Am I wrong or has the media written something positive about MAT?
Excerpt from iWSJ:
... Persuading older girls to gravitate to a brand that has been identified with younger kids will be a big challenge for Mattel. But some retailers are already swooning.
"I can't remember when I've seen a [Barbie] line look this good," says Deborah Terrell, a buyer for Toys "R" Us Inc., Barbie's biggest customer, and a professional buyer of the brand for about 15 years. Products such as the activity sets for fingernails and makeup, she says, will keep girls in the Barbie fold after they've graduated from the doll itself.
Some of the year-2000 models have been shipped to the retailer and "we're seeing an unbelievable change in our Barbie business. We've had phenomenal business," she says, declining to give specifics. Toys "R" Us plans to expand Barbie space as the line extends to older girls, she says.
Barbie's turnaround attempt is a high-stakes game for Mattel, based in El Segundo, Calif. Though the company has diversified in the past decade into preschool toys, software and products for older girls, Barbie remains Mattel's primary profit engine. While Mattel's current financial woes center on its disastrous $3.5 billion acquisition of Learning Co., analysts say the company's long-term growth remains tied to the 11.5-inch-tall doll ...
--Duker |
