But she's MY Barbie!

I'm not sure if the opening of Barbie's first-ever flagship store in Shanghai made its way to the press back in the US but it's been Shanghai's hottest news for the last couple of weeks. On March 6th, Mattel solidified its place on the China commerce landscape with the grand opening of a 6-story, "unapologetically girly", ultra pink, mega-store and it is AMAZING. I should mention before I describe the store that I was very, VERY cynnical about the idea since first hearing about it about 6 months ago. For me, at 27 years old, the appeal of Barbie is a distant memory. So to have it resurface in my life with such vigor (in China of all places!) I balked at the very notion, convinced that Barbie's hayday was long over.

I agreed to go with a group of girlfriends to test out the restaurant which was conceptualized and consulted on by a friend's company. The new House of Barbie sits on Huaihai Road, said to be Shanghai's most cosmopolitan street (cosmopolitan is being very liberal with the word). The facade is meant to resemble the outside packaging of a barbie box but inside is the real treat. After a long escalator ride up a pink-lit tunnel customers are dropped off into Barbie wonderland and this is where the magic happens. The second floor is more like a Barbie museum with over a thousand different dolls and pictures chronicalling Barb's rise to prominence. Instantly, I was thrown back into my childhood when friends and I would gather our dolls and play with the latest dream house, convertible or whatever flash new accessory Barbie happened to come out with. Looking back it was the only time I gave in to my girly-ness. My house was dominated by sports and while being girly was never discouraged there just was never really much time or interest for it. I mean I played three sports until I was 15, one of which was in an all-boys league! So here I am in China, oohing and ahhing in the 80's & 90's section over Gym Barbie, with her leotard and legwarmers and Rockstar Barbie with her cropped jacket and punk rock hair and wishing my childhood friends were by my side to share in the nostalgia.

There were 4 more floors of adult couture clothing (all quite amature in my opinion), a Vera Wang designed wedding gown, a spa, cafe and restaurant, Barbie design center and even a runway for girls to strut their Barbie stuff. How wonderful is that for a little girl?! When it was all said and done, I had lost my cynicism for the concept but replaced it with disappointment. Why was this built in Shanghai and not the States where generations of women have grown up on the icon and would truly appreciate this hommage to Barbie (not to mention make Mattel a multi-million dollar company). The answer Mattel gives is this:

When deciding where to place the House of Barbie, Shanghai beat other contenders — including London, Paris, Milan, New York and Los Angeles — because of its strong cross-generation reaction to the doll and the brand.

"Shanghai showed the absolute most passion for the Barbie brand, not only among girls three to eight years old, but for teenagers and mums, too."

Reading between the lines, this says, China has over 1.8 billion customers who we want to capitalize on. I often wonder if Chinese people ever get the feeling as though they're just seen as dollar signs (or Euro or Yuan) and cheap labor to the rest of the world. There is a rich and storied culture here that is being buried in the pursuit of economic prominence. No public space is spared when it comes to advertising and commercialism with each company looking to grab a slice of the China pie. Mattel's new store doesn't even try to hide that fact. It's quite a risk to have spent some $30M+ on the hope that Chinese females young and old will fall in love with a doll that doesn't come very close to representing them or their culture. American girls built the Barbie brand but since sales have dropped we are no longer of use to Mattel and the haven of girly-ness and nostalgia will serve a new market.

Call it a longing for the past that is gone, or even jealousy but the bottom line is...well...the bottomline I guess. I wish Mattel luck and will view this as another leverage point to lure some friends over to come visit me in Shanghai.Who wants to see Baby Doctor Barbie?? Anyone???

Oh and the Barbie-tini??? Fabulous.