• Brandweek, Monday, June 1, 2009 11:15 AM

Licensors such as Scholastic, which has become something of a house brand for Office Depot, are expanding the definition of private label, providing a bright spot in the otherwise moribund licensing industry.

"In this craptastic economy, traditional thinking is out (bye bye retail-channelwide entertainment deals!), and creativity (Let's make up a deal!) is in," according to the staff roundup.

Citing numerous examples and quoting several sources, the article points out that retailers have gotten much more sophisticated about private label. "They now have in-house departments," points out Martin Brochstein, svp-industry relations and information for the Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association. "And so they have much more of a vested interest in making private label work because they have infrastructures to feed."

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