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Bloomingdale’s is just one of the retailers and brands trying to cash in on Barbie’s buzz. It features a pop-up with exclusive Barbie-inspired clothing and accessories, along with a life-size Barbie chest where shoppers can pose.
Bloomingdale’s
NEW YORK CITY — In midtown Manhattan, shoppers can step inside a life-size Barbie box, pose with a light pink slide, and browse for earrings, dresses, and candles inspired by the iconic plastic doll.
The pop-up store inside Bloomingdale’s flagship store is just one example of how retailers are trying to cash in on the pre-Friday hype. Release “Barbie” from Warner Bros.
More than 100 brands, including Bloomingdale’s, kohlAnd Crocs And gaphas licensing agreements or other deals with the game maker Mattel Selling Barbie-themed fashion, beauty, accessories, and more. Many of these items cater to adults who want to convey childhood memories by wearing bright pink heels or lounging on a pool that looks like it came From Barbie’s dream house.
Bloomingdale’s has an exclusive collection of women’s clothing and accessories inspired by Barbie from her own brand, Aqua. It also hopes to entice shoppers with Barbie-themed window displays on Lexington Avenue, special events and free hairstyling.
With a touch of bright pink, retailers are hoping to shake off the summer slump and inflationary gloom. Barbie merchandise, as it appears months in advance in the lead-up to the movie, speaks to how retailers have had to work harder and get creative to catch shoppers’ attention and convince them to pay full price. Companies including the parent of Bloomingdale’s Messia large volume retailer Goal And the coach parent texture They warned of weak sales of discretionary and expensive goods in the United States, as consumers pay more for groceries and spend on services such as dining out and travel.
Plus, another expense is back for millions of Americans this fall: Student loan payments are resuming after more than three years of pandemic-related hiatus.
Some bright, luxe pink can help shoppers get out of a budget-focused, practical mindset, said Dayanara Grolon Amalfitano, Aldo’s chief brand and product officer.
She said, “This Barbie Aldo collaboration is one of those areas where maybe rational thinking goes out the window and you’re just like, ‘Ah, this makes me feel so happy. ‘” very good. I have to get it,” she said.
About half of Aldo’s Barbie collection was sold out in the first week. The company said it’s replenishing inventory for the limited-edition collection, which includes 19 items from crossbody bags to pumps.
About half of Aldo’s 317 North American stores carry the line, along with their website. Aldo products are also available at select Macy’s stores and on the Macy’s website.
Aldo has a collection of Barbie shoes and handbags. The company said that some items, such as Barbie sandals, sold out within 24 hours.
Aldo
Macy’s department store, Bloomingdale’s, carries the Barbie the Movie x Aqua line in nine stores and online, and mixes in merchandise from other brands. To date, Barbie merchandise has “sold extremely well” and appealed to customers across generations, said Frank Berman, the department store’s chief marketing officer.
Berman said the retailer intentionally included items across price points in the Barbie-inspired collection, from a pink candle for $24 to rose gold heart-stud earrings for $8,350.
“We have some things that are a little over the top, but they’re curated so everyone can have a piece of it,” he said.
Many items in Gap’s Barbie collection have sold out. They include pink adult rectangular sunglasses and a T-shirt with large pink monogrammed Kane, both $39.95.
Gap has sold some popular Barbie items, including pink rectangular sunglasses. The pink denim jacket is also a top performer across their stores and website.
gap
Barbie to the rescue?
Barbie may not just rock Sluggish box office for 2023. The hype could also lift spending on non-essential items that has fallen after a Covid spending spree.
Retailers will likely continue to offer unique and trendy merchandise to lure shoppers into wants rather than wants as they prepare for the all-important holiday season.
Discretionary general merchandise sales fell 4% in dollar terms in June compared to the same period a year ago, according to market researcher Circana, the combined company formerly known as The NPD Group and IRI. Unit sales in this category are down 9% over that time frame.
last week, AmazonAnd Walmart, Target and others have helped drive sales by offering greater discounts with Amazon Prime Day and other competing promotions. Consumers spent $12.7 billion during the two-day online sales event in the US, representing 6.1% year-over-year growth and setting a new record, according to Adobe Analytics.
Barbie hacked as a popular search item last week. It jumped from 85th to 49th on the top brands list this peak day versus last year, according to early data from Numerator. The most important item sold for Barbie during the sale was the main actress Margot Robbie’s “Barbie” doll.
As Americans look for bargains, Barbie is one way retailers convince them to look beyond the basics.
Oliver Chen, retail analyst at Queen, said brands have benefited from trends such as a shift towards looser denim, a return to sleeker, more tailored clothing for occasions and a growing interest in innovative makeup and skincare products.
“Every brand loves novelty because newness creates desire,” Chen said.
Suzanne Fournier, professor of marketing and dean of the Boston University School of Business, said Barbie is “another floating life jacket” that retailers can grab. The brand has built-in esteem, nostalgia that reverberates through generations and complimentary marketing baked in because of the movie.
Unlike other movie-themed merchandise, Barbie isn’t just a logo that can be affixed to T-shirts and backpacks, it’s an aesthetic that cuts across household goods, makeup, and clothing and inspires optimism that many shoppers may crave.
“We are in a very chaotic world,” she said. “We’re in a post-Covid world, in which we have a lot of baggage. There’s a lot of anxiety. And then you get a Barbie and it’s all pink. And I think there’s something very profound about the hunger for that.”
She said some of the brand’s strength comes from its complex legacy. Barbie is closely associated with perfection, with her tiny waist, beautiful home and handsome boyfriend. However, Barbie was also unmarried and became an astronaut before the first moon landing.
“There is something culturally powerful about living in such a contradictory space,” said Fournier.
Inside the Bloomingdale pop-up store in New York City, shoppers can find Barbie’s exclusive line of clothing and accessories from private label Aqua. The retailer’s website has nine stores carrying the collection.
Bloomingdale’s
Chase the Barbie bump and beyond
Other retailers ran a similar playbook with pop culture inspired branding.
textureOwned Coach has collaborated with beloved brands and celebrities, including Disney and Comic Strip Peanuts. It had a collection of clothing and accessories inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, the late New York artist who became famous in the 1980s for his edgy, graffiti-inspired designs. She recently launched a new collection with actress Kirsten Dunst.
Coach CEO Todd Kahn said the company carefully selects partnerships that make sense. He said he enjoyed seeing Barbie collaborate for other brands, but Coach decided against the partnership.
“People often use collaborations to make a quick breakthrough,” he said. “We’re interested in long-term sustainability. That’s why with our collaborations we’ve become very selective about them. We use it to help bring new audiences to the table. And then we measure how stable they are after that, which is very important.”
For example, he said, Basquiat’s items from Coach attracted new, more engaged customers, brought in about 10% more Gen Z and millennial customers than its core groups and enticed them to pay some of Coach’s highest price points.
Some brands seem to be getting a bump on Barbie — but it remains to be seen if those customers will stick around.
Berman, Bloomingdale’s longtime chief marketing officer, said the chain sees an increase in store and website traffic when it has collaborations. That’s why the company’s main website has “The Carousel,” a place for pop-ups, and online shopping is also possible.
The retailer has blended fashion, a well-recognized brand and an unforgettable experience many times before. It had a pop-up inspired by the Netflix hit series, “Bridgerton”. Several years ago, it had a Moulin Rouge-themed pop-up, complete with Cannes can dancers and an appearance by the film’s star, Nicole Kidman.
Aldo’s Amalfitano declined to share recent sales numbers or its forecast for this year. However, like other retailers, the shoe and accessories brand has felt a dip in discretionary spending, she said.
She hopes the high sales and shopper engagement will continue, even after Barbie merchandise is gone.
“This is an urgent question,” she said.
— CNBC’s Kaitlyn Frieda and Courtney Reagan contributed to this report.
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