Mattel’s Classic Barbie Dolls Prove to Be a Lockdown Favorite
- Product’s sales help toymaker top estimates in latest quarter
- Company has retooled Barbie lineup to be more diverse
Barbie dolls at a Walmart in Burbank, California, on Nov. 26, 2019.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/BloombergFirst released in 1959, the iconic Barbie doll has seen Mattel Inc. through the civil rights movement, the Cold War and the rise of the internet. And now it’s helping the company weather a global pandemic.
While Mattel’s overall sales fell 15% in the second quarter from a year earlier -- the result of closed retail stores, supply-chain troubles and a recession -- Barbie sales rose 7% to almost $200 million. The dolls made up about a quarter of sales during the period, and they were the most popular toy in America for five straight weeks during the lockdown, according to research firm NPD.