KISS Merch Has Got You Covered From Cradle To Grave

Gene Simmons
Kevin Mazur / Wire Image – Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons unveils the Kiss Kasket, which doubles as an ice chest, in 2000.

Dell Furano is the O.G. of merchandise. The Epic Rights founder, who started hawking merch with Bill Graham when he was promoting concerts at Stanford University (and never got back to law school), has managed KISS merch, collectibles and its KISS Army fan club since the 1980s.

His companies – he also headed Signature Networks, part of Bill Graham Presents and then Live Nation – have handled everything from the infamous Kiss Kasket and condoms (“We get them coming and going,” says Gene Simmons) to Hello Kitty KISS toilet paper to breakfast cereal to the mundane but reliable T-shirts, belt buckles and coffee mugs. 
Furano estimates there are at least 5,000 unique pieces of KISS merchandise, including different designs across some 100 different products. “No one has anything near that amount of catalog or products,” Furano says.
Dell Furano
 – Dell Furano
“The casket is a very unique product and now they’ve got an urn, so they’ve expanded the product line for the die-hard KISS fan,” Furano says, laughing. He’s been with KISS since the mid-1980s and the “Unmasked” tour.
“Paul’s more soft-spoken but they’re a complete partnership, and a three-way partnership really with Doc in all areas: marketing, design, promotion and staging. Gene has the big personality and has done a great job. It seems cliché but both of them are very fan friendly.”
Furano marvels at the size and scope of the KISS Army, and is especially gratified that it’s a family affair – figuratively and literally.  “As a merchandiser, it’s a thing of beauty to watch grandparents down to grandchildren decide on and pick out their merch. It’s pretty cool.”