• Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 10:30 AM

Hilco Consumer Capital, which buys up the rights to defunct retail-store names such as Sharper Image and Linens 'N Things, has invested some $20 million for half of House of Marley LLC, a joint venture with the Marley family. A new push to license Marley's likeness, trademarks and themes to apparel, food and even video games is in the works, Rachel Dodes and Kelly Nolan report.

The House of Marley will sell the rights to produce products under the brands Bob Marley, Tuff Gong, Catch A Fire and One Love. One of the company's first priorities is creating Marley Lager, a Jamaican beer featuring the singer's likeness. The marketer hopes to add headphones, snowboards, posters, screensavers, among other products, according to James Salter, CEO of Hilco Consumer Capital.

Hilco is separately negotiating to acquire rights to instant-film creator Polaroid's trademarks and to Fortunoff, the New York jewelry and silverware retailer, sources say. "There is life after these companies go away," says Salter. "It's just the retail aspect of these businesses that were broken."

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