Argentine entrepreneur Tito Loizeau is up to his eyeballs in synthetic hair and pink sequined bodysuits thanks to a Barbie-themed play area and salon he opened in a Bueno Aires shopping mall. The shop is a hit with screeching, spoiled Argentine girls and the women who spawned them:

Loizeau’s marketing company had set up a small “House of Barbie” promotion for Mattel Inc. inside the mall. He was astounded by the reaction: Girls waited for hours to get in, and mothers made offers on clothes he’d hung up for decoration — never mind that they didn’t have anything to do with Barbie.

Life in plastic. It’s… something:

“It would be a pink shirt you could buy anywhere in the mall,” Loizeau said, “But they’d want the shirt because it was associated with Barbie.”

The store also features a $7 an hour playroom, a salon and an adorably pink plastic surgeon’s office.

Argentine entrepreneurs score a hit with the first Barbie entertainment theme store [International Herald Tribune]