Cookie Jar consumer products division CPLG has tapped licensing vet Jeff Shapiro as it new VP of retail business development for the US market.

Based in L.A., Shapiro will promote a wide range of brands at all levels of retail, focusing onretail expansion for popular Cookie Jar Entertainment brands, including Richard Scarry’s Busytown, Johnny Test and Caillou, as well as third-party properties the Harlem Globetrotters, Strawberry Shortcake, Lucha Libre USA and Varsity.

Shapiro brings more than 15 years of experience to his new role. His previous titles include VP of retail marketing at Twentieth Century Fox and executive director of retail promotions for Sony Pictures Consumer Products. Most recently, Shapiro served as head of retail business development for Art Impressions, where he developed merchandising-marketing campaigns for the Skelanimals brand.