Webkinz. As Alison Zisko reported 2.11.08 for trade journal Home Furnishings News, “For the uninitiated, Webkinz, manufactured by Ganz, are small plush toys that come with a secret code that unlocks a secure Web site, enabling children to take care of a virtual pet online. It offers games, trivia questions and all sorts of ways for children to mind the health and well being of their pet, as well as create and decorate rooms for it on the computer. Webkinz are introduced periodically. Introduced in April 2005, they retail for around $12.95 apiece.”

The article further states ,”“We sold almost half a million dollars in Webkinz last year,” said David Calcaterra, vice president of Thrifty Florist, which operates 16 of the combined flower and gift shops in the metropolitan Detroit region. “People bought other things. In the month of December, it made a difference.”

So far what they are talking about is the selling of the stuffed animals, Webkinz, themselves. What about actual products that license them. Seems like a terrific boost to sales of anything i.e. bedding, tabletop items themselves, furniture, pajamas….lunchboxes, backbacks. It’s a thought, or more like a recommendation. I haven’t checked into licensing the product myself, not yet.

I will say that it is one of those things Moms are recommending to other Moms and is a topic of conversation between Moms….always a surefire way of seeing the beginnings of something very big.

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After grappling with how to say Happy New Year to Everyone, this is what I decided on: a sneak peek to my 2009-2010 top trends, as I see it, and as a way to help wrap up 08 depending on where you are in your buying, your product launches, your presentations, or your strategy planning.

1. Color Cornucopia: Eye Candy for the Color Maven’s Soul. Image from John Galliano for Dior Haute Couture Spring 08 Collection. Seattlepi.com.

2. Mother Earth Beats Her Chest: Science Popular.

“An armada of robot submarines and marine sensors are to be deployed across the Atlantic, from Florida to the Canary Islands, to provide early warning that the Gulf Stream might be failing, an event that would trigger cataclysmic freezing in Britain for decades.” Meric Srokosz of the Southampton Oceanographic Centre, explaining the purpose of the $31 million Rapid Watch system he is heading up, does just that, citing the plotline of “The Day After Tomorrow” - specifically the collapse of the Gulf Stream - as a potential occurrence that warrants further investigation. From Treehugger.com and The Observer.

3. Finishing Touches Birth Special Effects. Photo Yohji Yamamoto, Mens FW 08, Style.com.

4. High Tech High Touch in Living Breathing Action. Image from Nau.com’s trademark “webfronts,” which is their idea of recognizing how the internet has changed consumer’s buying behavior.

5. Cross Marketing/Collaborations in Unlikely Places/Partners Creating Phenomenal Hybrids. From Designspotter and Globus by Michiel Van der Kley.

These are but a few of the macro trends I allude to during my strategy sessions or across the year in trend newsletters, reports and product development/programming strategy sessions.

Let me know if you have questions about how the above references might effect your planning for 08-2010, any initiatives that Trendbites publisher, the kimbro agency, may help you support in ‘08 and/or if you’d like to subscribe to any number of Trendbites’ sister, Trendcites (rhymes with bites!), publications.

We do trend newsletters, customized trend reports, product development strategizing and implementation, marketing consulting,
color palettes and by request only, show reports.

You can reach me by email at kim@trendcites.com.

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This time from the New York times….they’ve managed to get the back story on this and it’s worth everyone’s time to read all about it. They pretty much corraborate everything I’ve been saying and in the process give you even more places to get your very own customized walking sign post….and while these are good, my favorites are still the Sting V Tee I show a few posts back in my very own blog and the Videos on T shirts (also shown on Trendbites). Maybe it’s time for me to do my own Trendbites t-shirt and get this off my chest once and for all. (wait do I mean on my chest, or out of my system and onto my chest?). Anybody got any ideas for a Trendbites logoed t shirt?

I am thinking maybe a black t shirt with the blue Trendbites lettering and an apple with a bite out of it swinging off the S? What do you think of that?

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This T-shirt line is out of London, and brings with it an extra Kick. House of Holland by Henry Holland who collaborates with Kickers according to Susie Bubble of StyleBubble blog is now one of fashion’s darlings and consequently we have yet another fantastic t-shirt style to choose from and these promise to get paired with more accessories so now it’s not just the t-shirt that is so much fun (but still, can’t do one without the other, right?). Read Holland’s biography on his website, House of Holland, and it will all become clear.

You could say what is with me and the t shirt references? Well, you could say that, but I’d say can you get enough of them? Do you have a favorite source yourself? I’ve mentioned t-shirts since the first of June and I’ve run across nothing but t-shirt references and happenings since. So, I’d say t-shirts are such a permanent and fantastic and at times extreme form of expression we could call it The Blank Slate of Canvas for the Masses…..do you have another better handle for it? If you do, we would all like to hear what it is.

Also note the leggings over the knee, tights over the knee, whatever….it’s the new new thing. Stock up if you haven’t already for fall….in all the right colors!

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