Barbie moved out of her Shanghai dream house today after Mattel Inc., the world’s biggest toymaker, closed the only store in China dedicated to its best-selling doll, Bloomberg reported.
 
Mattel didn’t cite a reason for shutting the six-story Barbie Shanghai, though it had lowered the outlet’s sales targets by at least 30 percent since the March 2009 opening.

The toymaker joins Best Buy Co. in shutting stores in China, even after retail sales in the world’s fastest-growing major economy surged last year. Mattel lowered its sales targets for the 37,700-square-foot Shanghai store, which included a restaurant and spa, at least three times since opening it, Bloomberg said.

“Mattel continues to be committed to developing the Barbie brand in China,” the company said in the statement. “In 2011, the company will take all of the great experiences previously only available at the Barbie concept store in Shanghai to many more consumers in broader areas across China.”

About $3 billion worth of Barbie-branded products are sold every year. Barbie dolls are made in China and Indonesia, according to Mattel.

Best Buy, the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer, on Feb. 22 announced the shutting of all nine of its own-branded stores in China to focus on expanding the more profitable, domestic Five Star chain it acquired five years ago. Retail sales in the world’s most-populous nation grew at a monthly average of 18 percent in 2010, according to official data.