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American Girl, an iconic doll brand, has officially opened its doors in Bahrain for the first time.
To celebrate the occasion a spectacular ribbon-cutting launch event will be staged on Friday at 10am promising ‘exclusive experiences, tasty treats, and pampering perfection for all guests and their little ones’. For the first 100 girls in line, an extra special treat is up for grabs, the company says.
What started as a catalogue company selling 18-inch dolls with historical backstories to young girls has evolved over more than 30 years into a toy industry behemoth, with multi-million dollars in gross sales each year.
The new American Girl will offer all of the store’s fan-favourites. This includes a complete assort-ment of the popular historical and contemporary dolls, along with a selection of doll outfits, acces-sories, ‘Dress Like Your Doll’ clothing, and the company’s best-selling books. Also, for fashiona-ble youngsters, the store features a ‘Creativi-tees’ boutique, where girls can create stylish T-shirts for themselves and their dolls.
The store is also equipped with party packages, aiming to make it a destination to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions.
Katy Dickson, president of American Girl, American Girl, said: “For more than 30 years, American Girl has been inspiring young girls to be strong, confident, and proud of who they are. Through our unique characters, publications, and retail experiences, we hope to instil strong values in women from a young age. This is something we are thrilled to expand into the Middle East.”
So how does American Girl maintain and grow its popularity? Experts point to several factors, including the exclusivity and personalisation of the brand. In addition, the fact that many Millennials who are now parents grew up owning or wanting the dolls and reading American Girl books. They are eager to pass those experiences on to their own children.
“It’s almost a rite of passage for kids,” said Adrienne Appell, a trend expert for the Toy Industry Association.
Cameron Mitchell, acting chief executive officer, mall operators Majid Al Futtaim – Leisure & Entertainment, said: “We are delighted to have opened the very first American Girl in Bahrain. Following the successful launch of the region’s first two stores in Dubai at the end of last year, Bahrain proved to be the ideal location for the third store in the region.”
