Kmart launches multicultural doll brands

“I think they’re going down a very tough road,” said toy analyst Jim Silver, editor of Toy Wishes magazine. “Why would I buy a generic ethnic doll over this major brand that has all these accessories?”

Popular dolls need more than pretty looks. Instead, it’s a combination of brand names and cool accessories — from doll houses to roller skates — that attract children to dolls.

Just ask 27-year-old Calumet Park resident Marie Jones, whose daughters eyed the new dolls inside a Kmart store in Chicago’s south suburbs last week.

“If they’re pretty, they’re pretty,” said Jones after watching Jade Lynch, 8, and Imani Simmons, 6, play with the new dolls. “They picked up the black ones, they picked up the white ones. They look at the things that they come with. If they can comb their hair, that’s the doll they want.”

There are no solid data on the size of the nation’s ethnic doll selection, but experts say the category is booming after a series of flops that received tepid enthusiasm from shoppers.

“People want a doll and a story that reflects who they are,” said Julie Parks, a spokeswoman for Mattel’s American Girl, which includes Native American, Hispanic and black historical dolls, as well as dolls with myriad skin, eye and hair color combinations. “There is something about seeing a reflection of themselves in that character and in that doll that they can relate to.”

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien said the chain’s Hispanic doll selection has more than tripled in the past year while the total assortment of black baby dolls has more than doubled.

All told, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer has more than 70 varieties of ethnic dolls, but it doesn’t carry the full selection in every store. Instead, it often stocks many of them in neighborhoods where there are more minority shoppers.

Wayne, N.J.-based Toys “R” Us Inc., which follows a similar approach when stocking its more than 100 types of multicultural dolls, said its Hispanic selection has soared in the past two years along with smaller increases in the more established black doll products.

“Dora was really the key driver,” said spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh.

The next generation of dolls have diverse eyes, noses and mouths — instead of the traditional “white” dolls whose skin was dyed and whose hair was tinted in a darker shade.

“If you’re a little girl of color, this is your year,” said Denise Gary Robinson, president of DollsLikeMe.com, an online specialty doll boutique that specializes in ethnic dolls, toys and gifts. “I see companies now really putting forth the effort. I see designers going back to the drawing board and saying the old colored-plastic routine isn’t working.”

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