Barbie megastore bombs in China

[RandySF]

U.S. toy titan Mattel (MAT) sure knows how to play. The company owns some of the most enduring brands in history, including Matchbox Cars, Pictionary, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and Polly Pocket.

Unfortunately, some Mattel toys just aren't what they used to be. Take the sad case of a middle-aged Barbie, who was given her own six-story outlet store in 2009 to help revitalize slumping global sales. The result? Well, despite some flashy features, the mammoth dollhouse was a flop, and Mattel today announced the site is being shuttered.

The world's first and only Barbie concept store debuted on Barbie's 50th birthday in 2009 and graced a huge six-story space in downtown Shanghai, China. Features of the site included a pink neon escalator, a glitzy showroom with 900 display cases for Barbies in wide variety of clothes, and even a spa and a Barbie bar for the adults.


http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=ac1bfefa-a7b6-4704-ba63-f563b910a1e5

[virgogal]

1. Six floors of Barbie? Unbelievable.

[SharonAnn]

2. But who could've thought that it would fail?

[KT2000]

3. As I understand it

Historically, the Chinese have disliked dolls.

[FSogol]

5. Toys get in the way in Sweat Shops and interfere with the 16 hour work day.

[frebrd]

8. Wouldn't you think they'd have advisors in China ..........

to tell them these things? Hysterical.

:rofl:

[JVS]

11. any background story on this?

[KT2000]

17. Only that my sister-in-law

has a doll business on the side, in the US, and she travels to China for her regular job at an electronics company (yes - outsourcing). She investigated trade possibilites for the doll business for herself and another business.

She told me this as something she has learned there. She said dolls are made for tourists but Chinese children do not play with dolls. There is a reason that I can't recall right now, but suffice to say dolls are not regarded as "good" things.

[provis99]

4. what morons business people are.

Did they really think there was a gigantic market for blonde-haired, blue-eyed skinny white dolls in China? Good grief.

[malaise]

18. Clueless arrogant morons

These folks are crazy

[Zax2me]

6. Barbie is overrated

Kinda stuck up -

[EFerrari]

13. Have you never met

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. Woot!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Lucinda]

7. China is a really really odd choice. n/t

[eleny]

9. I hope they used Frank Luntz for their focus group work

:rofl:

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Do any of these dolls

look like them?



Ironically, Mattel outsourced their production to that country and perhaps it's time to bring the factories back home where they belong.

[EFerrari]

12. That's a good question. No idea. n/t

[LibertyLover]

14. I guess that Mattel was trying to go the "American Girl" doll

route and it failed big-time.

I will say that Mattel sponsors a playroom in the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou that is a godsend to tired adoptive parents. The hotel is on Shamian Island which is also where the US Consulate is located. That consulate is the only one in China that processes visas for children adopted by US citizens and is just a block or two from the hotel, making it very convenient. The thing is that by the time you get there you are exhausted, what with traveling to China, becoming insta-parents, in many cases to active toddlers, and having spent a week or more in China dealing with the Chinese portion of the adoption process. To be able to take your child to a nicely equipped play area and know that she will probably find some toy that interests her is very nice. Of course Mattel does figure that once home you'll be buying whatever it was that caught your kid's eye and in our case we did. Our daughter really liked a See and Say with animal sounds so we got one for her when we got back home and it was as much of a hit there as in China.

[old mark]

15. Damn Commies!

You all KNOW that cable TV has had an interactive Barbie Channel for several years? You can look at and order various Barbie items RIGHT FROM YOUR TV!!!!
http://www.advirtues.com/2010/09/29/its-a-new-barbie-world/

It's a Barbie World!


mark

[Teaser]

19. Is Chinese Barbie asian?

Or are they trying to market pneumatic blonditry to China as well?

[rucky]

20. Wouldn't the kids want to see the dolls they made?

or is that like coming home from a shift at Domino's and ordering a pizza?

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. does American Girl still have her own stores? I went in one at the Grove in LA

Big store full of the dolls and a million accessories for her. Owning one must be an expensive hobby.