M.J. Soffe Co. has signed a licensing agreement with Vital Apparel, under which Vital will produce a line of sports-themed and fashion coordinated accessories for young junior girls under the Soffe brand. Vital will product the goods under the ProMarx division, a leading accessory vendor that it acquired last year.

“Accessories are a growing and profitable category at retail and Soffe is a great brand for the junior girl. She is already coming into the store to buy her Soffes and now we can accessorize her once she's in the door,” said Kerry Kligerman, president of Vital.

“This is a great way to enhance our brand and gets us into the accessory business with one of the top providers in the marketplace,” said Jim Soffe, CEO of M.J. Soffe.

At retail, the Soffe accessories with be merchandised together with the shorts and other apparel on the same fixtures, creating easy access for the consumer and providing a multiple-item buy opportunity for the retailer.

Vital's sales force will sell the line into sporting goods and sports specialty stores, while the Soffe sales force will handle sales for department stores.