Red Sheds turn hot pink to mark Barbie reaching 65
Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Ten of the country’s Red Sheds are turning hot pink for a month to mark the 65th birthday of Barbara Millicent Roberts, otherwise known as Barbie.
The Warehouse sells a Barbie product every two minutes and, in a first, Mattel, one of the world’s largest toy manufacturers, has partnered with The Warehouse to paint 10 of the highest turnover Kiwi stores pink. Only the Albany store has been painted pink externally.
The stores would be decked out as Barbie ‘dreamhouses’ for the month, said Ian Carter, executive general manager of operations at The Warehouse.
The partnership will see the Warehouse, the country’s biggest toy retailer, sell a range of Barbie products across its toys, homewares, cosmetics and apparel categories.
Mattel managing director of Asia Pacific Paul Faulkner said the Warehouse has proved itself to be an innovator in retail so the partnership made sense.
“Our job is to bring innovative products and experiences to consumers and entertain fans and audiences through play. We want to seek out the best retail innovators in the marketplace that want to partner on that journey with us, and so this idea that was pitched between The Warehouse and Mattel took on a life of its own,” said Faulkner.
He said the financial investment in the partnership was “significant” but would not disclose how much it had cost.
Barbie was created 65 years ago, and in that time has had thousands of different looks and 250 careers. The popular doll has experiencing a resurgent in interest and sales following the release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie, last year.
Faulkner said there was a “strong bump” in sales immediately after the release of the film, and Mattel had been able to capitalise on its success, including by launching new dolls such as Down Syndrome Barbie and blind Barbie.
“What we found from the movie was that Barbie fans became bigger Barbie fans, and those that perhaps weren't fans were brought into Barbie’s world, that's been exciting for us; we've been introduced a whole new fandom.”
As a country, New Zealand is a huge Barbie-loving nation, and one of the most profitable markets for Mattel, Faulkner said, despite the current cost of living crunch..
He would not disclose any financial or sales figures.
“We’ve been able to buck the trend in a lot of ways. What we're seeing with with Barbie is she is continuing to break down barriers, and remains something parents want to engage their children in play with,” said Faulkner.
“We're growing strongly, and we have great partnerships with the likes of The Warehouse in particular to help that growth.”
Los Angeles-based Mattel sells manufactures and sells a range of toy brands in New Zealand, including Hot Wheels cars, Fisher Price and UNO. The company is one of the largest toy brands in the world, employing 27,000 staff and operating in over 150 markets globally.
“The toy market is seeing a period of tough growth - it's flat, but from a Mattel point of view we're experiencing strong partnerships with our retailers that are seeing most of our brands grow across New Zealand.
“Our main area of growth has been our Hot Wheels business, the vehicles business continues to work very well for us. But Barbie mania continues even after the movie, and the strength we saw last year, Barbie continues to contribute well to the growth of the doll category in New Zealand.”