Retail sales of licensed goods in the U.S. and Canada reached $99.9 billion in 2014, according to The Licensing Letter's Annual Licensing Business Survey. That's a 2.5% increase over the $97.5 billion in retail licensed goods sales generated in 2013. 2014 is the fourth positive growth year in a row for the licensing business in the U.S. and Canada. The 2.5% rate of increase in … [Read more...] about Retail Sales of Licensed Goods in U.S./Canada Grow 2.5% in 2014: Entertainment, Sports, Food Make Biggest Gains
Retail Sales
Ninja Turtles Tops $1 Billions
Global retail sales of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles exceeded $1 billion in 2014, according to a Viacom International Media Networks executive at a Nickelodeon-Viacom Australian media event. “Turtles are a bigger consumer products success story than we ever imagined,” said the exec. The company also has aggressive plans to keep Turtles momentum alive in 2016, including a second … [Read more...] about Ninja Turtles Tops $1 Billions
Menswear Thriving on E-commerce
Who would have guessed? The fastest growing category of e-commerce sales is menswear. According to the research firm IbisWorld, between 2010 to 2015, online sales of menswear grew an average 17% per year, highest of any category studied. Only seven other categories had double-digit average annual growth: Groceries: 16.7% Shoes: 13.6% Health products, vitamins, supplements: … [Read more...] about Menswear Thriving on E-commerce
Ralph Lauren Bucks the Buck
Conventional wisdom says that the strong dollar is making it harder to sell luxury fashion goods abroad. Or is it? Ralph Lauren reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings, but while U.S. sales flattened out, total growth in international sales revenues topped double-digits (in current currency), thanks to robust performances in both Europe and China. RL is taking … [Read more...] about Ralph Lauren Bucks the Buck
Brazil Dominates and Continues To Fuel Growth, Per Capita Spending
Retail sales of licensed merchandise in Latin America totaled $4.1 billion in 2013, an increase of 3.3% from $3.9 billion in 2012, according to The Licensing Letter’s “International Licensing: A Status Report.” Since 2011, the licensing business in the region has grown 7.9%. While 3.3% is a respectable rate of increase—less than Central/Eastern Europe and Middle East/Africa … [Read more...] about Brazil Dominates and Continues To Fuel Growth, Per Capita Spending
Disney Consumer Products Revenues Expand When Frozen
Revenue at Disney Consumer Products (including merchandise licensing and the Disney retail stores) increased 12% to $3.985 billion for the year ended Sept. 27, 2014, compared to the prior year. Operating income for the unit was up 22% to $1.356 billion over the same period. Singled out for strongest contributions to merchandise licensing for the year: Frozen and the new Disney … [Read more...] about Disney Consumer Products Revenues Expand When Frozen
Iconix: Owning (and Licensing) is Believing
Iconix has $750 million in go-forward guaranteed minimum royalties for 2015, excluding renewals, the company reported in the course of its analysts’ call following release of its third-quarter 2014 results. The company has renewed four major DTR agreements under the same terms as the prior deals: Danskin Now (Walmart), Mudd (Kohl’s), Material Girl (Macy’s), and Fieldcrest … [Read more...] about Iconix: Owning (and Licensing) is Believing