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Mar 6 2009
HIT Entertainment Launches Movie Division
New York-based HIT Entertainment, a children’s entertainment producer and rights owner, last week revealed the launch of HIT Movies. The new business division is dedicated to making family-oriented movies based on HIT’s library of iconic children’s properties as well as identifying and developing new stories and characters for future HIT family movies. The launch marks […]
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Mar 2 2009
Licensing Expo Management Assures Show Health
As the Licensing International Expo inches closer to its first edition in Las Vegas, Georgiann DeCenzo , executive vice president of Advanstar Global Licensing Group, which manages the show, issued a statement assuring participants of the show’s health in light of the troubled economy. DeCenzo said that while some exhibitors have reduced the scale of […]
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Mar 2 2009
Upcoming Child Passenger Safety Observance Dates Announced
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has rescheduled the annual observance of Child Passenger Safety Week and Seat Check Saturday for 2009 in light of religious holidays. In 2009, Child Passenger Safety Week will take place from Sept. 12-18, with Seat Check Saturday held on Sept. 12. In 2010, Child Passenger Safety Week will run […]
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Mar 2 2009
SwaddleDesigns Earns Best Products Recognition
Seattle-based SwaddleDesigns has won two iParenting Media Awards for its zzZipme Sack and Marquisette swaddling blanket. The zzZipMe Sack is designed with plush fabric inside and out and zips from both top to bottom and bottom to top for nighttime diaper changes. The Marquisette swaddler is an open-weave blanket similar to muslin but with finer […]
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Mar 2 2009
Showroom News Roundup
• Drew NY Showroom is now representing Nurtured by Nature, a New Zealand-based baby brand that offers a 100-percent merino wool layette line and has introduced an organic layette collection. Drew NY has also picked up representation of Mila and Bela, a children’s brand from New York offering styles based on classic European designs. Drew […]
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Mar 2 2009
Upcoming Child Passenger Safety Observance Dates Announced
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has rescheduled the annual observance of Child Passenger Safety Week and Seat Check Saturday for 2009 in light of religious holidays. In 2009, Child Passenger Safety Week will take place from Sept. 12-18, with Seat Check Saturday held on Sept. 12. In 2010, Child Passenger Safety Week will run […]
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Mar 2 2009
SwaddleDesigns Earns Best Products Recognition
Seattle-based SwaddleDesigns has won two iParenting Media Awards for its zzZipme Sack and Marquisette swaddling blanket. The zzZipMe Sack is designed with plush fabric inside and out and zips from both top to bottom and bottom to top for nighttime diaper changes. The Marquisette swaddler is an open-weave blanket similar to muslin but with finer […]
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Mar 2 2009
Showroom News Roundup
• Drew NY Showroom is now representing Nurtured by Nature, a New Zealand-based baby brand that offers a 100-percent merino wool layette line and has introduced an organic layette collection. Drew NY has also picked up representation of Mila and Bela, a children’s brand from New York offering styles based on classic European designs. Drew […]
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Feb 23 2009
Blue Celery Donates Slings to Mothers in Need
Ottawa, Ontario-based baby sling manufacturer Blue Celery is launching a Baby Sling Bank to benefit mothers in need. Until March 31, the company will donate 10 slings and $4 for every sling sold on its Web site to the Birth & Parent Companion Program of Mothercraft Ottawa. The initiative aims to reach young, single mothers […]
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Feb 23 2009
Cookie Jar Names New Consumer Products Exec
Cookie Jar Entertainment of Burbank, Calif., has hired Brenda Bisner as senior manager of domestic consumer products. Bisner will oversee the development of licensing programs for Cookie Jar’s top consumer brands and entertainment properties, which include Strawberry Shortcake, Mommy & Me and Richard Scarry. She will report to Lisa Streff, senior vice president of domestic […]
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Feb 23 2009
BabyLegs Adds Warm-Weather Product
Seattle-based BabyLegs is extending its product range with BabyLegs Cool!, a line of legwarmers made of lightweight, breathable mesh fabric with an extra UV-protection coating for the warmer months. “Our fans love the functionality of our product, which is something that we strive to provide throughout the year,” said BabyLegs founder Nicole Donnelly. The BabyLegs […]
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Feb 23 2009
AAFA, Intertek to Hold CPSIA Information Dinner
The American Apparel and Footwear Association has partnered with Intertek, a provider of quality and safety services to numerous industries, to present an Insider’s CPSIA Dinner during the ENK Children’s Club trade show in New York. The two-hour forum will outline need-to-know information regarding the Consumer Product Safety Information Act and help clarify misinterpretations. Quin […]
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Feb 16 2009
JPMA Requests CPSIA Clarification from CPSC
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), a body representing 95 percent of the prenatal to preschool products industry, issued a statement last week requesting that the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) clarify its new testing and certification requirements under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) to ensure inherently safe products that do not […]
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Feb 16 2009
Commerce Dept. Reports Specialty Store Sales Up, Department Stores’ Down
A report from the U.S. Department of Commerce released on Feb. 12 showed month-over-month sales by all retailers and food service providers were up 1 percent in January to $344.6 billion, despite expectations that the numbers would continue to slide. Specialty stores reported a month-over-month sales increase of 1.6 percent, while department store sales fell […]
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Feb 16 2009
Knuckleheads Expands Size Range
Vancouver-based boys’ brand Knuckleheads Clothing has extended its sizing beyond infant to 8 years with two new lines: one for preemies up to 8 pounds, and one for ages 8 to 14 (with adult sizes also available). “The [bigger] line is exactly the same as our children’s line, just larger,” said brand founder Melissa Nash. […]
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Feb 16 2009
No Slippy Hair Clippy, Pediped Partner on Hair Accessory Line
Henderson, Nev.-based children’s footwear company Pediped has collaborated with No Slippy Hair Clippy of Vacaville, Calif., on a line of coordinating hair clips for Fall ’09. The clips are designed to match top selling styles from Pediped’s fall line, including the Giselle shoe in brown leather, the Isabella in brown leather and red patent, and […]
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Feb 16 2009
Le Top Relocates Showroom
Richmond, Calif.-based Le Top, Le Top Baby and Rabbit Moon have moved into a new showroom space in New York. The new address is 34 W. 33rd St., Suite 318. For more information, call (212) 564-1697, e-mail llombardi@letop-usa.com or visit www.letop-usa.com. In This Issue: Tween fashion—what’s in and what’s out The increasing importance of margins […]
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Feb 9 2009
Pediped Welcomes New Designer
Henderson, Nev.-based Pediped has hired Jane Rudko as its senior footwear designer. She will focus her efforts on expanding the recently launched Flex Collection, a line designed for children sizes 5 to 12 that was introduced last spring. Rudko previously worked as senior project manager of Kenneth Cole Productions’ children’s footwear division. She has earned […]
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Feb 9 2009
Macy’s Consolidates Regional Divisions, Cuts 7,000 Jobs
Last week Macy’s Inc. announced plans to reorganize and consolidate its four regional divisions into one nationwide district in an effort to make its operations leaner and more efficient. The national structure includes 69 geographical districts containing 10 to 12 stores each, which will model their operations after pilot districts that Macy’s created in spring […]
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Feb 9 2009
NYIGF Reports ‘Business as Usual’ at Winter Edition
The latest edition of the New York International Gift Fair, which took place Jan. 25-29, featured approximately 2,900 exhibitors and drew roughly 32,000 buyers, according to show management. “The buzz on the show floor was encouraging given current economic conditions,” said Dorothy Belshaw, NYIGF show director. “Buyers reported renewed optimism for the upcoming year, and […]