March 16, 2007
By LEILA KHEIRY
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WASILLA - The girls in green are out in force, armed with sweet temptation.
Throughout the Valley, Girl Scouts are waving boxes of irresistible Samoas and other goodies, and the cookies are selling by the thousands.
Tens of thousands, really. To be exact: 70,824 boxes sold in the Valley so far this year, according to the Sustina Girl Scout Council. That averages out to about 140 boxes sold by each of the 514 Valley girls in 65 area troops.
One of the most visible local troops selling cookies is Troop 987, which sets up a drive-through cookie station at Sears on Seward-Meridian Parkway every year. The troop also sets out signs on the highway, positions cookie-costumed Scouts to lure customers to the trailer (always a safe distance from traffic, of course), and ends up topping its impressive sales record each year.
This year, the troop of four 14-year-olds and one almost-14-year-old sold more than 3,000 boxes of cookies as of Wednesday. Troop leader Julia Riopelle, mother to one of the girls, said she expects the group to sell about 500 more boxes this weekend before calling it quits.
“We could just keep going, but we have to stop at some point,” she said. “I need to get back to cleaning my house.”
Those who are too busy to get cookies this weekend shouldn't worry, though. Other Valley troops will continue selling Thin Mints and more through April 1, said Julie Alexander, membership development manager for the Girl Scout Susitna Council.
Carrs and Fred Meyer stores in Palmer and Wasilla allow Girl Scouts to set up shop Friday evenings, most of the day on Saturdays, and Sunday afternoons, Alexander said. In smaller Valley communities, troops set up in the same spots each year, she said, and residents pretty much know where to go for a cookie fix.
Riopelle credits customer loyalty for her troop's success at Sears. The troop has been at Sears for the past five cookie seasons, she said, and every year, sales have grown in part because customers keep coming back, along with new customers who love the convenience.
“People line up. I guess they know we're going to be there,” she said. “They tell us this is absolutely ingenious. What could be better than a Girl Scout cookie drive through?”
The first weekend of cookie season this year, customers grabbed 640 boxes in four hours, Riopelle said.
The troop's set up is simple but effective.
The girls have a trailer filled with cases and cases of cookies, Riopelle said, and one Scout sits inside to work the cash register with the help of an adult. Other girls are outside, waiting for customers to pull up and give their order, and the rest of the troop is closer to the road, letting drivers know the trailer is open for business.
Samoas - those gooey caramel, chocolate and coconut-topped pieces of heaven - are their top seller, Riopelle said, with Thin Mints and Tagalongs - peanut butter cup cookies - closely following.
Customers love their Girl Scout cookies, Riopelle said, and the girls - Jamie Afcan, Jennifer Coisman, Paige Gredigan, Amy Michels and Meghan Riopelle - love selling. Although as eighth-graders, they're starting to roll their eyes when their Scout leader reminds them that cookie time is approaching.
Despite that initial response, though, Riopelle said the troop members have a blast once they're out there.
“They make up cheers, make up dances,” she said, and the girls joke with customers and make interesting deals to sell more cookies.
For example: one of the troop members is a gymnast, and will do backbends and other tricks for customers who agree to increase their orders, Riopelle said.
The girls also have fun thinking up what they want to do with the money they make from selling, she said.
Alexander said the Girl Scout cookie manufacturers - ABC/Interbake Foods and Little Brown Bakers, according to the Girl Scout Web site - get only 91 cents for each box of cookies. The rest of the purchase price goes to Girl Scout troops and the state organization, she said.
Selling cookies gets local troops about 45 cents per box, Alexander said. The girls also get a 5-cent credit per box toward attending camp Togowoods, a Girl Scout camp in the Valley, and Encampment, which is a gathering of Girl Scouts from around the state - as well as some from Outside - that takes place at the Alaska State Fairgrounds every other year.
Some troops choose to spend the cash they make on community service projects, Alexander said.
For example, some Scouts have sent cookies and other items to soldiers serving in Iraq, and one troop uses half its cookie money every year to buy needed items for animals at the Mat-Su Borough Animal Shelter.
Alexander said the money spent on a Girl Scout cookies is a win-win purchase.
“If you go to (the store) and look at a box of Oreos, it's the same price,” she said. “And people love them. It's not like you're selling wrapping paper or things people don't want.”
Contact Leila Kheiry at 352-2270 or leila.kheiry@frontiersman.com.
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