FAM Brands, the parent of Marika, has appointed John Spotts as EVP OF business development and licensing.
The fifteen-year career veteran Spotts comes to FAM Brands from the post of SVP international and licensing at Eddie Bauer, having previously held senior positions at Woolrich, Coleman, Equity Management, The Sharper Image and Franklin Covey.
FAM Brands manufactures branded and private label performance apparel. Besides Marika, it distributes Balance Collection, TEHÁMA, Peace and Pearls, Bally Total Fitness and most recently, La Vie Jet Setter, as well as licensed products featuring such labels as The Limited and Eddie Bauer.
“It’s clear from our outstanding results in the challenging market of the past few years that we have what it takes to elevate other brands and related products to new levels of success,” said FAM Brands’ CEO and owner, Frank Zarabi.
Over the past 30 years, FAM Brands has, indeed, achieved remarkable and sustained success with its original Marika active wear brand. In fact, with its subsidiary lines such as Balance by Marika and Marika Miracles, Marika has registered a total of over $3.5 billion in retail sales since 1982, with record sales of $250 million at retail in 2012 alone. The brand, which recently celebrated its role as a sponsor of the Entertainment Industry Foundation Revlon Run/Walk for Women, is registering double digit increases year after year due to its savvy marketing and design capabilities, ability to identify and cultivate the very hot, shape-enhancing active wear category, ownership of seventeen patents and attention to quality and affordability. An immediate goal of Spotts will be to license this well-recognized super star name, Marika to related products in thirty-five categories that will benefit from its recognition and reputation, including but not limited to footwear, apparel, accessories, eyewear, gym bags, luggage and totes, beauty products, and home and lifestyle categories. The Marika licensing program is off and running, having recently signed Weisner Products, Inc. for men's, women's and children's socks. In addition, FAM has successfully launched its own Marika brand extension into fitness accessories.
In 2012, FAM Brands built on this remarkable success to take ownership of, and bring its branding expertise to bear on:
· Bally Total Fitness the prestigious fitness brand that for many years was almost synonymous with “fitness center,” where the focus will be on exercise and cardio equipment, energy bars and supplements, gym bags, duffle bags and back packs and other lifestyle products.
· TEHÁMA, which will re-launch in 2013 as a premier men’s and women’s lifestyle collection drawing heavily on its golfing roots
· The sophisticated women’s brand Peace and Pearls, which launched as a FAM Brand in fall 2012 with a comprehensive collection of woven blouses, beaded knit tops, skirts pants and jackets
· The children’s brand La Vie Jetsetter
“In the past months we have had the opportunity to acquire four exceptional additional brands,” Zarabi said. “We have also had the good fortune to welcome to our senior management as Executive Vice President of Business Development and Licensing an industry professional with outstanding credentials. John Spotts has a stellar track record in the business. We are delighted that he has agreed to join us.”
“FAM Brands is a remarkable company and I was not only attracted to the company's outstanding leadership, I see this as a rare opportunity to capitalize on the apparel market's hottest lifestyle trend which is active wear, shape wear and active lifestyle apparel,” he says. “Across the FAM brands portfolio, we have identified over sixty categories that are a logical ft for the brand to be licensed. Combined with FAM's relationships with the nation's largest and strongest retailers representing over 15,000 doors, it is a powerful licensing formula—strong brands, a hot category and access to leading retailers. In the past few years-in the face of a challenging economy- FAM and its brands have become market leaders in the active wear category and turned in a consistently impressive record of growth, based on a real feel for the market and products that are well-conceived, well-manufactured and skillfully merchandised. I look forward to working with Zarabi, Robert Stone, the director of licensing located at FAM's Manhattan-based satellite office and with our licensing agent, Excel to achieve even greater success in the coming years.”
“Having John join the FAM team is going to be a tremendous step forward in our brand building strategy. I have known John for years and I look forward to his vast knowledge in taking what Frank, myself and his team have started,” adds Stone, who has worked with FAM for over 10 years in the areas of strategic planning and licensing.
