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Multi-ethnic doll store American Girl opens in LA

Posted on: Saturday, 22 April 2006, 10:25 CDT

By Alexandria Sage

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mattel Inc.'s American Girl is opening its third U.S. store in Los Angeles as the world's largest toy maker, whose blond Barbies have been losing their luster, expands a boutique chain known for multiracial and historical dolls.

American Girl's sales rose to $436 million last year, a 15 percent rise over 2004 which is in contrast to Mattel's iconic blond, Barbie, whose sales fell 13 percent in 2005 amid competition from hip upstarts Bratz dolls.

Seeking to maintain its cachet among 7- to 10-year-old girls and their mothers, the new Los Angeles store at the outdoor mall The Grove is only American Girl's third behind Chicago and New York.

American Girl is "cautious about growing too fast" and has no targets for future store openings, said Wade Opland, American Girl's vice president of retail.

The brand, which started as a catalog in 1986, continues to sell its dolls, accompanying books, clothes and accessories via catalog and on the Internet.

Besides the $100 dolls behind glass cases already smudged by the nose and hand prints of little girls, the store features live theater performances, a cafe with doll-sized booster chairs, mini cheeseburgers and pink lemonade, a bookstore with such titles as "A Smart Girl's Guide to Manners" and a photo studio.

There is also a doll hospital. Because "sometimes brothers cut hair and puppies eat arms," girls can send in dolls for repairs, said Opland. Healthy dolls return to their owners wearing hospital gowns and plastic hospital bracelets.

The store had one satisfied customer in Grace Halpern, 7, whose doll Marisol was seated in a miniature salon chair wearing a smock and getting her long brunette locks styled at the store's doll salon.

"It has all the clothes and it has matching outfits for your doll and you," she said.

Opland said that much of the success of American Girl is due to mothers who appreciate the brand's educational possibilities. The historical dolls come with books that explain their back stories, whether "Jess" visiting an archeological dig in Belize with her parents, or "Kaya" of the Nez Perce, whose horse and tepee are also available for sale.

The company wants to maintain its proprietary cachet and has thus far only partnered with Limited Brands Inc.'s Bath & Bodyworks for a line of lotion, body wash and lip balm.

Source: REUTERS

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