Walmart maintains its No. 1 position on Interbrand’s U.S. Most Valuable Retail Brands list for this year. Amazon.com maintains the No. 9 position, but increased its brand value by 32 percent—the largest riser on this year’s list.

The Best Retail Brands report ranks the top 50 U.S. retail brands by brand value, as well as the top retail brands from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and the Asia Pacific. The U.S. brands are valued for the fourth time in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand. Looking beyond the U.S. list, Tesco, Carrefour, Aldi, Zara, and Woolworths are ranked as the No. 1 retailer in their respective markets—all holding their top spots from last year.

There were several shifts in the U.S. top 10. Walmart is still No. 1 by a huge margin, with a brand value more than US $139 billion, down 2 percent from last year. Target holds on to the No. 2 position with a value of US $23 billion, up 1 percent from last year. The Home Depot maintains its hold on No. 3, while CVS/pharmacy moves up to No. 4, surpassing Best Buy, which experienced an 11 percent decline in brand value and falls to No. 5 on the list. Walgreens remains at No. 6, while Coach’s 16 percent increase propels them to No. 7, now ahead of Sam’s Club (No. 8). Top riser Amazon.com is No. 9 and eBay moves into the top 10 for the first time. eBay replaces Dell, which falls off the list due to the fact it no longer meets the criteria for the list with less than 50 percent of its revenues from sales through its branded retail locations.

Click here to see the release with the full list of 50 Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brands for 2012.

Comic-Con International has brought franchises including Voltron, Captain America, and Star Trek, to the estimated 125,000 comic fans gathered in San Diego July 21-24, while toymakers have embraced the opportunity to funnel exclusive licensed merchandise to collectors.

Toy companies like Mattel and Hasbro offer exclusive merchandise presented in unique packaging that committed collectors would appreciate, according to Gregory Schmidt’s New York Times article about toymakers at Comic-Con. “Packaging is not just something to hold the figure,” said Frank Varela, an art director for Mattel, in the article. “Packaging enhances the experience of having the toy. It harkens to nostalgia for the fan boys.”

Along with Swamp Thing and Voltron toys, Mattel comes to Comic-Con with a 20-inch replica of the Stay-Puft Marshamallow Man from Ghostbusters, with a city diorama and packaged inside a box resembling a suitcase. Mattel also brings two Hot Wheels vehicles, including the DeLorean from Back to the Future with a movie diorama.

Hasbro brings a Star Wars set that includes 12 action figures in a box designed to look like the Death Star. The company will also display Ultimate Optimus Prime, Marvel Universe Sentinel, Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and the new Kre-O brand, which is making its Comic-Con debut with 12 building sets featuring Transformers characters.

Despite the current temperatures this week (96º in NYC), Comic-Con isn’t always so hot for film studios.

Comic-Con attendees can generate negative buzz that hurts a film, said Tim Palen, Lionsgate’s president for theatrical marketing, in an AdAge.com article by Andrew Hampp.

“If the fans don’t think something is cool, they will let you know—instantly, and passionately,” Palen told Ad Age. “So if you come to Comic-Con, you’d better have the goods, because there are other opportunities to launch, and it’s very hard to recover from bad Comic-Con buzz.”

Mid-sized studios Lionsgate and Relativity Media are presenting at least four movies each, showing screenings or selected content from their upcoming releases, while Warner Bros., Disney, and DreamWorks stayed home this year.

Relativity announced at Comic-Con that it has optioned the feature film rights for Voltron from World Event Productions. The studio will adapt the live-action big screen version from the 1984 animated series Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Comic-Con is big for Voltron this year, as the franchise made it Comic-Con panel debut Thursday with a presentation of new and classic Voltron content.

Dissenting from the worry of other big studios, Sony has a panel for 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man movie and is advertising the Ghost Rider sequel. Comic-Con also scored participation from Summit Entertainment with a panel for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Universal with a Cowboys and Aliens premiere, and Paramount with a Captain America: The First Avenger screening and a panel for The Adventures of Tintin. Audience members of Captain America will receive RealD 3D Collector’s custom red, white, and blue Captain America glasses, a limited-edition poster, and a grand prize package of Captain America merchandise and other Marvel items given away to an audience member at each screening.

Television properties have a presence at Comic-Con as well. Nickelodeon, Toynami, and vinyl toy brand Unkl partnered to create co-branded SpongeBob SquarePants urban vinyl toys, modeled after Unkl’s UniPo figures, available this fall. Toynami unveiled working prototypes of the first wave of figures at Comic-Con, which will include SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and The Flying Dutchman. Nickelodeon Consumer Products also unveiled a new lineup of toys from Jazwares for Fanboy and Chum Chum, available in August from Toys “R” Us.

CBS has come to the convention with exclusive sneak peeks, signings, and limited-edition products based on its television brands, including Star Trek, CSI, NCIS, Dexter, Charmed, Cheers, and The Twilight Zone. Since these TV properties have been long-established and don’t face the same need movies have to garner buzz and then box office sales, TV shows seem to cater to the collector in a similar way as the toy companies. CBS attends Comic-Con to reach its audience directly, said Liz Kalodner, executive vice president and general manager of CBS Consumer Products. “By offering these exclusive items we can reward our greatest fans with products that can’t be found anywhere else.”

—Melissa Tinklepaugh

Walmart Will Share Sales Data

Big news from the retail front, where Walmart has agreed to share sales data with research organizations through Nielson & Co.

Walmart previously kept sales data to itself, leading research firms to use consumer panel data and advanced modeling to estimate the mega-retailer’s packaged-good sales totals.

Nielsen’s Niffer Frighetto told Advertising Age‘s Jack Neff that sales data will be available in a “few months,” and that the data will cover sales from U.S. Walmart stores, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club, and will include some historical data.

NHL Announces A Good Number of Deals

The National Hockey League, of which the Boston Bruins are champions, announced 23 new licensees at its annual licensing and trade show Wednesday and Thursday.

New licensees include A&E Group for outerwear; Coveroo for cell phone covers; and Levelwear for apparel and outerwear in Canada. Franklin Sports also signed a renewal agreement for its two-decade partnership to create NHL Street Hockey Gear.

Did we mention that the Bruins won the Stanley Cup?

—Bryan Joiner

An article by New York Times reporter Stuart Elliott confirmed what any parent or consumer of press releases knows: back-to-school is starting earlier as retailers adjust to the rules of the new economy. Under these rules, consumers seem to make fewer trips to stores, so retailers have every incentive to get them to come to their store or find them online. Walmart announced today that it is slashing prices on back-to-school and back-to-college items, going as far to specifically note that Toy Story and Cars licensed backpack/lunch sets would be available on Walmart.com.

Elliott’s report mentions retailers, including Kmart, boasting “Christmas in July” sales, which dovetails with a reporter in yesterday’s Times by Stephanie Clifford which found grocery chains offering bulk deals to consumers in order to maximize in-store revenue. Clifford said grocery chain executives found that “in this economy, with people visiting stores less frequently, spending less per trip and sticking to their shopping lists more closely, the competition to offer more compelling deals is stronger than ever.” And that’s for food!

In this context, it makes sense that Walmart would offer its licensed back-to-school product cheap online while advertising cheap in-store goods. It’s easy to justify the purchase of a Toy Story or Cars item for slightly more money than a generic item when you’re at home, and haven’t spent the time or money to go to the store. Once a consumer is in the store, the inclination to buy generic could take over—the idea of saving a lot of money all at once is appealing, as grocers have discovered.

A Dow Jones Newswires article by Karen Talley hinted that retailers walk a knife-edge while trying to entice consumers to spend money for back-to-school items when those same consumers are used to dirt-cheap promotions around BTS time. In the article, Kit Yarrow, a professor of psychology at Golden Gate University, says that “Parents are going to be shocked and disappointed by the price of goods. They’re going to make sure their kids are outfitted, but won’t go beyond their budgets like they have in the past.

Of course, the entire licensing industry is predicated on the notion that parents will, in fact, go beyond their budgets, if only a little bit. And there’s proof that it’s happening, even now, with Mattel’s Cars 2 merchandise sales pushing company earnings up 56 percent from Q2 last year, which is proof that consumers are rational even in tough times: Even while cutting back on food, it’s worth spending the extra few dollars on a Mater backpack. Retailers might take a hit on BTS merchandise sales, and consumers might spend less, but the best licensors will remain resilient as always.

Target’s Funky New Partnership

Target has teamed with the Hamilton Wood & Type museum of Two Rivers, Wisc., for an apparel line.

Wait… what?

According to an article in The Atlantic by Steven Heller, Target’s Michael Alexin “fell in love” with the museum after seeing a film about it, and set out to create a partnership. The campaign is based around the tagline “Cool Never Fades” and is banking that consumers will know and love old typography enough to see it as a funky retro brand. The line debuted last week, and is perfect for, as Alexin says (wait for it)… Target’s back-to-school collection.

J-Lo and Marc Anthony: Off, but Still On at Kohl’s

Horrors! Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony may have split, but their clothing line at Kohl’s will move ahead as scheduled.

In a Daily Mail article by Tamara Abraham, LF USA’s Rick Darling (LIMA 2011 keynote speaker) says that the launch will remain unaffected. “‘We have two separate agreements with Jennifer and Marc and always intended to have separate lines. [Their split] doesn’t impact the agreements in any way.” LF USA sublicenses the brands to Kohl’s.

You may rest easy.

LIMA Elects Six New Reps to Board of Directors

The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association has added six members to its Board of Directors.

Joining the LIMA Board are:

• Susie Lecker, SVP of Fisher-Price Friends, FP Brands
• Marty Malysz, President, Dependable Solutions, Inc.
• Carla Peyton, SVP, Licensed Consumer Products – The Americas, BBC Worldwide America
• Jennifer Richmond, Managing Director, Richmond Management Group
• James Slifer, VP, Business Development – The Joester Loria Group
• Cheryl Stoebenau, President, CAS Marketing

Leaving the board are Spin Master’s Adam Beder; Making Connections’ Rick Mallow; Marketing on Demand’s Stu Seltzer; Mattel’s Holly Stein; Strand IP’s Robert Strand; and Konami Digital Entertainment’s Careen Yapp.

—Bryan Joiner

Through December 19, Walmart’s Toyland is in nearly all stores nationwide, with savings on thousands of toys.  With the addition of Toyland, Walmart now has the largest square-footage dedicated to toys among all retailers and features many of the year’s hottest toys.

Walmart announced yesterday that it is removing all Miley Cyrus jewelry from its stores, after it was determined that the products contain high amounts of cadmium. The Associated Press conducted its own testing on the jewelry and discovered that the jewelry contained dangerous levels of the ingredient.

Though it is safe to wear cadmium, the danger comes if it is ingested. Since young children may put the jewelry in their mouths, Walmart determined the best course of action would be to remove the products entirely.
Walmart will continue its investigation into the product’s safety, but in the meantime, the products will be removed from the store.

The Associated Press conducted its test on 61 samples bought nationwide and found that they contained high amounts of the element. Out of 61 jewelry pieces, 59 contained at least 5 percent cadmium and 53 contained 51 percent.

The product line, which was a Walmart exclusive, consisted of necklaces and bracelets.

Check out the related Associated Press story here.

Chorion has signed a raft of new licensing and promotional deals for The World of Eric Carle in the U.S., Canada, and Japan.

In an exclusive promotional campaign with PictureMe Portrait Studios, parents will be able to have their children’s portraits framed in a range of exclusive new designs featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The PictureMe Portrait Studios promotion runs across 1,800 Walmart stores in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico from April 7 – June 22 and is supported by promotional flyers, counter-top displays, email marketing, and coupons in portrait envelopes. The new designs can be seen online.

In a separate deal, Stride Rite Children’s Group, LLC is collaborating with Chorion to bring the artwork of Eric Carle to little feet. Featuring characters from Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Caterpillar in classic silhouettes, the collection by Stride Rite is for children from ages 9 months to 2 years. The shoes are launching in U.S. Stride Rite and specialty store locations this fall.

Additionally, Google is now making its Google Doodle T-shirt featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar available for purchase online,  for a limited time in infant and adult sizes.

Viking ships have docked in NY for this movie. Walmart has unveiled dragon-sized promotions and floor space for this movie. After all the hype about the new DreamWorks film, How to Train Your Dragon, the wait is finally over. The movie is in theaters today!

Check it out this weekend, and check out your local Walmart for an awesome in-store display, with everything from dragon-hooded pajamas to red-dragon-fire-stuffed Oreos to help you bring the awesomeness of the film home with you.

From TLB Publisher Laurie Schacht:

This morning, instead of going directly to my office, I made a stop in Times Square, which was overrun by Vikings… could be a little scary… but they were all smiling, taking pictures and generally enjoying the fact that their big Viking Boat (40 ft) was grounded in the heart of NYC. (Since I’m a native New Yorker, I have to say it was grounded in the heart of America).

After taking a few pictures… trying to hear what actress America Ferrera (Ugly Betty and the voice of Astrid) was saying to the cameras, I had the pleasure of spending a few minutes with Walmart’s SVP and General Manager of Entertainment, Gary Severson.

So how does America’s giant retailer decide when and how much muscle to put behind a new movie launch/property, well, Gary gave me some insight.

There are a lot of great movies that come out every year, but not all translate into merchandise, specifically toys, very well. But the How to Train Your Dragon property has such appeal, especially to boys, that it was clear that this was something to look at. Dragons are a terrific play pattern, and there is a demand for this type of product. Compound this with the studio behind the movie, DreamWorks, and the first toy partner to see the potential—Spin Master—well Walmart knew that this could be something big.

This great partnership launches today in Walmarts around the country and in theaters this Friday. Will your kids love this movie? …the answer is yes! They will love the story about Hiccup, a Viking teenager who just doesn’t fit in and the dragon that challenges him and his fellow Vikings to look at the world differently. And, they will love the array of products that will be available at Walmart exclusively, such as toys (helmets and swords of course… made of foam), snacks, apparel, and other products to keep the story alive. We’ll see the DVDs later in the year so be ready to add it to your holiday list.

To celebrate the upcoming release of the new DreamWorks film How to Train Your Dragon, premiering on March 26, Vikings will be coming to New York City.

Next week, on Monday and Tuesday, March 22 and 23, a 40-foot Viking ship will “dock” in Times Square, at 7^th Avenue between 46^th & 47^th Street.

During the event, Vikings will entertain the audience in Times Square with a variety of activities and games while giving away a “boatload” of new How to Train Your Dragon products from Walmart and tickets to How to Train Your Dragon movie screenings. Scenes from the movie will also be broadcasted around the ship.

The event will run from 7 am to 5 pm both days, and America Ferrera, the voice of female Viking Astrid in the film, will be on board the giant ship Tuesday morning beginning at 8am to speak about her role in the film. Walmart and DreamWorks executives will also be available for interviews.

To hold you over until Monday, here’s the trailer: