Word: stores
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Jobs and consumer confidence are Siamese twins. Retail sales in the last two months of 2008 have already confirmed that. Consumer consumption likely raced downward after the holiday. Store closings and retail industry lay-offs are signs that the shoppers who did not show up in the fourth quarter are staying away...
...demonically - louder. After registering for a Barbie passport, visitors can get their hair and nails done at a spa and shop for makeup, accessories and even couture. Vera Wang is on board; she designed a $15,000 human-sized Barbie wedding dress to be sold exclusively at the Shanghai store. In a sleek design center, girls can use computers to sketch out their own Barbie fashions, and on another floor they can model them by walking a runway in Barbie clothing. At night, one of the store's two restaurants becomes a hip bar, complete with karaoke...
...With adult clothing, pricey collector's dolls and a pickup bar, the store sends a clear signal that Mattel intends to seduce an older demographic. This isn't as crazy as it may seem. In Asia, the Barbie brand is not deeply entrenched, so grown-ups are less likely to automatically dismiss it as kids' stuff. Besides, Asians don't necessarily put away childish things as they age. Collecting toys such as Hello Kitty merchandise well into adulthood is common. "Asian culture loves cute," says Richard Dickson, general manager of the Barbie brand. "They're much more comfortable with character...
...China was a logical place to launch a dedicated Barbie concept store for other reasons. Mattel imports 65% of its products from Chinese factories - a fact that became embarrassingly obvious in 2007, when the company had to recall nearly 20 million Chinese-made toys. Mattel later admitted that most of the defects, which included toxic lead paint and magnets that became lethal if ingested, were a result of design flaws, not manufacturing mistakes, but China's reputation had already taken a beating. The Shanghai store helps to repair the company's image in China...
...might seem risky to open a new, untested store at a time when U.S. toy retailers are suffering (KB Toys, the second largest U.S. toy chain behind Toys "R" Us, filed for bankruptcy in December). But Mattel is opportunistically positioning itself to thrive, not merely survive, in a tough environment. Today, two-thirds of Barbie sales come from 150 foreign markets; international sales increased 12% in 2007, even as U.S. sales sagged by 15%. "What we're doing in Shanghai is an indication for the future of the Barbie brand," Dickson says. Mattel is already planning similar stores in Brazil...