Shoe Co. and Marvel Entertainment, Inc., which is celebrating the 70th
anniversary of its founding in 1939, have entered into a new license agreement
to bring characters from Marvel's upcoming slate of feature films to kids, men
and women through several footwear collections. The lines will include athletics,
casual shoes, sport sandals, beach and EVA sandals, seasonal boots and slippers. he movies include Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, and The Avengers.
“Marvel's
rich world of Super Heroes and Super Villains, action and adventure has been
part of people's lives for decades. Through this footwear partnership, we can
give fans even greater access to the characters they love,” said Brown
Shoe Wholesale President Gary Rich.
The first
collections will debut at retail in Spring 2010 in toddler, youth and young
adult sizes and will include footwear based on Marvel's self-produced Iron Man
2 (scheduled release date May 7, 2010). Future collections will include
merchandise featuring characters from other major event films, including the
Marvel produced Thor (scheduled release date May 20, 2011), The First Avenger:
Captain
(expected release date July 22, 2011) and The Avengers (expected release date
May 4, 2012.)
“We
are excited to enter into a strategic licensing agreement with Brown Shoe for a
collection of footwear around these major event films,” said Paul Gitter,
President of Consumer Products for
Marvel Entertainment. “This agreement bolsters our overall strategy to
expand the presence of the Marvel brand and our popular Super Hero franchises
into key distribution channels. Increasing our presence in the footwear
category will help fuel continued awareness for the Marvel brand and will
further maximize the retail exposure for these phenomenal film
properties.”
Brown
Shoe will debut the footwear for retailers beginning in June, and the shoes are
slated to be in stores for Spring 2010.
