Origins In 1974, Graham and Furano (as well as Furano's brother Dave Furano and Donald Hunt) According to Dell Furano, who at the time was the manager of the
Winterland Ballroom, soon became the leading merchandising and licensing company in the early days of the concert industry. The company established its headquarters in San Francisco, where it did all the design, production, warehousing, and shipping of its products.
Rock Express and expansion In 1984, Winterland created a retail arm, known as Rock Express, which sold T-shirts, posters, buttons, keychains, bumper stickers, decals, and photographs. In 1991, Winterland signed an agreement to have Rock Express merchandise sold in over 100
Sears department store locations throughout the U.S.
Sale to MCA/Universal In 1988, Graham and Furano sold Winterland Productions to
Irving Azoff and
MCA/Universal, with Furano staying on as CEO. In 1989, Winterland Productions (along with Great Southern Productions), sued various parties in the
comic book industry over publisher
Revolutionary Comics ''
Rock 'N' Roll Comics'' issues #3 and #4, on
Bon Jovi and
Mötley Crüe respectively. Both bands had exclusive merchandising deals with Great Southern/Winterland Productions, who got a court
injunction prohibiting Revolutionary from distributing the comics. Winterland grew exponentially in the early 1990s, focusing on custom contract
screen printing for pop culture clients like the
Hard Rock Cafe, and the
Disney Stores, but also apparel manufacturers like
Levi Strauss & Co.,
Donna Karan and
The Gap. In addition to its main headquarters in San Francisco, Winterland had an office in London, and distributors/partners in Japan (
Dentsu), Australia (ATM), and the U.K. (Ultraviolent). and Nice Man Merchandising (Minneapolis). (Graham had died in 1991).
Sale to MML Inc. and bankruptcy In 1996, MCA sold Winterland to businessman Mort Lapidus' By the turn of the 21st century, however, Winterland Productions was in
bankruptcy. for more than $10 million. In 2008 Furano sold what was now called Signatures Network, Inc. (including Winterland) to
Live Nation Entertainment, with Furano assuming the role of CEO of Live Nation Merchandise. The Winterland brand was finally retired in 2011. == References ==