Barbie's super dooper 5-storey flagship store in Shanghai closing its doors after just 2 years. It follows the failed attempts of B&Q and US Best Buy and Home Depot to crack the China market this year, begging the question - what are they doing wrong? 

Pitted to be the world's largest economy by the next decade, and the Chinese government encouraging domestic consumption as a top policy priority, China seems to be ready to receive some of the globe's biggest brands. But perhaps the reason for these brands only having a shelf life of a couple of years here is that they are not catering to local China, local preferences and local habits. Business models and brand brand identity are not always directly transferable; Best Buy just didn't catch on with the consumer mindset, unlike Bosch who have mastered it by creating a bespoke name for this market - 'Bo Shi', both a phonetic translation and meaning 'worldwide'.