Kids entertainment industry vet Debbie Ries (pictured), most recently GM of the wholesale division at PBS Distribution, has launched retail development and branding consulting firm DAPR Group with her daughters, Alexandra Ries and Patricia Ries.

The new outfit has already landed Canada’s The Licensing Shop as a client in a deal that will see Alexandra, former VP of sales, North America for PBS Distribution, supporting the retail strategy and development of the booming Shopkins North American licensing program. Additionally, Debbie has been contracted to oversee third-party content acquisitions for PBS Distribution’s new children’s label Skip Rope.

Debbie has nearly 30 years of experience as an executive in the fields of home entertainment, publishing and licensing. Prior to her tenure at PBS, she founded NCircle Entertainment, which grew to be the top independent home entertainment distributor for children’s content in the US before her departure in early 2014. Debbie was also global SVP at HIT Entertainment and helped to build several preschool franchises including Barney the Dinosaur, The Wiggles and Thomas.

While at PBS, Alex managed the sales and retail business for its portfolio of brands. In addition to sales and retail development, she oversaw pricing strategy, retail marketing and product development. She was also a founding member of NCircle Entertainment.

Patricia specializes in product branding, design and retail signage and will continue to manage DVD design for the PBS KIDS portfolio. She has worked on branding and promotional displays for several kids properties including The Octonauts, The Super Mario Bros. and The Cat in the Hat.

Based out of Dallas, Texas and New York, DAPR Group specializes in retail development and strategy, content acquisitions, broadcast, branding and product development. Its goal is to provide content owners and consumer products companies with a one-stop shop for maximizing their presence in the North American market.