Cheadle-based Character World secures deal to supply thousands of US retailers

North West licensing firm Character World is celebrating after bringing its crafting range to the US.

The Cheadle-based company secured a distribution deal that will see its range of licensed crafting products made available in 800 Hobby Lobby retail stores across America.

Character World also netted access to a further 17k independents in the US through an agreement with wholesale craft supplier Darice.

Danny Schweiger, co-founder and joint managing director of Character World, said: “This is a great start to our plans to grow a global crafting division.

“Crafting is already well established in the USA so our new products have been well received.”

He continued: “We’re confident of achieving even further growth in North America and will also be targeting the Australian market and securing further penetration across Europe and the UK, where crafting is experiencing significant growth.”

Speaking further, Danny said the company will also focus on growing its core licensed bedding and accessories business through enhanced category management, in addition to working more closely with retailers in product development.

He continued: “Our third strategic focus will be on exploiting the opportunities presented by a burgeoning gaming market. Our portfolio already includes pan-European deals for Pokémon, Minecraft and Nintendo and we’re keen to expand on this stable of bluechip franchises.”

To bring its expansion plans to fruition, Character World recently appointed Simon Gardner as chairman. Simon was previously the global CMO and European president of international toy business Hasbro.

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