Local Firms Already Seeing Results From 2010 Olympic Licenses

Retailers Expecting To Sell C$500M In Official 2010 Olympic Merchandise

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics brand has helped "boost sales for participating firms, but it has also helped some smaller producers open doors in the retail world and given them the resources to compete with bigger companies," according to Derrick Penner of the VANCOUVER SUN. Retailers are expected to sell about C$500M in official Games merchandise, with VANOC generating C$46M in royalties from product licensees. Of the 25 licensees for the Games, VANOC has enlisted ten "small- to medium-sized firms" from British Columbia. Women's clothing company Aritzia has created a line called Parklife featuring Olympic tops, toques and scarves, and VANOC Dir of Licensing & Merchandising Dennis Kim said that the organization signed Aritzia to a licensing deal "because the young female demographic ... is very engaged with the Olympics, yet most typical merchandising doesn't reach out to them." RC Products is the official licensee for accessory items for the Games, and President Rory Carr said that his company's Olympic license "has allowed his company to put the Olympic brand on merchandise, which has helped open doors for his company with retailers who wouldn't do so otherwise." Meanwhile, Wilson Int'l Products Owner Tony Wilson, whose company has an apparel license, said that "tourists are one of the key markets." To date, Wilson said his biggest sellers have been items featuring VANOC's Ilanaaq Inukshuk logo. Kim said of Olympic-licensed sales, "From all indications we're slightly ahead of where we thought we would be" (VANCOUVER SUN, 2/12).