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Article published Jan 31, 2007

Jan 31, 2007

Licensing business based in Lexington is growing

by WILLIAM KEESLER
The Dispatch

Many uptown storefronts give little hint of the business going on in the offices upstairs.

On the top floor of the Belk/Vestal Building on South Main Street, the former location of the Belk-Martin department store, is a marketing and licensing company that owns and manages brands accounting for more than $100 million in annual sales in more than 7,500 retail stores and catalogs and on the Internet.

The business announced Monday that it will change its name from Dick Idol Ventures to Regan Williams Licensing Group and will operate as the strategic licensing arm of Raleigh-based consumer public relations and marketing firm French/West/Vaughan. Regan Williams will no longer manage Idol's wildlife art business but retains licensing rights for the use of his artwork in consumer products.

"I think more than anything, it puts a clearer focus on our company, on what we're trying to do," Steve Regan, president of Regan Williams Licensing Group, said Tuesday of the changes.

The privately held company opened in High Point seven years ago to license and market products related to the artwork of Idol, who grew up in Kernersville and lives in Montana. But the business has added many more brands, including the World Vineyards furniture line distributed by Klaussner, the Cabana Joe's tropical home products line, Wild Wings' portfolio of more than 50 outdoor-oriented artists and a soon-to-be-introduced home line from Genevieve Gorder, star of the television show "Trading Spaces."

Lexington wildlife artist Mike Helsabeck credits Regan with setting up a New York meeting last year that led to Wild Wings' decision to handle his artwork.

The Belk/Vestal building, renovated by Barry Owen, was a natural place to relocate two years ago. Regan can remember going there as a child to visit his mother, Jearlean Regan, when she worked as a secretary for Hughes Martin, Belk's partner in the former department store. Jim Williams, the licensing company's chief marketing officer, is the great-grandson of Daisy Belk Stevens, a Belk family member, and Frank Stevens, who ran the Belk-Stevens group of department stores. Regan, from central Davidson, spent 17 years in retailing with Zimmerman's department store and National Outlet stores before going into licensing. Williams, of Winston-Salem, formerly worked for Sara Lee.

On the building's third floor, above the former department store mezzanine, Regan Williams has five people working in offices handsomely furnished with its licensed products. In addition to Regan and Williams, there is Blair Crouse, the chief financial officer; Kristie Regan, Steve Regan's daughter-in-law, who heads design and product development; and Megan Swing, who works with design and the Web site, www.rwglicensing.com.

The business is owned by Steve Regan, Crouse, Williams, Rick French, who is president and chief executive officer of French/West/Vaughn, and others.

"As an affiliate, we plan to aggressively market RWG and further drive its growth by facilitating introductions to companies with whom we do business," French said in a news release.

"This partnership gives us the valuable opportunity to offer our clients a licensing development and consulting capability, and reinforces our commitment to remaining at the forefront of marketing innovation."

Regan said the affiliation with French/West/Vaughn "is opening a lot of doors for us." Negotiations are under way with a department store chain to stock cookware and tabletop products licensed by Lorena Garcia, a Miami-based chef with shows on Telemundo, the Spanish language TV network.

Send mail to webmaster@rwglicensing.com with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2006 RWG Licensing, LLC Last modified: 05/14/07

Send mail to webmaster@rwglicensing.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2006 RWG Licensing, LLC
Last modified: 05/14/07