Retailers – The GLA Advantage

When selecting a licensing consultant to help you navigate the licensing terrain, whom you choose can be the ultimate difference between success and failure. And, with many retailers in the Direct-To-Retail license game today, achieving success also means beating out considerable competitors for the few top brands that are open to the DTR arrangement. As your licensing consultant, GLA will provide you with a distinct advantage over your competition in the DTR arena. We’ve built our record of success on the following set of attributes/achievements.

• An impressive track record in major license acquisitions, having engineered over 350 deals that have generated billions of dollars in sales with some of the most powerful brands in the market since the company’s inception in 1984
• Strong relationships with the decision-makers at numerous powerhouse brands, and an ability to get to decision-makers if the contacts do not currently exist
• An ability to uncover opportunities before the market does through effective use of networking and relationship building based on a high level of trust
• Preferential treatment of GLA’s clients by many brand owners who turn to GLA when filling their licensing needs because of the many market-leading companies GLA represents
• Persuasiveness when it comes to brand owners that are reluctant to license their brands to a client or entrust their brands to one specific retailer
• Powerful negotiating skills that are used to oftentimes more than offset the compensation GLA receives from its clients and significantly reduce the attorneys’ fees our clients might otherwise incur
• Expertise in licensing document preparation (including deal point memos, business plans, marketing plans, license agreements, etc.)
• Specialist in major brand license acquisition (fashion, sport, lifestyle, corporate, celebrity, influencers, etc.) as compared to many licensing consultants who concentrate on character or entertainment licenses
• A recognized industry leader and authority with close to 100 years combined experience in licensing (either as a licensor, licensee or as licensing agents/consultants) among its three partners
• A keen sense of being able to select the “right” brand(s) to suit a client’s needs, including an acute knowledge of which brands are currently strong, which are on their way up, and which are on their way down
• An extensive brand database and a highly skilled research department capable of uncovering comprehensive information about almost every important brand
• A brand owner screening/vetting process on behalf of clients to help ensure a long-lasting and mutually beneficial partnership
• The freedom of knowing a top-notch licensing consulting company is working on the licensing and brand acquisition functions on your behalf, allowing management to better spend their time running their businesses
• A meticulous, thorough, and disciplined approach to licensing, which pervades every aspect of GLA’s services
• A guerrilla approach to license acquisition. For example, rather than assume a license is not available because the category is being handled in-house, GLA will, in some cases, demonstrate to the brand owner why it could be more advantageous to license out or sell a particular division.
• An ability to help maximize the strengths of a licensed business or acquired brand by advising clients on the most effective utilization of a brand owner’s marketing, social media, merchandising, and distribution programs; i.e., knowing what support to get from a brand owner
• A keen understanding of what brand owners generally expect of a licensee or are looking for in a licensee (beyond what may be apparent), having had extensive experience in the representation of brand owners
• A team player with a client’s legal, design, marketing and accounting staffs or outside organizations (many of GLA’s clients even have in-house licensing executives charged with license acquisitions, yet still choose to engage GLA for a variety of reasons)
• The strong merchandising and business strategy skills of Chuck Gilman (CEO of GLA), honed during his prior career as Principal and CEO of a well-respected, successful Seventh Avenue apparel company and during his 35 years as CEO of GLA
• A reputation for maintaining integrity of the highest degree
• A willingness to be paid on a success-only basis (if the client qualifies), such that we only do well if you do well
• A long list of satisfied clients. Feel free to contact us for references.