Now that school’s out for the summer, home goods and other retailers are starting to debut their back-to-college collaborations in anticipation of the 2024-2025 academic year. Three such partnerships were announced in June: At Home launched its new home décor range with lifestyle expert and designer Joy Cho and her Oh Joy! brand in July […]
Tag Archives | Pottery Barn
Enjoy Your Stay
High-end hotels are entering the home furnishings realm, creating collections positioned as allowing consumers to treat themselves to the feeling of being in a fine hotel while remaining in the comfort of their own bedrooms and bathrooms. Most often, hotels sell the furniture and home textiles they feature in their guest rooms through their own […]
Christmas Characters Are Comin’ to Town
Seasonal merchandise programs tied to perennially favorite Christmas films, TV shows, and books have been strengthening in recent years, with more products available as each holiday season rolls around. This year, the collections seem to be particularly prominent, fueled by a couple of anniversaries, customers’ still-growing taste for pairings of licensed properties and seasonal themes, […]
Trouble on the Home Front
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 […]
Prime of Life
The presence of mature women in the licensing and collaboration landscape has been growing over the past several years. While they still account for just a sliver of celebrity licensing activity overall, women of a certain age, who historically were forgotten when it came to product partnerships, are increasingly accepted and embraced by marketers. These […]
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 […]
Kings of the Road
Licensing has had a presence in the RV and camper industry for decades, with new deals announced relatively infrequently, but consistently, over the years. Brands involved have tended to be those with a very close fit to the category, mainly outdoors- and vehicle-related properties, with some lifestyle examples thrown in as well. In the last […]
Here Come the Bridal Designers
High-end bridal designers who got their start specializing in wedding dresses, and remain well known for their creations in this space, have been expanding their licensing activity recently. Some are poised to get into licensing and collaboration in a significant way for the first time, while others are adding to a long list of existing […]
Resale Circles Back
When the pandemic first hit, many observers thought retailers’ resale initiatives, which offer quality second-hand and slightly imperfect apparel and home goods at a deeply discounted price and had been on the rise prior to the lockdown, would be placed on hold for safety reasons. Consumers, they thought, would potentially be concerned about the merchandise […]
To Promote, or Not To Promote
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many companies put their plans on hold for product launches, marketing and media campaigns, publicity, and the like. But some have decided that an uninterrupted presence in consumers’ minds will help position them for success, or at least survival, once the peak of the crisis has passed. They have therefore […]