Entertainment Tie-ins / Licensing

With two Pixar movies hitting theaters this year — Inside Out (June 19) and The Good Dinosaur (November 25) — Disney Consumer Products has a slate of innovative new toys in the works for retailers.

Both movies will have robust toy lines from Japaneses licensee TOMY, whose innovative approach, strength in international markets and ability to reflect Pixar’s unique storytelling in its product lines made them the ideal choice for Pixar Animation Studios’ most exciting year yet, the company said.

New York -- Bloomingdale’s is celebrating the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) 64th NBA All-Star Game in a big way with 16 basketball-inspired in-store pop-up shops filled with NBA team and All-Star merchandise.

After a successful collaboration with the NFL last year, Bloomingdale's is turning its eye to the basketball court by teaming up with the NBA for the 2015 All-Star Game.

Bloomingdale's will set up 16 basketball-inspired pop-up shops at its stores across the country and on bloomingdales.com/nba. The store will offer fans retro-era jerseys, vintage graphic T-shirts, accessories from brands like Mitchell & Ness, Sportique, #BEENTRILL#, and Stance, and a special bomber jackets designed by Mark McNairy.

Ace Hardware is set to launch a “Free Store Pickup” program this April and has chosen PGA tour player Hunter Mahan to serve as pitchman for the omnichannel initiative.

The deal with six-time winner Mahan marks the first time the nation’s largest hardware cooperative has teamed with a professional athlete on an endorsement deal.

Lebanon, Tenn. – Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is taking a decidedly new-fangled approach to promotion. The casual dining chain has enlisted Nashville-based advertising agency Redpepper to create a holiday-themed social marketing campaign.   The promotion targets a younger, more social demographic with Facebook posts. Some posts in the campaign have received more than 10,000 interactions.

Sam’s Club is hoping the popularity of author Nicolas Sparks translates to would-be furniture buyers as the warehouse club has launched a new furniture line with a design aesthetic inspired by Sparks’ latest novel.

Las Vegas - Through Dec. 31, Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino is broadcasting a series of special holiday greetings from prominent Las Vegas personalities, headliners and show cast members on its LED screens at the heart of Las Vegas Boulevard.

The person behind the retro marketing campaign at RadioShack is out.

Jennifer Warren, chief marketing officer at RadioShack, is the latest top executive to leave the troubled electronics retailer as it tries to stave off bankruptcy. The company recently replaced its CFO for the third time this year as it reshuffled restructuring advisers.

Warren joined RadioShack in April 2013 and was one of CEO Joe Magnacca’s first hires when he was putting together his turnaround team.

Macy’s “Believe” holiday campaign took an online turn this year, and customers enthusiastically responded.

The retailer broke a Guinness record by having customers have the chance to create and send a digital letter to Santa to benefit Make-A-Wish while having the opportunity to participate in Macy’s Guinness World Records official attempt for the longest wish list to Santa.

New York - The Brits are no slouches when it comes to holiday advertisements.

The competition between British retail giants to come up with the most compelling TV ad grows more intense every holiday season.

This year, the biggest initial buzz was created by Sainsbury, with its depiction of the famous Christmas truce on the battlefields of World War I.