaters are the obvious initial market,” he says. “I get such an enthusiastic response whenever I use my SportMast. It stands up to highway speeds and is easy to spot in a stadium parking lot.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Get Your MotorHead Running
FAB Grills Hopes to Enter Victory Lane with New Grill

If two heads are better than one, then what do you get with three “garage heads”? The one and only propane MotorHead Grill from FAB Grills. The company appeared at the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show last January and is now ready to launch expansion plans for 2009 and beyond.

“We honestly believe in our faith,” says Russ Freeman, one of FAB Grills’ three owners/partners. “It’s part of what we do as a business.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Oooh, Baby, Baby
Baby Fanatic Singing a Sweet Tune for Retailers

One thing that never wavers—even in difficult economic times—is the allegiance of college sports fans. You can say the same about sales of baby and toddler products. That’s what makes Baby Fanatic such a solid bet for licensed retailers.

“As businesses talk about the gloom and doom of the retail market, we saw our sales increase throughout 2008,” notes company Mom and CEO Tricia Woodson. “Our products have a passionate side that simply delights the moms and proud dads that are buying our products at every type of retailer imaginable nationwide.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Bo Knows
Bo Enterprises Making Its Mark in Licensed T-Shirts

What's the hardest thing to find in the licensed collegiate marketplace? For many retailers and buyers, it's the original product. James Bowens, founder and owner of Bo Enterprises, has the answer.

"We're constantly creating new ideas," he says. "All of our apparel is fresh. It's made to hit the college market in a unique way."

Click here to read the entire story.


Lookie, Lookie, Here Comes Cookie
Action Images Debuts Allstar Cookies

Let them eat cake—and cookies. That’s the message from Tom Green, the president of Action Images and his national sales manager Chuck Taylor. Licensed sports buyers know Action Images for its artistically rendered lithographs, prints, posters and wearables. Now you can add edibles to that list.

“We pride ourselves on fine-art prints at poster prices,” says Green. “Our newest endeavor is MLB Players licensed cookies and cakes featuring hi-res images of professional baseball players.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Team Sports America Introduces
Personalized Licensed Frame Line
Future Looking “Crystal Clear” for Licensed Sports Retailers

The company that made the Scoreboard Clock a standard item of every man-cave in America will soon be dressing up living rooms, bedrooms and family rooms with its new personalized crystal #1 Fan Photo Frame. Team Sports America—the go-to guys for licensed patio, garden and pool items—is introducing a program that delivers a unique, team-identified item to fans while helping stores forge new relationships with their customers.

“We send the retailer samples of the two different styles along with order forms,” explains National Sales Manager David McQuilliams. “The customer pays the store, then emails us with the attached image they would like internally engraved, along with their favorite team. In around a week the frame is available for pickup at the store.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show Reaping Benefits on Road to Mandalay
New Venue Offers Greater Value & Flexibility

When the going gets tough, the tough get going—in this case to Las Vegas, where the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show has officially locked in dates for 2010. The industry’s biggest trade event will be held January 20–22, 2010 at Mandalay Bay.

“Over the years, the consumer’s passion for sports has always buoyed the licensed industry through ups and downs in the economy,” says Stanley Schwartz, Show Director. “At the 2009 show we heard cautious optimism from companies known for their resilience and creative thinking. There were also several major success stories on the show floor. Our job is to stay lean and mean, and to keep that momentum building into the 2010 show.”'

Click here to read the entire story.


Brain Storm
My Domz Making Headway in Licensed Headwear

Talk about having a head for business. Roy Sharda and Jay Dhillon, the founders of My Domz, are two of the headiest players in the licensed sports industry, especially when they’re wearing company product—authentic replica headwear of a school’s football helmet.

“The response to My Domz has been excellent,” says Sharda. Indeed, from the response at this year’s Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show to marketing trips to college campuses across the Midwest, the company has found an energetic and motivated customer base.

Click here to read the entire story.


Frame Up
Church Hill Classics Makes the Memories Last

This year alone Church Hill Classics will handcraft more than 110,000 frames. A significant portion of those will be licensed, insignia diploma frames for the collegiate marketplace. “Virtually everything we frame is done to exacting, high-quality standards,” says Church Hill Vice President Joe Voves. “This includes museum quality matting, mounting, glazing and rigorous QC inspecting.”

Thanks to a creative marketing approach, Church Hill has discovered a host of applications for its frames—all of which open additional revenue steams for the company’s retail partners. For example, high school students can celebrate the milestone of earning a varsity letter. College athletes can commemorate a championship season. Sports collectors can forever cherish a priceless piece of memorabilia.

Click here to read the entire story.


Programmed for Success
J. America Combines High Fashion with High Margins

If you’re a retailer of collegiate licensed apparel that’s interested in good margins, then J. America is a very familiar name to you. Known for its crisp, clean graphics, the company offers a full line of top-tier sportswear, including basic, women’s, vintage and headwear. According to National Sales Director Jim McCollough, J. America’s primary focus is the bottom line of its retail partners.

“We try to sell within programs that provide larger margins for our customers,” he says.

Click here to read the entire story.


A Touch of Glass
Deep Etching and High Class from Artistic Glass Design

It’s the day of the big game. You’ve been planning all week for your tailgate party. Your spread is sumptuous, and you’re decked out in your team’s colors from head to toe. Then you pull out a sleeve of generic plastic cups. The scene is suddenly compromised.

“That’s our target audience,” says Trish Wampler, VP of Sales & Marketing for Artistic Glass Design. “Successful alumni and fans who are ready to step up to high-end licensed glassware.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Banner Year Ahead for Winning Streak Sports
Vintage Wool Products Hanging Tough

One of the busiest booths in Las Vegas—and not surprisingly—one of the busiest companies post-show has been Winning Streak Sports, which has been manufacturing classic wool pennants and banners for more than a decade. Winning Streak drew lots of attention at the Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show with its new Heritage Collection of banners. Each shows the evolution of a team’s logo over the decades.

Click here to read the entire story.


Appetite for Success
Wabash Valley Farms Pursues New Markets with Popcorn-Themed Products

Of all the exhibitors at the 2009 Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show, none had more “pop” than Wabash Valley Farms. Of course, what would you expect from the maker of the original Whirley Pop Popcorn Popper?

“Looking around the show floor, we didn’t see another product comparable to ours,” says Tom Ancil, who oversees sales and promotional opportunities for Wabash Valley Farms. ‘We occupy a unique spot in the marketplace.”

The company arrived in Las Vegas eager to learn more about the licensed sports and tailgating industries—and to show off its line of fun and easy-to-use products. Wabash Valley Farms is best known for the Whirley Pop, an old-fashioned popcorn popper that works anywhere. “The Whirley Pop is perfect for tailgating,” says Ancil. “Lots of people take it on the road in their RVs.”

Click here to read the entire story.

Quality Buyers Drive Success of Show
Retailers Get Down to Serious Business

When the doors swung open on the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show Wednesday morning, the truth is no one knew exactly what to expect. As Day Three wheeled into action, exhibitors had seen enough to draw specific conclusions.

The consensus on the buyers who were shopping the show was that they were highly focused on finding and buying new products. The buyers themselves confirmed this—for them this was a serious buying show, not a Vegas vacation.

“We make a huge year-round effort to bring in quality buyers,” said Show Director Ann Keusch. “In a climate like this, that effort makes all the difference. There are thousands of terrific new money-making products here, and from what we are hearing and seeing no one was shy about spending money to bring that product into their stores.”

Click here to read the entire story.


‘Why They Buy’ Panelists May Ask More of Retailers, But Will Continue Purchasing Licensed Products in Trying Times

More than 100 buyers, retailers and manufacturers joined a group of fans Thursday for the “Why They Buy” luncheon presentation at the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show. Jack Smith served as moderator, noting at the opening of the panel discussion that more than 400 thousand Brett Favre jerseys were sold after Favre joined the Jets in 2008. The growth in the sporting goods business, Smith said, will be in licensed products.

According to the six panelists—made up of four men and two women—that will depend on how retailers chase their business in the coming years. They agreed that stores needed to be more user-friendly and concentrate on customer service. Now more than ever, a trained staff, human beings answering the phones, and a better use of websites and emails will determine where they shop and what they pay.

Click here to read the entire story.


Buyers Writing Business as Show Gets Off to Solid Start

America’s unquenchable thirst for sports was on display Wednesday in Las Vegas on opening day of the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show. Thousands of innovative and imaginative new products were presented to the industry, which is counting on the passion and pocketbooks of millions of fans to keep it humming during trying times. Exhibitors were upbeat in the opening hours, as retailers flooded the aisles and got right down to business.

“These people are buying,” observed Jack Smith, who led a group of retailers on his Tour de Force. “When you see some of the items here it’s unbelievable—these are things consumers will be spending their dollars on.”

Click here to read the entire story.

Sitting is Believing
TaleGator Hoping to Emerge as Licensed Stalwart

TaleGator arrived at the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show last January knowing it had found the perfect audience for its innovative seating system. Inventor Joe Fournier had originally created the product because he had spent far too many uncomfortable hours sitting on the tailgate of his truck watching his kids at soccer games and other sporting events. As Keith Leigh-Monstevens says, “We are selling fun, not just a big plastic molded seat.”

The outlook for TaleGator has improved even more in the months since. Former NFL star Lomas Brown and Jack Lengyel, the legendary coach who took over the Marshall football program after the team’s tragic plane crash in 1970, have both thrown their weight behind the project. Brown was actually on hand when TaleGator made its debut in Las Vegas. He and Lengyel are now key players in the latest news on the product.

Click here to read the entire story.


Identify Yourself
LuggageSpotters Hit the Licensed Sports Marketplace

You’ve been there before—standing at an airport baggage carousel and watching as one look-alike bag after another passes before your eyes. The elderly woman who tied the bright pink ribbon around her suitcase is the only one who spots her luggage. Then, of course, she asks you for a helping hand because she has completely over packed.

Rico Industries/Tag Express—which will exhibit at the Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show in January—has come to the rescue. The company now offers LuggageSpotters, a patented comfort grip that attaches to luggage of all kinds and makes them easy to identify. Rico has gone one step better by licensing LuggageSpotters. They are currently available in a full selection of NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB teams. Rico has plans to roll out NASCAR product in spring of 2009.

Click here to read the entire story.


A Clear Advantage
LDT Import-Export Enters Licensed Marketplace with Crystal Wear

Getting into the licensed sports business is sometimes a muddled decision. Other times, it’s crystal clear. That’s an appropriate way to describe LDT Import-Export’s entry into the marketplace. A provider of beautiful glass crystal wear, LDT is a relative newcomer to the licensed industry. According to Rick Esposito, the company is glad it made the leap.

“Initially, we pursued licensing as more of an add-on,” he says. “We wanted sustainability. We’ve found that there are no borders to fan loyalty. New markets continue to open for us.”

Click here to read the entire story.


The Sweet Taste of Success
Promotion In Motion Prepares for Debut at Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show

Walk into any movie theater across the country, and you’re likely to see a product from Promotion In Motion. Founded in 1980 by Michael Rosenberg, the company is one of North America’s most recognizable manufacturers and marketers of confections, fruit snacks, fruit rolls, snack and specialty foods. Among PIM’s licensed brands are such well-known names as Welch’s Fruit Snacks, Sour Jacks Sour Candies, Sun-Maid Milk Chocolate Raisins and Fisher Milk Chocolate Peanuts.

PIM has also made headways in sports licensing, says Jeff Scudillo, Vice President of Special Markets. For example, the company offers a candy product called Speed Strips under the NASCAR brand. This license is a perfect tie-in for PIM as it prepares for its debut at the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show.

Click here to read the entire story.


Small Wonders
Little Guys Can Hit the Big Time in Las Vegas

For many of the start-ups and smaller companies that exhibit at the Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show each year, there exists a real opportunity to be discovered and take a business to the next level. Russell Meyerowitz knows this better than anyone. He arrived in Las Vegas last January eager to introduce On Fire Beer Pong to the industry. Meyerowitz made quite an impression, thanks in part to the bevy of beauties on hand at his booth.

But the real shock waves of his participation in the show weren’t felt for a few months. In April, On Fire was acquired by College Tonight and then rebranded as Quad Pong. At the heart of College Tonight is The Quad, a free web platform that caters specifically to the college experience. Meyerowitz is now the Director of The Shop, the Quad’s retail store.

Click here to read the entire story.


College Retailers Give Nod to Licensed Nightshirts
Emerson Street a Sleeper No More

Emerson Street always wanted to go into the collegiate business. The company that invented the sleepwear-in-a-bag concept already had product in over 3,000 stores, and retailers were clamoring for something that would tap into the passion and purchasing might of the licensed sports market—with the art and humor of cartoonist Emerson Quillin. So the company introduced a line of licensed nightshirts that quickly expanded to 77 schools, and it has been a hit both on and off campuses nationwide.

“We felt strongly it would be a winner,” says Dale Rotar, head of Product Development for Emerson Street, “and it’s been very successful."

Click here to read the entire story.


Have a Drink on Holland Bar Stool
Michigan Manufacturer Enters the Licensed Sports Biz

Attendees at next year’s Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show can mark another stop on their agendas. Holland Bar Stool has announced the launch of licensed sports product with about 30 schools. The company will make its official industry debut in Las Vegas in January.

“We’re very excited,” says Arie Vink, Holland’s National Sales Manager. “The show will be a great opportunity to introduce ourselves to the industry. We plan on meeting a lot of people in the business.”

Click here to read the entire story.


We Want U
U Gift Shop Hits Licensed Market with Unique Products

What does the U in U Gift Shop stand for? There are plenty of ways to answer that question, says company president Ben White. To some, U means the ultimate gift shop. To others, it represents the more than 70 universities and colleges U Gift Shop has in the fold.'

To White, however, U has a distinct meaning. “We are the home for unique college products,” he says.

Click here to read the entire story.


You’ve Got a Friend
Fremont Die Debuts the Tackle Buddy

Launching a product in a new category gives any company a moment of pause. Fortunately, Tom Jones, the Director of Marketing and Sales at Fremont Die, is no longer holding his breath. The company’s latest offering, the Tackle Buddy – Bop Bag, has passed every test with flying colors—not to mention the colors of NFL and college teams.

“This is our first venture into the toy category,” says Jones. “The Tackle Buddy is doing really well. This is a great market for us to get into.”

Click here to read the entire story.


Setting the Table
Jersey Naps Help Retailers Tap into Female Consumer

Women are sometimes an overlooked consumer in the licensed sports marketplace. But given their role in family purchasing decisions, this can be a costly mistake. That is one of the reasons why Jersey Naps has become such a valuable supplier for retailers nationwide.

“Jersey Naps resonate with women,” says Chief Marketing Officer Will Katz. “The reaction we get is consistent—Jersey Naps are the cutest thing they’ve ever seen. That drives an emotional connection to the product.”

Click here to read the entire story.


 

 

about us | site map | privacy policy | contact info | ©2009 Licensing Outlook