Steve Jackson Games focuses on expansions and licensed products for the Munchkin card game series while it revives tried-and-true fan favorites.
By Stephanie Crets
If you have a warped sense of humor and enjoy tabletop and card games, odds are you’ll enjoy the slate of games offered by Steve Jackson Games. The company has roughly 20 games and more than 100 titles in its current catalog. That can change every year as some games go out of print, while new ones are created and old ones are brought back. But its classic game series is Munchkin.
“Part of the reason Munchkins has been so successful for us is embracing that sense of humor and running off on crazy tangents and having lots of fun with it,” CEO Phil Reed says. “The silliness and the cartooning style really excite the fans.”
Steve Jackson Games keeps the excitement brewing by constantly announcing new cards or expansions for the Munchkin series, such as Mars Attacks, Judge Dredd, and zombie and holiday-themed expansions. “We try to turn the game around to shock and surprise the players,” Reed notes.
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Always looking to stay ahead of the curve, Victoria Fine Foods creates premium pasta sauces that meet the lifestyle needs of its consumers.
By Eric Slack
Founded in 1929, Victoria Fine Foods remains a Brooklyn-based company known as the leading slow kettle-cooked pasta sauce manufacturer in the United States. Victoria still uses only a handful of fresh ingredients for its specialty Italian sauces and condiments, and traditional slow kettle-cooking methods to ensure rich flavor and a homemade taste.
Committed to longstanding values of quality, honesty, authenticity and community, Victoria believes that ingredients come first. These values extend back to the company’s founding family, Italian immigrants who came to Brooklyn nearly a century ago. Although they sold the company to new ownership in 2011, the fundamental qualities that made Victoria Fine Foods remain intact.
“We have been professionalizing the company and taking this dominant Northeast-known brand across the country,” CEO Tim Shanley says. “The brand has a cult-like following in the Northeast because of its superior product and commitment to insightful innovation. Victoria has more than four times the Facebook following of our nearest premium pasta sauce-only brand, and we are only distributed in about 25 percent of the country at this point. We have maintained the authenticity of our recipes while instilling modern sensibilities into the business.”
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Sedlak listens to retailers’ supply chain needs and recommends effective methods without bias.
Retailers face increasingly complex challenges in their supply chains to keep up with consumer demands for an “anytime, anywhere” shopping experience. That requires a seamless mix of mobile, ecommerce and brick-and-mortar solutions along with omnichannel fulfillment. Developing and maintaining the optimal strategies, facilities, operations and systems to meet these challenges can be overwhelming for many retailers. For nearly 60 years, retailers of all sizes and types have trusted Sedlak to find the right answers for their distribution and logistics needs.
“We’ve got a very rich history in retail,” Principal Patrick Sedlak points out. The firm has helped all of the major names in retailing as well as niche retailers, and covers the spectrum of brick-and-mortar and direct-to-consumer companies. “We work across the supply chain –sourcing, inventory and physical distribution,” Sedlak adds. The company also provides services to wholesalers, manufacturers, third-party logistics (3PL) providers and healthcare companies.
Sedlak helps its clients with everything related to the four walls of a distribution center – its location, layout, labor, size, material-handling equipment, inventory, and warehouse management and control systems. And after decades in the business, “We’re the most trusted advisor in the physical distribution business for retailers in the marketplace today,” Sedlak asserts.
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Casey’s General Store is expanding into Ohio and adding more prepared foods and home delivery to its small-town format.
Let’s say you have been driving a long time in the dark through the country. You need gas and are getting hungry, but you haven’t seen any gas stations or convenience stores for miles. Your headlights pick out the population of a small town you finally have reached. It is only 500, so you hope you have enough gasoline to get you to a bigger town.
Then you see the familiar yellow and red neon, friendly backlit logo of Casey’s General Store, and you know your needs will be met with friendly, courteous service and delicious food prepared right in the convenience store.
Not only that, but in some smaller towns, you might have located the center of nightlife, where residents gather in the evenings to stock up on supplies, enjoy a meal, a snack or dessert, and socialize as people used to at the chain’s namesake, the old-time general store. Of course, if the driver had downloaded Casey’s new smart phone app, he or she would have known where the next Casey’s location was. That’s something the old-time general store didn’t have.
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SEGA of America celebrates 25 years of Sonic the Hedgehog with new games, new merchandise and much more in 2016.
By Eric Slack
A leading presence in gaming for more than 50 years, SEGA is synonymous with innovation. It was one of the first companies on the interactive scene, and Sonic the Hedgehog became the perfect mascot to symbolize SEGA’s efforts to break barriers when he debuted in 1991. Celebrating Sonic’s 25th anniversary in 2016, SEGA of America’s leaders are looking to continue to build on that pioneering spirit.
“The Sonic Pillar team combines an experienced team from the world of entertainment alongside executives with a history of the Sonic brand from Japan,” says Ivo Gerscovich, chief brand officer and senior vice president of SEGA of America. “It makes for a powerful combination as we look to elevate Sonic into an entertainment icon across film, television, games, consumer products and many other areas.”
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The Licensing Shop and Bulldog Licensing play it smart with Shopkins to ensure the collectible toy brand continues to be a sensation.
By Janice Hoppe
Shopkins fans’ excitement rises with each crinkle of the blind bag until they have finally ripped it open to reveal a common, limited-edition or ultra-rare character. “The fan base loves doing the unboxing ceremonies on YouTube and social media,” The Licensing Shop President Steve Fowler says. “It’s kids talking to other kids through these sites, not suits creating a marketing program. It’s truly organic growth.”
Developed by Australian-based Moose Toys, Shopkins are grocery store-themed collectible characters that children collect, share and trade. Each rubber character has its own unique name and face, turning everyday items into cute and colorful figurines. “It’s a brand that translates so well and is built around pocket money,” Fowler explains. “Fans can buy a two-pack for $2.99, so it’s not a huge commitment. Kids and their parents buy a lot of two packs because they want to complete their collection.”
Shopkins launched Season 1 in summer 2014 and every six months since then has debuted a new season. Season 6 will hit stores in October along with the release of a first-ever DVD. A second DVD is scheduled for September 2017. Each season has at least 140 characters and fans want to collect them all. “The two-packs are in blind packaging, so you don’t know what you are getting,” Fowler says. “Moose Toys has created characters that are common, limited edition and ultra-rare. When you open it up and get No. 149, you are shrieking in delight and the fans want to capture that moment on camera because they don’t want to miss replaying that excitement.”
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TNG aims to grow its services beyond magazine wholesaling.
By Alan Dorich
When people go to a grocery store checkout lane, they often look at the magazine rack for that last impulse buy. There’s a good chance that those magazines were put there by TNG, the largest magazine wholesaler in the United States.
“We have 70 percent of the market share,” Chief Revenue Officer Mike Carter says. “We deliver to 70,000 doors every week in the United States and Canada.”
But magazines are only the tip of the iceberg for the company. Smyrna, Ga.-based TNG also provides merchandising and logistics services, and the distribution of general merchandise, beverages, packaged foods and snacks.
The company also sells its own line of housewares and clip strip items, which were designed for grocery retailers and are merchandised in the appropriate categories across the entire store. “We have 300 items that fit in seven brands, [including] kitchen gadgets, bar ware, pet, cleaning, coffee accessories, and bath and spa items,” he says.
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Hanky Panky’s intimate apparel is known as much for its comfort as for its fashionable designs.
By Chris Petersen
It’s said that a Hanky Panky thong is sold every 10 seconds, and for good reason. The New York City-based lingerie and sleepwear company’s unique thong panty design has been recognized far and wide as the most comfortable in the world, and that has helped solidify the company’s status as one of the leading designers and producers of women’s intimate apparel in the country. What’s even more incredible is that the company’s rise to success started with a simple gesture of friendship.
Co-founder Gale Epstein was working as a fashion designer in 1977 supplying unique designs to small boutiques while working for larger companies. While playing around with embroidered handkerchiefs, she got the idea to use them to create a handmade set of lingerie as a birthday gift for her friend, Lida Orzeck. “She loved it, and we realized that maybe other women would like something like that, too,” Epstein says.
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