I stopped off at a military only (AAFES) store in the Little Rock area, and was amazed that it had several rows of nothing but Barbies and accessories. They even had “designer fashion” Barbies wearing labeled designer dresses and real jewelry.
I asked about it and was assured that everything Barbie was a high volume sale, and that they regularly ordered $1,000+ Barbie products, of which there were a lot.
Barbie increases the material and professional expectations of little girls. They are likely to find out that their contemporary little boys decide to opt out when they get older.