Viz Inks Retail Pact with Borders, Hot Topic

by Calvin Reid, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 10/19/2006

U.S. manga publisher Viz Media has reached an exclusive retail agreement with Borders and Hot Topic, the national teen-focused retail chain, to offer a comprehensive line of merchandise based on Bleach, Viz's popular anime and manga property.

"Borders and Waldenbooks and Hot Topic are destinations for our core fans and are the perfect retailers to launch merchandise for Shonen Jump Bleach," said Carol Roeder, v-p, consumer products for Viz Media. Viz will continue to offer Bleach merchandise through its online store at Viz.com. Maria Comfort, senior v-p at Hot Topic, said, "Bleach already has a huge following among our customers," and Borders graphic novel buyer Kurt Hassler said, "We share the fans' enthusiasm for the license, and we're eager to provide additional merchandise."

Evelyn Dubocq, a Viz spokesperson, said Borders and Walden will begin selling a hooded sweatshirt and Bleach Wall scrolls immediately and in November will expand the variety of merchandise to include such items as messenger bags and T-shirts. Hot Topic will begin selling sweatshirts, T-shirts, key chains, figurines, messenger bags, stationary products and buttons. Dubocq said apparel items will be pre-packaged and relatively easy for stores to display.

Published in the U.S. since 2004, Bleach is the story of a teenage boy who can see ghosts. Already a popular manga property, the Bleach anime series debuted on the Cartoon Network in September with high ratings and a subsequent spike in the sales of the manga volumes. The Bleach manga series, available through Borders and Walden, has more than a million copies in print.