Old favourites can still call the tunes and the one Safeway has its bets on is Winnie the Pooh. Christmas category buyer Jayne Sorrell says: "Any Winnie the Pooh character is a winner. Our Christmas stocking is new for us and comes in Winnie the Pooh, Tigger or Eeyore. "Bob the Builder is turning out to be a strong character, but rather than the hot property when first launched, he, too, is turning into a classic, as are the Tweenies." Safeway will also have Bob the Builder, Tweenies, Hoobs and the Butt Ugly Martians in its repertoire, plus Harry Potter in various guises ­ crackers, bubble bath, toys, gift wrapping and confectionery. "We tend to get our successes from pre school ages and although Harry Potter books are aimed at a higher age, the film is lower. We don't think it will be as big as originally thought, but because there will be other books and films, it will turn into a premium product," says Sorrell. "Safeway will have a single aisle of Christmas lines merchandised together, and in that aisle there will be all our character merchandising. Because of the scale, it will probably only be available in 250 stores out of our total of 480. "We don't know what's going to happen in the second half of 2002 but in the first half we see Disney's Monsters Inc as a winner. It's going to be huge. It's also pitched for us at the right age group ­ four to six. We shall definitely be doing cards and wraps on that." Sainsbury bakery buyer Kathie Flannagan says that with licences you have to stay up to date. "We have two Harry Potter lines: the Quidditch and the Owl Messenger cookie kits which carry a strong price point of £4.99 compared to a £1.99 cake mix." Both kits are made by Kerry Foods who also produce Green's cake mixes. "A number of the home baking brands we take are licensed and aimed at kids. Half of the sector is aimed at them," says Flannagan. "Since we've had Bob the Builder muffin mix, it's become our number one selling line." {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}

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