Christa Pitts, Co-CEO of The Lumistella Company, joins The Licensing Book’s World Series of Licensing Q&A series to discuss how holiday traditions evolve into year-round brand opportunities, what partners need from seasonal properties, and how storytelling continues to drive The Elf on the Shelf and Lumistella’s growing portfolio.
The Licensing Book (TLB): The Lumistella Company has turned The Elf on the Shelf, a family tradition, into a year-round licensing platform. What has been the key to expanding the brand without losing the emotional connection families have with it?
Christa Pitts (CP): Plain and simple — authenticity. We are obsessed with protecting that emotional connection families have with their scout elf, and we do it by actively listening to our fans! Parents and children write us often to ask if their Scout Elf could come visit for a birthday, another holiday, or a milestone occasion. And our answer is always — with special dispensation from Santa, of course — yes! Our expansion to a 365-day program is a direct result of listening to our audience. Last year, we created the YouTube Kids series Scout Elf Squad to answer the question: What happens at the North Pole when it isn’t Christmas? The series is approaching 2 million views — and many of those came after New Year’s! That tells us people are looking for content and products beyond what is traditionally framed as the “holiday season,” but those moments of interaction still need to be authentic and tied to the emotional connection a family has to their Scout Elf.
TLB: After years of outbound licensing, this year the tables have turned, thanks to a new partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products for a line of Harry Potter-themed Elf on the Shelf products. How did that partnership take shape, and why was it perfect for the Scout Elves’ first big pop culture crossover?
CP: Fandom, and of course, magic, runs through the stories of both of our worlds. We have been longtime fans of the Harry Potter franchise, and that word matters: FANS. Many families who celebrate The Elf on the Shelf tradition are also Harry Potter fans. We see that love comes to life through homemade costumes and scenes families create for their Scout Elves, which they then share on social media. Now, we are making it easy for them — it’s officially from their favorite brands!
What makes this partnership so special is how authentically it fits our world. The Elf on the Shelf is a fan of what the family is a fan of. If a family loves the world of Harry Potter, the Elf on the Shelf loves it too. This shared authenticity and connection mirror what both we and Warner Bros. seek with our fans. We were thrilled to collaborate with the wonderful team at Warner Bros. Consumer Products to bring this joint fandom to life in a new, deeper, and authentically Christmas way. They said yes almost instantly, and it has been a dream to watch it take shape. Our retail partners seem to love it as well, which is a win-win-win for the licensing industry, retailers, and consumers.
TLB: The Elf on the Shelf sits in a perfect space where storytelling, tradition, and consumer products all feed each other. How do you evaluate licensing partners to make sure new products feel authentic to the North Pole world?
CP: Our licensing programs and partnerships are not about simply combining brands. They are built on a thoughtful, strategic, and highly collaborative approach to identifying partners that align with what families are already showing us — and telling us — they want. Families are looking for a true fan experience that brings together two brands they love. They want to see the joy on their child’s face when they wake up, rush out of bed, find their beloved Scout Elf, and discover that overnight their home has been transformed into a truly magical, brand-fan wonderland— not just another morning leading up to Christmas.
I believe this philosophy extends across our entire universe of consumer products, events, experiences, and partnerships. It allows us to remain authentic while staying true to our vision and voice. This approach amplifies our authenticity as a brand and allows us to expand the Santaverse — the official source for the stories of the world of Santa Claus.
TLB: Seasonality can be both a superpower and a challenge for holiday brands. How has Lumistella used licensing to extend engagement before, during, and beyond the Christmas season?
CP: For us, it is a superpower! Events like Licensing Expo give us a moment to kick things off. While it’s primarily a B2B opportunity, fans begin to see sneak previews of what’s coming, which builds excitement for our brands months ahead of the holidays. It is hard to believe, but at this moment, we are only six months away from the holiday shopping season launching in earnest. So, for partnerships with hospitality brands like Beaches, families need to book their holiday getaways early, which allows the The Elf on the Shelf (VIE, Very Important Elf) package to be booked now, when many people have summer on their minds. Plus, not everything we do is seasonal, per se. Last year, HarperCollins released The Rise of Nicholas the Noble, our first middle-grade novel, which tells the origin story of Santa Claus – very much in the vein of Harry Potter. It’s a book people have been reading year-round. We also launched our preschool program, Scout Elf Squad, which I mentioned earlier, and it takes place at the North Pole, which exists year-round and is not tied to the Christmas season. And while not licensing-specific, I want to credit our incredible social media team at The Lumistella Company. They create engaging, high-performing, and wildly creative content year-round, keeping our brands top of mind. All of those things work together to extend the power of the Santaverse beyond one season.
TLB: The brand has grown across toys, publishing, entertainment, apparel, décor, and more. Which categories have delivered the biggest surprises, and where do you still see untapped opportunity?
CP: Some of our biggest — and most telling — surprises have come through collaborations and partnerships, revealing just how expansive and flexible our brands can be. Our work with the Macy’s team around The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade — including our character balloon featuring our magical Arctic fox, Noorah, and the balloonicles of our Frost Pips elf babies — sparked enormous interest and demonstrated the strength and visibility of our growing universe of characters.
Another defining moment was our collaboration with Swarovski to celebrate our 20th anniversary last year. They created a limited number of jewel-encrusted Scout Elves with matching box sets. This partnership far exceeded our expectations and underscored how unexpected, premium, and luxurious our brand extensions can be. When my sister, Chanda, and I started this company more than 20 years ago, we never could have imagined a collaboration like that — yet it worked seamlessly and authentically.
Looking ahead, we see substantial untapped opportunity in inbound licensing, fueled by deeply engaged fandoms worldwide. Just as importantly, we see a long and scalable runway for partnerships. For two consecutive years, we partnered with Chrysler on a digital campaign featuring The Elf on the Shelf, highlighting the benefits of the Pacifica. This initiative was not only hugely successful but also showcased how naturally our brand can integrate into unexpected categories.
In sports, our partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs and the “Kelce on the Shelfie” further demonstrated the breadth of whitespace available to us. And with the success of Scout Elf Squad, which returns for a second season later this year, we see tremendous, still-unrealized potential in the entertainment content space. All of these points point to a brand universe that is only beginning to be fully explored — so stay tuned!
Visit The Lumistella Company at Booth No. G196 at Licensing Expo 2026.
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This Q&A is a digital companion to The Toy Book‘s 2026 Licensing & Entertainment Issue, featuring The Licensing Book. Read the full issue here!
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