Article: Mattel opens flagship Barbie store in Shanghai

What better way for a fashion icon to mark her 50th birthday but with a bash in China's city of chic _ Shanghai?

A half-century after Barbie's first appearance in a demure black-and-white striped swimsuit, a six-story, pink and sparkling Barbie Shanghai flagship store opens Saturday to a Chinese public that less than a decade ago couldn't even buy the iconic doll in local stores.

Mattel Inc., the world's biggest toy maker, is betting that its unabashedly "everything girls" store, complete with spa, cafe, design studio, fashion stage and of course, just about any Barbie-branded item imaginable, will be a hit with fashion-conscious Shanghai ladies, both young and older.

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