San Diego Tourism Authority Taps into Brewery

The San Diego Tourism Authority trademarked “72 and Hoppy” and is tapping into a local brewery as part of a broad licensing program. Bay City Craft Brewing Co. shipped 120 kegs of its “72 and Hoppy” beer to 17 San Diego-area bars, restaurants and hotels and has started a second production run that will include canned and bottled versions for retail by early September, says Bay City’s Greg Anderson. The authority is the first of its kind to license beer in playing into the 148 breweries in the San Diego area, says Coastal Limited’s Paul Leonhardt, whose agency signed to represent the authority last year.  The beer was developed as part of the authority’s “Happiness is Calling” promotional campaign that includes several licensing agreements.  In addition the deal with Bay City, the tourism group has licensing agreements with Knockaround (sunglasses), San Diego Hat Co. (15 men’s and women’s hats) and Tipsy Elves (apparel).

Contacts:

Bay City Brewing Co., Greg Anderson, Owner, ganderson@baycitybrewingco.com

Coastal Limited, Paul Leonhardt, Pres., 858-300-7284 Paul@costallimited.com

Knockaround Sunglasses, Adam Moyer, Pres., adam@knockaround.com

San Diego Hat Co., John Astleford, Pres., 888-868-0588

Tipsy Elves, Nicklaus Morton, Co-Founder, 858-361-8507, Nick@tipsyelves.com

Iconix Acquires Ownership of Canada Joint Venture

Iconix is buying out Canada joint venture partner Alberta ULC for $19 million as it continues to take direct ownership of many former partnerships. Iconix will pay $12 million at the close of the sale and another $7 million over two years, the company said. Iconix formed the joint venture in February 2013.  Iconix’s business is “underpenetrated” in Canada and expects to post revenue growth there similar to what has occurred in Latin America and China wher e it also has bought out joint venture partners, Iconix’s John Haugh said.  Meanwhile, Iconix will keep its 51% stake in the Buffalo brand, ending previous efforts to sell it, Haugh said. Iconix formed a joint venture for the Buffalo brand several years ago with Buffalo International and licensed it for sportswear, activewear and other apparel  sold through department stores including Macy’s and Lord & Taylor.

Contact:

Iconix, John Haugh, CEO, 212-730-0030, jhaugh@iconixbrand.com

Hisense Shipping Sharp TVs Despite Brand Licensing Dispute

Hisense is continuing to introduce new Sharp LCD TVs despite a bitter fight with Sharp Electronics over rights to the brand. Sharp, which signed a five-year licensing with Hisense for its brand in 2015, has since sued the company (Inside Licensing June 15), claiming it “cut corners” on its Sharp brand LCD TVs and failed to meet “the standards and quality required” by the license.  Hisense is shipping 11 high-definition and ultra-high-definition TVs in three series in sizes ranging 32-65 inches at $230-$1,300 retail prices.

Contact:

Hisense,Mark Viken, VP Marketing, 678-318-9060

RadioShack Brand May Get New Life

The RadioShack brand may get another life. Kensington Capital Holdings submitted a $15 million bid with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Wilmington, DE, to acquire RadioShack’s IP and license it to General Wireless, the company that does business as RadioShack, according to court records. The deadline for submitting a bid for the RadioShack IP was Tuesday. Kensington made a $23 million loan to RadioShack after exited bankruptcy in 2015 and had secured a deal Sprint Corp. to operate 1,400 co-branded with Sprint Corp. RadioShack has 425 independent dealer stores, 100 company-owned locations and an ecommerce site. That’s against the more than 7,000 stores RadioShack operated at its peak. The retailer filed for bankruptcy a second time in March.

Contact:

Kensington Capital Holdings, Alison Mosca, Managing Dir., 508-549-9955

Scholastic’s Q4 Children’s Sales Decline

Scholastic Corp. children’s book publishing and distribution business, hampered by the lack of a new Harry Potter book, will post a decline in operating income in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2018 on a mid-single digit percent increase in revenue, company executives told analysts. The company’s children’s book sales rose 45% in the fiscal year ended May 31 buoyed by the release of ”Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Parts One and Two

Scholastic is banking on the release of J.K. Rowling’s next version of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” in 2019 to spur sales along with the five films tied to the book series due during next several years, Chairman Richard Robinson said.

Contact:

Scholastic, Maureen Connell, Chief Financial Officer, 212-343-6100 moconnell@scholastic.com