Applause LLC, once a dominant player in delivering toys to the gift store market, plans to sell its name to rival company Russ Berrie & Co. for $4 million.  A little over a month after Applause founder and CEO Bob Solomon committed suicide, Applause filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 23rd.  Since Applause owes nearly $8 million, the sale of its name wipes at least half of the slate clean; and the company has retained the rights to the name of its R. Dakin & Co. subsidiary, but its range of products has been severely curtailed.

Back in the 1990s, Applause was a leader in the sales of licensed merchandise with the rights to Batman, Star Wars, Looney Tunes, and numerous Disney properties.  Now the company is left with only Snoopy and Raggedy Ann and Andy, along with its proprietary Dream Pets.

Many pop culture retailers dealt directly with Applause, which had a series of regional reps, during the merchandising boom following the first Batman film in 1989.