April 2004
ARCHIE COMICS
ENTERTAINMENT TEAMS WITH POSH
BEVERLY HILLS RETAILER FOR
BETTY AND VERONICA PROMOTION
Kitson Boutique To Debut Betty & Veronica Apparel In
Three-Month Exclusive Deal
Beverly Hills, CA - Archie
and his friends from Riverdale High are joining such icons as Hello
Kitty, Mickey Mouse, and Barbie on clothing aimed at the contemporary
set.
Betty and Veronica, the blond and
brunette lovelies from the Archie comic book series are making their
apparel debut at the Kitson boutique here in a three-month exclusive
deal. The Betty and Veronica 30-item collection of apparel, accessories,
jewelry and home accents results from three way partnership that pairs
the celeb retail haunt with Miramax films and Archie Comics
Entertainment LLC. In an unusual move, Miramax has signed on to work
with Archie Comics Entertainment to merchandise the characters before
it's planned release of the live action film called Betty & Veronica
slated to open in 2006 or 2007.
"We think these characters
can stand on their own merit-you look at them and it's a
no-brainer," said Lori Sale, executive vice president of worldwide
promotions for Miramax, noting Kitson was an "obvious choice."
"Kitson owner Fraser Ross always has a first. What I have seen as a
consumer at his store, I see three years later at other stores"
Indeed, Ross has helped hype such
brands as Von Dutch Originals and Paul Frank Industries. His quirky
inventory, which draws Hollywood's A- listers from Halle Berry to Mischa
Barton, and his collaborative efforts are also a draw for new vendors
and designers.
The Betty & Veronica in store
shop will be highlighted by signage and a black and fuscha color scheme.
Targeting shoppers ages 21 to 55, the eclectic offering will include
T-Shirts and tanks in cotton jersey, cap sleeves, and ringer styles with
screen prints and jeweled embellishments, athletic sweat sets and
cashmere sweaters. For the T-shirt weary, there's other bibelot such as
handbags, coin purses, compacts, lip-glosses, caps, votives, milkshake
glasses and coffee mugs.
Retail prices will range from $12
for a compact to $40 to $85 for T-shirts to $125 for handbags and $450
for a cashmere sweater. Ross expects the line to generate monthly sales
in excess of $100,000. For Archie Comics, formed a year ago as the
merchandising arm of Archie Comic Publications Inc., the time was right
for the 63-year old property-which ships 800,000 comics a month-to
capitalize on it's appeal. It has commitments from 25 licensees,
including East Brunswick, N.J. based Van Mar, which is handling
sleepwear, and Wish Licensing in the Northridge community of Los
Angeles, which is overseeing junior tops.
"This is not about nostalgia,
but it's a current and contemporary comic revolving around teenagers in
high school with challenges and fun-a theme that doesn't loose its
appeal," said Archie Comics president Allan Grafman.
Diverging from its traditional
flashy marketing campaigns, Miramax will aim for a more subtle promotion
strategy with a kickoff party at Kitson in May, when product hits the
store. Kitson will also sell the line on it's website shopkitson.com and
the store will even get plug in the May comic book issue of Archie, when
Betty and Veronica visit the outlet and get into an argument about who
has better fashion sense.
Plans by Miramax and Archie Comics
call for expanding the clothing line to other Archie characters-so fans
of Archie, Jughead, Reggie, and Ethel needn't Fret-and rolling the line
out to about a dozen other stores, like Scoop and Henri Bendel in New
York within the year, Sale said.
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