Archive | House and home

Cutting the Clutter

Last week, de-cluttering expert Marie Kondo, made famous in the U.S. through her Netflix show, Sparking Joy, as well as her four books, announced a collection of home organization products with 3Coins, a discount home store in Kondo’s native Japan. The first category to debut is kitchen storage, including bags for sorting perishables, expandable organizers, […]

Continue Reading

Benefits of Bamboo

In a deal announced just this week, Hasbro licensed British company Bamboo Bamboo to create limited-edition children’s bamboo dinnerware featuring Peppa Pig, sold online. Bamboo dinnerware has been available for a long time, and is billed as eco-friendly as well as safe, durable, lightweight, and easy to clean. With the increased attention on sustainability over […]

Continue Reading

Meal Time

This spring and summer, a number of chefs and other celebrities have introduced home goods collections centering on mealtimes, featuring products including cookware, tabletop items, kitchen storage, kitchen textiles, table linens, and the like. The new ranges, some produced in-house but most accomplished through licensing or collaboration, join a very crowded landscape in this category, […]

Continue Reading

Opening Doors

Interior designers and architects lend their names and designs to licensed and collaborative products for use in all nooks and crannies of the home. One category that may not be top of mind but which has long relied on collaboration as a key strategy is home hardware, notably door and cabinet handles, especially of the […]

Continue Reading

Accessibility: Making a House a Home

Marketers have been expanding their offerings of merchandise designed for consumers with disabilities, especially in categories such as apparel and Halloween costumes, over the past three years or so. Licensed and collaborative examples have occasionally been part of the mix as well. The idea is to create solutions that are accessible, but also stylish and […]

Continue Reading

In Fashion At Home

Well-established fashion designers often eventually enter the home goods space, but it can be a challenging business for them, whether they extend their labels through licensing or some other business model. As a result, expansions of this type tend to be cyclical. Currently the technique seems to be on the upswing, if the number of […]

Continue Reading

Flower Power

The fresh cut flower category, while still a relatively niche opportunity, has seen an increase in licensing activity over the years, with fashion and lifestyle designers among the property types that are most active in the space. Logically, most of those doing deals are either known for integrating floral patterns into their apparel and home […]

Continue Reading

New Ways to Feather the Nest

Retailers of all types have been expanding their home assortments since shortly after the start of the pandemic. This is a logical move, as consumers have been doing more DIY projects; redecorating their nests to create comfortable sanctuaries; reconfiguring to accommodate home offices, schooling, and outdoor entertaining; and sometimes filling the blank slate of a […]

Continue Reading

Gnome Décor

Gnomes have been an integral part of home décor, and popular culture in general, for decades, always an evergreen presence with waxing and waning popularity over time. Sales are currently in the midst of a long uptrend, with the latest resurgence ongoing since the mid-2010s. Google Trends, which measures interest based on the number of […]

Continue Reading

Clean and Green

Celebrities have long been at the forefront of incorporating green products into their branded, collaborative, and signature lines, especially in the beauty and fashion categories. Recently, the home cleaning space has been a hotspot for celebrity-driven, eco-friendly supplies that avoid harmful chemicals and incorporate organic and plant-based ingredients: Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen launched Safely, […]

Continue Reading