Santa Ana-based Los Kitos Entertainment LLC, producer of a Spanish-language cartoon strip, clothes and more, has struck a merchandising deal.
E.W. Scripps Co.’s United Media is looking to get Los Kitos clothes, bedding, frozen food and other products into more stores.
“Los Kitos’ roots in Hispanic culture give a unique perspective to build upon in the changing U.S. marketplace,” said Martha Montoya, founder of Los Kitos Entertainment.
Los Kitos, derived from the Spanish term mu & #324;equitos, or little dolls, has a following.
The comic strip, which features colorful, animated characters,including a pig, mouse, sun and dog,was first published in 1995 by Spanish daily La Opinion in Los Angeles.
The comic now runs in some 375 newspapers around the world. It’s syndicated by Tribune Co.’s Tribune Media Services.
The characters are also featured on a weekly national radio show in the U.S. and in six other countries.
As for products, Los Kitos characters are found on a range of items, including kid’s meals, greeting cards, produce packaging, clothing and bedding.
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“Los Kitos”: company eyeing retail deal |
United Media wants to help Los Kitos find a “retail partner” looking to target Hispanics and “build” a retail program around the characters, the company said.
“Retailers are keenly aware that there is significant opportunity in marketing to the substantial and growing Hispanic population in the U.S.,” said Joshua Kislevitz, senior vice president of domestic licensing at United Media.
Los Kitos is “already widely known within the U.S. Spanish speaking population and can be leveraged as a powerful marketing tool when targeting this key market,” Kislevitz said.
Apparel Buzz Brand
Buzz has been working in favor of Newport Beach-based Atwater.
The apparel company, started in late 2005 by two former designers from Nike Inc.’s Costa Mesa-based Hurley International LLC, is selling clothes at more stores.
The company said more than 100 stores, up from a handful, now carry its clothes, which include surf trunks, military-inspired T-shirts and fleece sweatshirts.
Nick Skawinski, head buyer for Surfside Sports in Newport Beach, said the shop did “extremely well” with Atwater’s clothes during the holidays and is placing more orders.
Atwater recently signed on Fred Segal on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles as one of its accounts, the company said.
The clothes also are sold at Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach, The Closet in Costa Mesa, Active Ride Shop in Mission Viejo and Val Surf in Woodland Hills.
Atwater is busy promoting the expansion of its fall collection, which includes three board shorts, more hats, beanies and a military-inspired belt.
Retail Full Court Press
Local companies that cater to the surf, skate and snow crowd are known for luring workers with cool perks, particularly at their headquarters.
There’s the snack and juice bar at Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., the skateboarding ramp at Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc. and the giant skate park Lake Forest-based Sole Technology Inc. helped build near its main campus.
For years, Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. has had an indoor NBA basketball court, which the company featured among the selling points in its want ads.
But sometimes business wins out.
The sunglasses maker said goodbye to b-ball last year and converted the space for its store operations, including building model stores to test marketing ideas and materials, said Eric Beder, analyst at Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
Chalk it up to growing up.
“We believe changes such as these, while painful to some employees, are necessary and visible means for management to show that Oakley needs to be focused on driving shareholder returns,” Beder said in a recent report. “While a cool item, a basketball court was an obvious waste of precious space.”
The move is part of larger changes at Oakley that started in 2005 under Chief Executive Scott Olivet.
He has spearheaded changes to refocus Oakley on its bread and butter,sunglasses,and tweak the company’s smaller, and sometimes struggling, clothing and shoe lines.
Oakley has made a few acquisitions, with the most recent being that of Sun Valley, Idaho-based Eye Safety Systems Inc., which makes protective goggles. The deal is expected to close early this year.
Oakley is about to roll out marketing campaigns, including for sports-driven eyeglasses such as the Thump Pro, which has a built-in digital music player, as well as women’s sunglasses and new lenses.
“These campaigns will provide a vivid demonstration of Oakley’s ability to drive traffic to the stores from a wider audience as opposed to the company’s core Oakley fanatic,” Beder said.
Restaurant Rollout
Peacock PR in Newport Coast is helping Los Angeles-based California Pizza Kitchen Inc. push a new pizza and salad restaurant called CPK Express that just opened in Anaheim.
The format is aimed at customers in a hurry and is the first to open in OC in 10 years.
