Even glamorous Barbie fails to impress Chinese

Barbie is hitting the road as Mattel Inc. closes down its six-story Shanghai flagship store dedicated to the iconic brand after just two years.

The store, complete with spa, cafe, design studio, fashion stage and shelves and shelves of Barbies and Barbie products, closed Monday, the world’s biggest toy maker said in a statement explaining that it plans to use its experience in Shanghai to reach customers across China.

“I have gone on a tour of China!” a cartoon Barbie says on the store’s website, explaining the brand is on a “Barbie Pink Bus Tour.”

Mattel based in El Segundo, Calif., is not the only foreign retailer with an big investment in this huge but challenging market to change strategy.

The closing of Barbie’s citadel in Shanghai’s Huaihai Road shopping belt follows the closure last month of all of Best Buy’s brand-name stores in Shanghai. The electronics retailer is instead focusing on expanding outlets with its locally acquired chain, Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co.

Oil prices continue rise at the expense of stocks

Stocks fell Monday as higher oil prices weighed on the market.

Oil hit a two-year high early in the day, nearing $107 a barrel, after forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi launched airstrikes against opposition fighters at an oil port. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.02 to settle at $105.44 per barrel.

The market has been shaken in recent weeks by the uprising in Libya and its effect on oil prices. A sustained rise in the price of oil could hurt the economic recovery by raising manufacturing and transportation costs.

Stocks had started higher on news of two corporate deals. Hard drive maker Western Digital Corp. jumped 16 percent after announcing plans to buy Hitachi Global Storage Technologies for $4.3 billion. French fashion conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton says it will buy Italian jeweler Bulgari SpA for $6 billion.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 79.85 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 12,090.03.

Biggest airline scales back to deal with cost of fuel

United Continental Holdings Inc., the world’s biggest airline company, scrapped its 2011 growth plans Monday and said it will cut unprofitable routes because of rising fuel prices.

United also said it may remove less fuel-efficient planes from its fleet.

The airline said the amount of flying it does this year will remain about the same as last year. It had previously planned to grow as much as 2 percent.

Fuel has become into the largest single expense for most airlines. Flying less is one way they can offset it. Raising fares is another — and they’ve been doing that aggressively.

Over the weekend, Southwest Airlines Co. joined a $10 increase started by other airlines on many domestic round-trip fares. Southwest’s increase may have ensured success of a price hike as it carries more U.S. passengers than any other airline and influences prices.

It’s the sixth time airlines have raised fares already this year.

— From news service reports