Via Fortune.com:
Walt Disney’s Star Wars franchise fueled demand for toys again in 2016, helping the industry post a big 5% increase in sales that outperformed the broader retail sector.

Research firm NPD Group said Star Wars sales totaled nearly $760 million in the U.S. alone last year, beating 2015 by $60 million. That made Star Wars the top property in the toy world, based on dollar sales. The perennially popular property has seen resurgent interest thanks to two recent films, 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and last year’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Both were released late in the year, during the toy industry’s peak holiday shopping season. And with more films to be released in subsequent years, Star Wars is poised to remain a hot toy property for many years to come.

That’s good news for retailers like Walmart (WMT, +0.21%) and Target (TGT, -0.45%), which have each moved to stock more toys on their shelves, as well as the world’s largest toy specialty seller Toys ‘R’ Us. The popularity of Star Wars is also a big boost to manufacturer Hasbro (HAS, -6.27%), which has some of the key licenses for the property.

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