{"id":12232,"date":"2019-01-24T16:16:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T22:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=12232"},"modified":"2019-01-24T16:16:18","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T22:16:18","slug":"zuru-acquires-funvilles-sparkle-girlz-doll-brand-to-grow-the-magic-in-the-doll-aisle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2019\/01\/24\/zuru-acquires-funvilles-sparkle-girlz-doll-brand-to-grow-the-magic-in-the-doll-aisle\/","title":{"rendered":"ZURU Acquires Funville&#8217;s Sparkle Girlz Doll Brand To Grow The Magic In The Doll Aisle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"xn-location\">LOS ANGELES<\/span>,\u00a0<span class=\"xn-chron\">Jan. 24, 2019<\/span>\u00a0\/PRNewswire\/ &#8212;\u00a0Leading international toy and consumer products company,\u00a0<u><a href=\"https:\/\/c212.net\/c\/link\/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=2356082-1&amp;h=2704803996&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fzuru.com%2F&amp;a=ZURU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ZURU<\/a><\/u>, is excited to announce the company&#8217;s acquisition of\u00a0<i>Sparkle Girlz<\/i>, the 10-year old doll brand developed by\u00a0<span class=\"xn-person\">Danuta Saville<\/span>\u00a0as Funville.\u00a0 The Sparkle Girlz brand vision was to create a stronger presence of magic, imagination and sparkle in the doll category. The brand features an extensive range of products that incorporate fun, fantasy and fashion into a variety of dolls. Sparkle Girlz has seen strong brand growth since its beginnings, now distributing its products globally.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12233\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12233\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-12233\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ZURU_Sparkle_Girlz.jpg?resize=640%2C859\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"859\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12233\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toy and consumer products company ZURU (https:\/\/zuru.com\/) acquired Sparkle Girlz; the brand features an extensive range of products that incorporate fun, fantasy and fashion into a variety of dolls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1\">\n<p><span class=\"xn-person\">Anna Mowbray<\/span>, COO of ZURU, explains the strategy behind the acquisition, &#8220;The brand is a perfect fit to the ZURU model. Exceptional quality and design at affordable prices. I see so much synergy between what\u00a0<span class=\"xn-person\">Danuta and John Saville<\/span>\u00a0have developed alongside the passion, creativity and business success of ZURU.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1\">\n<p>Mowbray continued, &#8220;We have exciting product development plans and marketing initiatives that we know will rapidly grow and elevate the brand and look forward to adding this range to our girls portfolio.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The integration of Sparkle Girlz into ZURU does not only boast a win for ZURU, but Funville also.<\/p>\n<p>Founder\u00a0<span class=\"xn-person\">Danuta Saville<\/span>\u00a0commented, &#8220;The success of ZURU coupled with the drive of a young, dynamic and visionary team makes them a great partner in driving the Sparkle Girlz brand forward.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For\u00a0<span class=\"xn-person\">John Saville<\/span>, Director of Funville, he too looks forward to a new venture with ZURU. &#8220;After 49 years in the toy industry I am delighted to see this exciting progression of the Sparkle Girlz brand. I know the brand will grow phenomenally with ZURU behind it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The extensive product range includes iconic themed dolls such as fairies and\u00a0princesses, hair styling unicorns, baby dolls, interactive play sets, castles, surprise collectables and more. The brand also works to integrate environmentally friendly packaging into more of its products.\u00a0 The brand is particularly proud of the exemplary cone packaging design in one of its doll lines, which removed the presence of single use plastic. The innovative design has been globally recognized as a pioneering example of movement towards sustainable packaging.<\/p>\n<p>The dolls category is valued at\u00a0<span class=\"xn-money\">USD$1.8 Billion<\/span>\u00a0and has grown 13.1% since 2017. Play patterns surrounding dolls show no sign of slowing down as they continue to hold a key role in instilling creativity, empathy and compassion in children. Sparkle Girlz have a stable presence in all sub-categories providing huge opportunities for ZURU to continue developing the brand in partnership with Danuta.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES,\u00a0Jan. 24, 2019\u00a0\/PRNewswire\/ &#8212;\u00a0Leading international toy and consumer products company,\u00a0ZURU, is excited to announce the company&#8217;s acquisition of\u00a0Sparkle Girlz, the 10-year old&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[429,428],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ZURU_Sparkle_Girlz-e1548368143695.jpg?fit=1984%2C2662","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12543,"url":"http:\/\/popculturenetwork.com\/wordpress\/2019\/02\/06\/snapstar-social-media-doll-from-yulu-debuts-exclusively-at-walmart-in-advance-of-new-york-toy-fair\/","url_meta":{"origin":12232,"position":0},"title":"#SNAPSTAR Social Media Doll From YULU Debuts Exclusively At Walmart In Advance Of New York Toy Fair","author":"DiRT","date":"February 6, 2019","format":"image","excerpt":"Fashion Doll & Social Influencer Brand for Today's 'Tweens Uses Green Screen Technology & Customizable App LOS ANGELES,\u00a0Feb. 6, 2019\u00a0\/PRNewswire\/ -- YULU, the international toy and entertainment company, announced today that Walmart is the exclusive retailer to launch its #SNAPSTAR fashion doll brand. 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