Latest news with #ElSegundo-based
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Mattel's newest Barbie has diabetes
Dressed in a matching polka dot tank top and ruffled skirt with blue chunky heeled boots and a mini purse, Mattel's newest Barbie may look like previous dolls at first glance. But this particular doll stands out with a wearable insulin pump on her waist, a glucose monitor on her arm and a phone showing her blood sugar readings, making her the El Segundo-based toy company's first Barbie with Type 1 diabetes. The doll continues Mattel's expansion of representation across its flagship brand. The Barbie Fashionistas line features more than 175 looks across various skin tones, body types and disabilities, including previous additions like a blind Barbie, a Barbie with Down syndrome and a Barbie with hearing aids. The company's commitment to representation has proved commercially successful. In 2024, the top 10 most popular Barbie Fashionista dolls globally included the blind Barbie and the Barbie with Down syndrome. The Fashionistas series also includes dolls with vitiligo, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs. The wheelchair-using doll has consistently been a top performer since its introduction in 2019. Krista Berger, senior vice president of Barbie and global head of dolls at Mattel, said Barbie helps shape children's early perceptions of the world. Reflecting medical conditions like T1D ensures 'more kids can see themselves in the stories they imagine and the dolls they love.' The doll was developed with Breakthrough T1D, the leading global Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization. The partnership ensured medical accuracy while incorporating diabetes awareness symbols through the clothes' blue coloring and polka dot pattern. Aaron J. Kowalski, chief executive of Breakthrough T1D, said the partnership is about 'bringing greater visibility to a condition that affects so many families.' The doll launched Tuesday during Breakthrough T1D's 2025 Children's Congress in Washington, D.C. The event brings together more than 170 children living with Type 1 diabetes, giving them face time with members of Congress to advocate for ongoing funding for Type 1 diabetes research. This year they asked members of Congress to renew funding for the Special Diabetes Program. The Special Diabetes Program's current funding expires after September. The program, first allocated by Congress in 1997, faces uncertainty amid recent cuts to federally-funded projects. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition affecting nearly 9 million people globally, with about 352,000 children living with diabetes in the United States. The CDC reports that 1.7 million individuals 20 or older live with Type 1 diabetes and use insulin. The new Barbie is available through Mattel Shop and retailers nationwide.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
El Segundo's Big 5 Sport Goods to be Acquired in $112.7-Million Deal
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp., the El Segundo-based sporting goods retailer, entered into an agreement to be acquired by a partnership of Worldwide Golf and Capitol Hill Group. The all-cash transaction is valued at $112.7 million in enterprise value, which includes the assumption of approximately $71.4 million in credit line borrowings as of June 29, 2025. This represents a premium of 36% to the company's 60-day volume-weighted average price. 'This transaction marks an exciting new chapter for Big 5 that allows the company to carry on its legacy of serving customers with quality sporting goods at an exceptional value while maximizing value for our stockholders,' said Steven G. Miller, chairman, chief executive and president of Big 5 Sporting Goods, in a statement. Worldwide Golf is a leading nationwide retailer of golf equipment, apparel, shoes and accessories. Capitol Hill Group is a Bethesda, Maryland-based private investment firm with diversified holdings, including retail. Upon completion of the transaction, Big 5's common stock will no longer be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, and it will become a private company. Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisor, and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to Big 5. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Holland & Knight LLP, and Sklar Kirsh LLP served as legal advisors to Capitol Hill Group and its related entities. Information for this article was sourced from Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Walmart, Mattel and other retailers to boost prices as trade war hits shoppers
Walmart, the nation's largest retailer known for affordability, announced it would be raising prices, providing the clearest signal to date of the effects of President Trump's steep tariffs on U.S. shoppers. In an earnings call on Thursday, executives for the retail giant told industry analysts that an increase in prices would be unavoidable in the face of the highest import duties the U.S. has seen since the 1930s. Goods including vegetables and furniture will see a jump in price, executives said, a trend that will worsen in July when back-to-school shopping begins. Car seats made in China could increase in price by $100, the company said. Read more: Trade truce with China is hailed, but it may not be enough to stop shortages 'We're wired to keep prices low, but there's a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,' Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told the Associated Press. Like other businesses, the company didn't give an outlook for its earnings, reflecting uncertainty in the economy. Walmart is just the latest retailer and major U.S. company to announce price increases related to the tariffs and trade war with China. Others include consumer products giant Procter & Gamble and Ford, which said it would raise prices on some of its vehicles. Mattel Inc., the El Segundo-based maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels cars, also announced that it would have to boost prices to offset higher costs from tariffs, prompting a fierce response from Trump, who recently threatened to "put a 100 percent tariff" on the company's toys. Trump imposed a universal 10% tariff last month, in addition to a 145% duty on Chinese goods. The latter was cut to 30% in a deal announced this week. Despite the China deal and several tariff pauses, the cost of producing items such as strollers and spices has rapidly increased since Trump's so-called Liberation Day. The situation for consumers has worsened as businesses have passed production costs down to their customers. So far, the effects on shoppers have been minimal. Consumer spending rose a scant 0.1% in April, the Commerce Department said Thursday. It's a marked slowdown after a 1.7% increase in March, which economists attributed to panic-purchasing ahead of the tariffs. At a Walmart in South Gate last week, anxious shoppers took advantage of low prices in anticipation of rising costs. Leora, who lives near USC and declined to share her last name out of privacy concerns, exited the store with a cart overflowing with toilet paper, paper towels and food items. "I haven't seen the prices go up yet, but I'm worried," Leora said. "That's why I bought so much stuff today." Read more: Tariffs give 157-year-old chocolate maker Guittard a bitter taste Other L.A.-area shoppers said they were already beginning to feel the trickle-down effects of the tariffs. Artesia resident Amol Chitte was looking to update his home closet storage when he visited Ikea's Carson location in early May. Chitte recently welcomed a baby, he said, and he needed somewhere to store baby clothes and other newborn supplies. The software engineer said sticker prices were double and even triple the $100 he'd budgeted for the purchase. The items seemed more expensive than they were at this time last year, he said. "I was surprised how expensive the furniture was,'' he said. "If I go to a budget store like Walmart, I would find something more reasonable." A representative for Ikea did not respond to a request for comment. Read more: Trump tariffs bring anxiety to Costco aisles: Cut back or stock up before prices soar? Jesper Brodin, chief executive of the Ingka Group, which operates the majority of Ikea stores globally, told CNN in November that "tariffs make it more difficult for us to maintain the low prices and be affordable for many people, which in the end is our goal." Ikea is not the only business struggling with how to respond to rising costs of operation, said Dominick Miserandino, a retail and consumer analyst and CEO of Retail Tech Media Nexus. These businesses have to do what they can to remain profitable, Miserandino said, but ultimately, raising prices is "never a good look." 'If you're raising prices and your competitors are not, the fallout is much worse than the profit gain," he said. The reluctance of business owners to hike prices in the absence of certainty regarding Trump's tariffs may explain in part why a spike in inflation has yet to appear in national retail data. Inflation slowed for the third consecutive month in April, when consumer prices rose 2.3% from a year ago, the Labor Department said Tuesday, although inflation was higher in the Los Angeles region during the same period. The Consumer Price Index was up 3% in April in the L.A.-Long Beach-Anaheim region, driven mainly by higher costs for housing, medical care and food and beverages, according to Labor Department data examined by The Times. Manisha Goel, an associate professor of economics at Pomona College, attributed the discrepancy to California's housing crisis, which has driven up property values and thereby boosted regional inflation. But the relatively modest inflation rates aren't expected to last. Economists said consumers in Southern California can count on steeper price increases on a range of products — dolls, chocolate,household appliances — in the coming months as the full effects of Trump tariffs take effect. Niree Kodaverdian, a research manager at L.A. economics consulting firm Beacon Economics said that products with imported parts such as electronics will rise in price most quickly, whereas "for things that we have a lot of inventory for, we're not going to see price effects right away." The researcher also noted that CPI data takes into account a high number of non-imported products, such as airplane tickets. "The CPI is not necessarily putting extra weights on import-heavy products that consumers are buying," Kodaverdian said, so the data could be underplaying the impact of the tariffs. Further, she said, businesses may be holding out on increasing prices until they know the tariffs are here to stay. Lee Ohanian, an economics professor at UCLA, suspects the U.S. will be able to reach agreements with other countries to keep potential tariff disruptions at a minimum. "I'm optimistic that this is getting all worked out," Ohanian said, adding that "everybody loses in a tariff war, and other countries are relatively bigger losers from this than we are." Read more: From Bratz dolls to Krusty the Clown: How Trump tariffs are hurting L.A. toy makers "The best-case scenario is that the tariff war is resolved and that we don't see a burst of inflation in May," the economist said. If not, he projected the price hikes would be visible in consumer data by June. Thus far, it's been difficult to gauge the impacts of the tariffs on prices, Ohanian said, but California seems to be hurting disproportionately because of its high property prices and relatively higher-priced groceries. CPI data showed meat products such as sirloin steak and sliced bacon were more expensive in the western United States, compared to the country as a whole, in April. The higher sticker prices could be a result of California's high food standards and humane animal requirements, Ohanian said. As American consumers anticipate steep price hikes on essentials and discretionary goods due to the tariffs, their expectations for the future are at a 13-year low, according to the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index. Consumer confidence has seen similar — albeit not quite as severe — lows before, especially in periods of global turmoil, said Stephanie Tully, an associate professor of marketing at USC's Marshall School of Business. During the COVID-19 pandemic, American consumer confidence saw its steepest drop since the 2008 recession as unemployment and market volatility rose while household income and consumer spending fell. Public sentiment recovered relatively quickly, even despite high inflation, but Tully doesn't expect that to happen this time around. 'In the past, people had more faith that governments and other systems were working to alleviate those things as quickly as possible,' Tully said. Now, with the government contributing to the instability, they don't know when or from whom to expect relief. Read more: 'It's going to hurt a lot.' How L.A.'s importers are navigating Trump's shifting tariffs Consumers are coping via some common money-saving behaviors, the researcher said, such as shopping at budget stores or eating out less. Foot traffic at warehouse stores increased in the weeks before Trump's tariffs went into effect, and again when reciprocal tariffs were poised to hit before a 90-day pause, according to recent data from analytics platform But without income increases to counter rising costs or any sense of permanence to the tariffs causing them, people may struggle to adapt to their new financial realities. 'Those consumers are going to be feeling [the strain] for years and years to come, probably without really getting used to it,' Tully said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Sign up for our Wide Shot newsletter to get the latest entertainment business news, analysis and insights. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Walmart, Mattel and other retailers to boost prices as trade war hits shoppers
Walmart, the nation's largest retailer known for affordability, announced it would be raising prices, providing the clearest signal to date of the effects of President Trump's steep tariffs on U.S. shoppers. In an earnings call on Thursday, executives for the retail giant told industry analysts that an increase in prices would be unavoidable in the face of the highest import duties the U.S. has seen since the 1930s. Goods including vegetables and furniture will see a jump in price, executives said, a trend that will worsen in July when back-to-school shopping begins. Car seats made in China could increase in price by $100, the company said. 'We're wired to keep prices low, but there's a limit to what we can bear, or any retailer for that matter,' Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told the Associated Press. Like other businesses, the company didn't give an outlook for its earnings, reflecting uncertainty in the economy. Walmart is just the latest retailer and major U.S. company to announce price increases related to the tariffs and trade war with China. Others include consumer products giant Procter & Gamble and Ford, which said it would raise prices on some of its vehicles. Mattel Inc., the El Segundo-based maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels cars, also announced that it would have to boost prices to offset higher costs from tariffs, prompting a fierce response from Trump, who recently threatened to 'put a 100 percent tariff' on the company's toys. Trump imposed a universal 10% tariff last month, in addition to a 145% duty on Chinese goods. The latter was cut to 30% in a deal announced this week. Despite the China deal and several tariff pauses, the cost of producing items such as strollers and spices has rapidly increased since Trump's so-called Liberation Day. The situation for consumers has worsened as businesses have passed production costs down to their customers. So far, the effects on shoppers have been minimal. Consumer spending rose a scant 0.1% in April, the Commerce Department said Thursday. It's a marked slowdown after a 1.7% increase in March, which economists attributed to panic-purchasing ahead of the tariffs. At a Walmart in South Gate last week, anxious shoppers took advantage of low prices in anticipation of rising costs. Leora, who lives near USC and declined to share her last name out of privacy concerns, exited the store with a cart overflowing with toilet paper, paper towels and food items. 'I haven't seen the prices go up yet, but I'm worried,' Leora said. 'That's why I bought so much stuff today.' Other L.A.-area shoppers said they were already beginning to feel the trickle-down effects of the tariffs. Artesia resident Amol Chitte was looking to update his home closet storage when he visited Ikea's Carson location in early May. Chitte recently welcomed a baby, he said, and he needed somewhere to store baby clothes and other newborn supplies. The software engineer said sticker prices were double and even triple the $100 he'd budgeted for the purchase. The items seemed more expensive than they were at this time last year, he said. 'I was surprised how expensive the furniture was,'' he said. 'If I go to a budget store like Walmart, I would find something more reasonable.' A representative for Ikea did not respond to a request for comment. Jesper Brodin, chief executive of the Ingka Group, which operates the majority of Ikea stores globally, told CNN in November that 'tariffs make it more difficult for us to maintain the low prices and be affordable for many people, which in the end is our goal.' Ikea is not the only business struggling with how to respond to rising costs of operation, said Dominick Miserandino, a retail and consumer analyst and CEO of Retail Tech Media Nexus. These businesses have to do what they can to remain profitable, Miserandino said, but ultimately, raising prices is 'never a good look.' 'If you're raising prices and your competitors are not, the fallout is much worse than the profit gain,' he said. The reluctance of business owners to hike prices in the absence of certainty regarding Trump's tariffs may explain in part why a spike in inflation has yet to appear in national retail data. Inflation slowed for the third consecutive month in April, when consumer prices rose 2.3% from a year ago, the Labor Department said Tuesday, although inflation was higher in the Los Angeles region during the same period. The Consumer Price Index was up 3% in April in the L.A.-Long Beach-Anaheim region, driven mainly by higher costs for housing, medical care and food and beverages, according to Labor Department data examined by The Times. Manisha Goel, an associate professor of economics at Pomona College, attributed the discrepancy to California's housing crisis, which has driven up property values and thereby boosted regional inflation. But the relatively modest inflation rates aren't expected to last. Economists said consumers in Southern California can count on steeper price increases on a range of products — dolls, chocolate,household appliances — in the coming months as the full effects of Trump tariffs take effect. Niree Kodaverdian, a research manager at L.A. economics consulting firm Beacon Economics said that products with imported parts such as electronics will rise in price most quickly, whereas 'for things that we have a lot of inventory for, we're not going to see price effects right away.' The researcher also noted that CPI data takes into account a high number of non-imported products, such as airplane tickets. 'The CPI is not necessarily putting extra weights on import-heavy products that consumers are buying,' Kodaverdian said, so the data could be underplaying the impact of the tariffs. Further, she said, businesses may be holding out on increasing prices until they know the tariffs are here to stay. Lee Ohanian, an economics professor at UCLA, suspects the U.S. will be able to reach agreements with other countries to keep potential tariff disruptions at a minimum. 'I'm optimistic that this is getting all worked out,' Ohanian said, adding that 'everybody loses in a tariff war, and other countries are relatively bigger losers from this than we are.' 'The best-case scenario is that the tariff war is resolved and that we don't see a burst of inflation in May,' the economist said. If not, he projected the price hikes would be visible in consumer data by June. Thus far, it's been difficult to gauge the impacts of the tariffs on prices, Ohanian said, but California seems to be hurting disproportionately because of its high property prices and relatively higher-priced groceries. CPI data showed meat products such as sirloin steak and sliced bacon were more expensive in the western United States, compared to the country as a whole, in April. The higher sticker prices could be a result of California's high food standards and humane animal requirements, Ohanian said. As American consumers anticipate steep price hikes on essentials and discretionary goods due to the tariffs, their expectations for the future are at a 13-year low, according to the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index. Consumer confidence has seen similar — albeit not quite as severe — lows before, especially in periods of global turmoil, said Stephanie Tully, an associate professor of marketing at USC's Marshall School of Business. During the COVID-19 pandemic, American consumer confidence saw its steepest drop since the 2008 recession as unemployment and market volatility rose while household income and consumer spending fell. Public sentiment recovered relatively quickly, even despite high inflation, but Tully doesn't expect that to happen this time around. 'In the past, people had more faith that governments and other systems were working to alleviate those things as quickly as possible,' Tully said. Now, with the government contributing to the instability, they don't know when or from whom to expect relief. Consumers are coping via some common money-saving behaviors, the researcher said, such as shopping at budget stores or eating out less. Foot traffic at warehouse stores increased in the weeks before Trump's tariffs went into effect, and again when reciprocal tariffs were poised to hit before a 90-day pause, according to recent data from analytics platform But without income increases to counter rising costs or any sense of permanence to the tariffs causing them, people may struggle to adapt to their new financial realities. 'Those consumers are going to be feeling [the strain] for years and years to come, probably without really getting used to it,' Tully said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Chicago Tribune
08-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Mattel considers price hikes in response to tariffs after Trump says kids don't need a lot of dolls
Barbie girls could be living in a more expensive world. Mattel Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz said the El Segundo-based toy maker behind Barbie and Hot Wheels is considering raising the prices of U.S. toys because of the 145% tariffs the Trump administration imposed on Chinese imports. 'We are taking mitigating actions designed to fully offset the potential incremental cost impact of tariffs on future performance,' Kreiz said in an earnings call on Monday. 'We make sure that we offer great product and experiences with the right balance of quality and value at affordable price points. In this particular situation, we're taking a strategic approach,' he added. The remarks came after President Trump has repeatedly said that children can cut back on the number of toys they have as he defends the trade war with China. The potential price hikes show how tariffs could hit toy makers and the people who buy their products. 'Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. So maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally,' Trump said last week. The White House has said previously that the administration wants to fuel more jobs in the U.S. and encourage people to buy American-made products. Citing uncertainty about the economy and tariffs, Mattel also paused its financial guidance for the full year and said it expects tariffs to affect their costs in the third quarter. The company estimates that Trump's tariffs could cost it $270 million this year, but that's before actions to mitigate the impact. Kreiz said Mattel is navigating the uncertainty by relying less on China and diversifying where it makes toys. It sources products from factories and third-party suppliers in seven countries. Nearly 80% of toys sold in the United States are produced in China. Mattel estimates that less than 20% of its U.S. toy production is based in China and the company plans to lower that percentage in 2026 and 2027. The U.S. Toy Association and other global toy groups are pushing for zero tariffs on toys, an idea that Mattel supports. 'Toys are foundational to a child's growth and development. Zero tariffs for toys gives the greatest number of children and families access to play,' Kreiz said during the call. 'Real prosperity is American workers being able to support their families and communities because they have good jobs that pay well and provide dignity,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said. 'This what the Trump administration's America First agenda of tariffs, deregulation, tax cuts and domestic energy is focused on unleashing — not cheap Chinese toys.' In the first quarter, Mattel reported net sales of $827 million, up 2% compared with the same period last year. The company's net loss widened by $12 million to $40 million in the first quarter over last year.
