HIT Entertainment Digital Newsroom

PS Brands & HIT Entertainment Partner to Put Their Best Feet Forward with New Thomas & Friends™ Socks & Crib Shoes in the US

08/30/2011

New York, NY

HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality children's entertainment, and PS Brands, LLC are pleased to announce today a new partnership for Thomas & Friends™ character socks and crib shoes. Starting November 2011, PS Brands will market and manufacture the new line for mass market and mid-tier retailers and specialty stores.

Thomas & Friends remains a leading preschool brand. For the 10th consecutive year, Thomas & Friends™ was the number one license in the preschool toys category in the United States, according to The NPD Group, Inc. Thomas & Friends also holds the #1 spot for top preschool property and it was a top 10 property in the entire toy industry for 2010¹, according to NPD.

"PS Brands is a top partner for licensed character socks and crib shoes, and we are thrilled to have them on board for Thomas & Friends," said Gabriela Arenas, Vice President, US Consumer Products, Thomas Division, HIT Entertainment. "Their innovative, colorful and fun designs capture the spirit of the Thomas brand, and kids will love wearing their new socks featuring the #1 blue engine and his engine friends."

"We are excited to create this new line of socks and crib shoes for Thomas the Tank Engine, a classic evergreen character and favorite to children for the past 65 years," according to Elie Levy, CEO of PS Brands/Planet Sox. "Thomas & Friends will be a great addition to our character license business."

About PS Brands, LLC
PS Brands, LLC, is a leading designer, manufacturer & importer of private label, branded and character family socks and related accessories, started in 1994 with our proprietary brands; Candy Girl® and Planet Sox®. In 2005, we expanded into Character Socks, with licenses from Disney, Nickelodeon, Smurfs, Barbie, Yo Gabba Gabba, and many more. In 2008, we expanded our product assortment into, Sunglasses, Flip Flops & Slippers with character licenses such as, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Care Bears, Betty Boop and many more. In 2009, in an effort to strengthen our sock distribution into Mid Tier, Sporting Goods and Shoe chains, we entered the branded sock business with iconic brands such as Fila, Esprit, Beverly Hills Sport, Coleman and TapouT. For more information, please visit www.planetsox.com.

About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading independent children's entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Thomas & Friends™, Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™, Mike the Knight™, Pingu™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment's Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™, Timmy Time™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT's lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, Sprout®. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com.

To download artwork, please visit www.hitnewsonline.com.

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¹Source: The NPD Group / Consumer Tracking Service