The two-week period from April 24 to May 5, 2023, was particularly brutal for retailers specializing in home goods, with three 50-year-old brands declaring bankruptcy and two of them shutting down completely: Bed Bath & Beyond, the original “category killer” in the home space, declared bankruptcy and liquidated its 360 stores, along with the 120 […]
Archive | House and home
Characters Clean House
By Karen Raugust on April 13, 2023 in Character/Entertainment, Consumer electronics, House and home, International, Licensing
“Robot vacuums,” the small, self-propelled appliances of which the Roomba is the best-known example in the U.S., are popular in Japan, which is a leader in the manufacture and design of robots for industrial and consumer use and where small house sizes make the devices practical. And, as is the case with other small appliance […]
Corporate Flower Collaborations Blossom
Fresh flowers comprise a relatively small category for licensing and collaboration, but one that has become a go-to opportunity for some properties, especially in the fashion and home design areas. Corporate brands represent one IP type that might not come to mind when thinking about floral arrangements, but recent deals show that several brand owners […]
Good Buys
The home goods industry struggled in 2022 after the robust sales of the lockdown era, and most observers expect that trend to continue into 2023. But licensing has been a bright spot lately, and new licensing deals continue to be forged at a regular pace. One notable current trend—not surprising given consumers’ concerns about inflation […]
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, […]
Benefits of Bamboo
By Karen Raugust on December 1, 2022 in Character/Entertainment, Eco-Friendly, House and home, Licensing
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Accessibility: Making a House a Home
By Karen Raugust on August 1, 2022 in Demographic groups, Diversity/Inclusion, House and home, Licensing, Retail
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 […]
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 […]