Purpose Toys, the largest internationally distributed Black American-owned toy company, has expanded its Naturalistas line of natural-hair fashion dolls into Walmart's main doll aisle nationwide.
The distinction is worth spelling out. Plenty of brands get a seasonal end-cap or a diversity display. Placement in the main aisle, in every store, means the dolls compete where the category actually sells, next to the biggest names in the business.
Naturalistas launched in 2022 as the first line of natural-hair fashion dolls carried across major retail, built so Black girls could see their own hair on the shelf: puffs, braids, coils, and curls on dolls designed by people who know them. The company, led by founder and chief executive DeeDee Wright-Ward out of Los Angeles, timed the expansion to National Black Business Month. Now that shelf is the widest one in American retail.
“Shelf space is the scoreboard in retail, and the main doll aisle is center court.”
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