A little odd that RD is running AG? Wondering if this is the end of this brand...
11 replies (most recent on top)
RD is the type of leader AG needs at the moment. Years of lackluster, no-vision AG leadership and a culture of cuts and chasing quarterly numbers amid a crisis of the first direct competition has nearly broken AG. You can't cut your way out of a decline like this. Innovate and invest or die.
They've made the online shopping experience nearly impossible.
Also, not to mention, AG was fine with steady 2% YoY growth with EB. As soon as she retired and JM took over, things started going down the toilet. KD had been better than JM, but I doubt AG will ever dig out of the pit started by JM.
Originally, AG's decline was blamed on Frozen and private label competitors. Maybe it was also rapid retail expansion, lack of content, cost reducing, ridiculously high prices, and focusing on girls 8+ (who are already far beyond to the doll play pattern).
Of course, this is only my opinion as a former AG employee and father of 2 daughters.
Yeah but FP sales aren't down 30% every year for the past 5 years.
Mattel changed vendors and dropped quality standards.... the same they did to FP. Mattel has the unique talent to take something great and make it cheap.
What's the deal with AG? Sales have been falling down fast in recent years but I've never heard anyone really acknowledge why.
Mattel leadership isn’t solely to blame for American Girl’s problems. AG leadership has contributed too.
The reporting structure is RD leading - now just like Barbie. RD will save AG? Ha. Yeah. And I will win the lottery and marry George Clooney.
Lol, their worried about making AG a premium money making machine. Yeah, that's it...
Um, no.
AG needs to return to it's premium brand roots. Mattel destroyed AG by cutting the quality out of it's product for years. Now, they are finally realizing that AG needs to be managed differently than Barbie, hence, the different reporting structure.