The doll pictured left, from the newly designed proprietary Just Girlz collection, is on display at a Super Kmart in Homewood, Illinois.

Toy retailers across the US are beginning to fill their shelves with multicultural dolls whose skin colors and facial features reflect the same diversity as the girls and boys who play with them.

When the rollout is completed next week, every Kmart store will have nearly four dozens types of ethnic dolls - a nearly fourfold increase from what's currently available.

The dolls are flanked by an advertising campaign in the store's circulars and are designed to appeal to black, Hispanic and Asian parents.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)