Mattel Skip-Bo. Mattel purchased Fisher-Price, Inc. in 1993, Tyco Toys, Inc. (owners of the Matchbox and Dinky Toys brands) in 1997, and Pleasant Company (maker of the American Girl brand) in 1998. Mattel purchased The Learning Company in 1999 for $3.5 billion, but sold it in 2000 at a loss. The company had a $430.9 million net loss that year. Mattel earned the first grant for Disney Princess doll licenses in 2000. In December 2000, Mattel sued the band Aqua, saying their song "Barbie Girl" violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a
Curacao (retail store) Curacao (retail store) Curacao (pronounced Koo-ra-sao), formerly La Curacao, is a large-format retail store chain. Founded in 1978, Curacao is headquartered in Los Angeles with retail locations in California, Arizona and Nevada. The company is said to be uniquely positioned to serve Hispanic and Latino Americans. The stores feature Spanish-language signs and bilingual salesclerks. Curacao sells most of its merchandise on credit to over two million private label cardholders. The company's services also include Curacao Travel, Curacao Money Transfer, Pasito (Internet service provider) and CuraTel (long-distance calling services). Jerry Azarkman opened La Curacao, a consumer-product door-to-door sales company, in Burbank,