Posts tagged with "WHP Global"

Above, Rag & Bone will operate as an independent fashion brand under the Guess portfolio. (Photo source: Rag & Bone)

Guess and WHP to acquire Rag & Bone

February 21, 2024

Guess Inc. and WHP Global have reached a definitive agreement to acquire Rag & Bone, reports Fashion Dive.

Founded in 1981, Guess is clothing copy best-known for its denim jeans and fashion accessories. WHP Global’s brand portfolio generates approximately $4 billion in annual retail sales, and includes Joe’s Jeans, Anne Klein, Joseph Abboud, Lotto, and Toys“R”Us.

Under the deal, Guess will pay $56.5 million to acquire Rag & Bone’s operating assets; while Guess and WHP will both own Rag & Bone’s intellectual property through a joint venture. Guess and the joint venture will enter a licensing agreement, which gives Guess the exclusive right to use Rag & Bone’s intellectual property (IP) to manufacture Rag & Bone products worldwide and sell products in specified territories in exchange for Guess’ payment of a royalty fee.

Rag & Bone will operate as an independent fashion brand under the Guess portfolio. The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of Guess’ 2025 fiscal year.

The deal also includes a potential earnout in which Guess will be responsible for up to $12.8 million, based on Rag & Bone’s sales performance over the course of its 2024 fiscal year.

Rag & Bone, which was founded in 2002, will continue to be based in New York. It operates 34 stores in the U.S.A. and two in the U.K. and is also available in boutiques and department stores and through e-commerce, per the release. In 2023, the brand reported approximately $250 million in revenue.

The acquisition of Rag & Bone brings another denim brand to WHP’s fashion holdings (as well as to Guess). Last year, it acquired a majority interest in G-Star Raw.

Research contact: @fashiondive

Above, Toys'R'Us plans to open 24 flagship stores nationwide. (Photo source: John Jones for NJ Advanced Media)

Toys‘R’Us, once bankrupt, plans new flagship stores

October 3, 2023

WHP Global, the parent company of Toys“R”Us, announced on Friday, September 29, that it plans to open up to two dozen flagship stores nationwide starting next year, along with shops in airports and cruise ships, reports The New York Times.

Toys“R”Us, the once ubiquitous chain that drew generations of children with its signature primary colors and its Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot, will attempt a comeback six years after filing for bankruptcy.

WHP Global—which acquired a controlling stake of Toys“R”Us in 2021—says that, in addition to the new brick-and-mortar stores, Toys“R”Us also will open shops in airports and on cruise ships through a partnership with Go! Retail Group.

The first airport shop will open in early November in Terminal A of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, ahead of the holiday shopping season, the company said.

Yehuda Shmidman, the CEO of WHP Global, said in a statement that Toys“R”Us “is growing fast and our expansion into air, land and sea is a testament to the brand’s strength.”

WHP Global—which also owns brands such as Anne Klein, Joseph Abboud, and Bonobos—did not say where the flagship stores would open. A spokesperson for the company said that “prime locations” were being identified.

Toys“R”Us signaled the start of an attempt at a comeback in 2021, when it opened a 20,000 square feet flagship store at American Dream mall in New Jersey. After that, Toys “R” Us launched 452 mini-shops inside Macy’s stores across the United States.

The comeback attempt for Toys “R” Us comes during what has been a difficult time for brick-and-mortar stores, with many closing in the past several years as they have had to contend with the continued growth of e-commerce followed by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lars Perner, an assistant professor of Clinical Marketing at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, says he would not have predicted a return of flagship Toys“R”Us stores—noting, “It’s very much of a contrarian kind of strategy when you see so many others pulling back from your brick-and-mortar retailers.”

It’s possible, Perner says, that nostalgia could play a role in driving business for the new flagship stores.

Many parents and children born after 1957 likely have fond memories of wandering giant Toys“R”Us stores filled with everything from scooters to video games to dolls and action figures

“If you have people who got gifts from Toys‘R’Us when they were growing up and now have their own children, there could be some appeal,” Perner says.

Research contact: @nytimes

Above, Toys'R'Us is coming back this year. (Image source: Macy's)

Toys ‘R’ Us is coming back—again!—at 400 Macy’s stores nationwide

July 20, 2022

Once left for dead, Toys“R”Us is making a major comeback. The toy store brand will be just about everywhere for the holidays, reports CNN.

Toys “R” Us will be in every U.S.-based Macy’s store within the next few months, part of an expanded partnership with the toy retailer’s parent company, WHP Global.

The toy stores will range in size from 1,000 square feet in smaller locations to up to 10,000 square feet in flagship Macy’s in Atlanta, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco. The Toys“R”Us footprints may expand during the peak holiday season.

The stores will roll out at Macy’s beginning in late July and going through October 15. Macy’s plans some customer-friendly perks, including demonstration tables for new toys and a life-size Geoffrey giraffe photo opp.

The once-storied toy store went bankrupt and closed all its stores in 2018. It has attempted several unsuccessful comebacks via various owners.

But Toys“R”Us got a new lease on life last year thanks to the Macy’s partnership, when the two companies agreed to sell toys on Macy’s website and opened shops-within-shops at 400 department stores. Toys “R” Us products have been available on Macy’s website and ToysRUs.com since last August.

WHP Global bought the toy retailer from Tru Kids, which took over the failing brand in a liquidation sale. Tru Kids had opened stores in New Jersey and Texas, but it closed them in early 2021 because of the pandemic.

Both Macy’s and Toys“R”Us. But Macy’s had a turn of fortune in recent months—outperforming the competition. The company said in its first-quarter earnings report that its toy sales were 15 times higher than the comparable period prior to the partnership.

Research contact: @CNN

Photo source: Nintendo Wire