Exterior of American Girl Seattle.
American Girl Place is a physical retail location where American Girl products can be purchased in person.
Specifically, American Girl Place is the name for the three largest American Girl stores in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. The other stores are referred to as American Girl Boutique and Bistro[1], international outlets are referred to as American Girl Specialty Boutique, and pop-up stores are referred to as American Girl Temporary Boutique.
Each store has well decorated displays of dolls, outfits, accessories and items and purchases can be made directly. It is marketed as an "experience" rather than a regular retail store visit by the company.
Available Activities
Along with on-site shopping, other activities are available.
Cafe: A restaurant Bistro is available that serves brunch, lunch, tea, and dinner. The menus are preset (with Seattle as the exception; their menu is a-la-carte). A person who brings a doll is offered a Treat Seat to prop their doll up at the table with them; if a doll has not been brought, there are "loaner" dolls that can be used. AG Denver and Kansas City do not have cafes.
Personal Shopper: Personal shoppers are store employees that allow a person to shop in personal comfort in a private room. They will bring items to you and let you make the purchases without having to wait in line. Many personal shoppers will give extra gifts as well. The private rooms are only available in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. The Boutiques offer personal shopping in their stores but not in a private room.
American Girl Hospital: If a doll needs to be sent to the American Girl Hospital, she can be sent from here and shipped back home.
Doll Salon: A doll can get a hairstyle chosen from a sheet. The doll will have her hair brushed and styled with hair accessories that can then be kept. Each hairstyle costs about $10-$20. Deluxe styles are available for $25 and include an extra hair accessory (such as a sparkly comb-style tiara in the Birthday Crown style). Starting in 2016, water based removable nail polish was available as an add-on to any hairstyle.
Ear Piercing is also available and includes the Stars and Hoops Earrings and a duplicate pair of star earrings, or Hearing Aids installed.
Creativi-tees: T-shirts that can be made in the store. Shirts are offered in doll and girl (7-20) sizes in pink or white (light blue was later discontinued); girls' t-shirts are short-sleeved with a small square for applying the decal, while doll tees can be short or long-sleeved. Purchasers may choose from twenty variant decal designs, and observe the design being pressed onto the shirt. Not available in Los Angeles.
American Girl Exclusives: Each location has exclusive items that can only be purchased in the stores. These mostly consist of specific clothing and accessories for dolls as well as items that are used at the locations. Many shirts have the name of the stores on them. See the List of American Girl Place Items.
Party Hosting: Parties can be hosted for a length of ninety minutes. These include craft making, a meal, and a party activity. They take place in a private Dining Room. Denver and Kansas City offer after-hours parties which take place in the store, as there is no bistro.
Occasionally, activities will be advertised as weekend experiences; these are mostly small craft activities or paid events based on lines, and some have been hosted or offered in the cafes as an add on to the dining room experience.
Limited and Exclusive Giveaways and Launch Parties: Launch Parties for new released characters (such as Girl of the Year) or product launches and relaunches (such as BeForever, Truly Me, or WellieWishers) often include launch celebrations for the first three to four days of the release. Activities and exclusive item giveaways (often clothing or accessory items that fit an 18" doll) are frequently included to help advertise the new items.
Truly Me Signature Studio: Released with the launch of Truly Me. Custom doll-sized outfits, girl's shirts, and doll carriers can be designed and made in the store via a tablet computer. The outfits are printed on cloth. This is exclusively available in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
Former Available Activities
Theater: A small theater show was available in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Shows included Circle of Friends and Bitty Bear’s Matinee: The Family Tree. The theaters were all removed in 2008.
Photo Studio: A picture could be taken by visitors in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, which was then modified to look like a cover of American Girl Magazine. In 2015, the Photo Studios in all three flagship stores were permanently closed.[2]
American Girl Places
The largest three American Girl Flagship stores are generally semi-free standing, large floor planned stores. Along with all the offered amenities, AG Places include dioramas of historical and BeForever characters and bistros and other unique amenities.
Chicago, IL: The first American Girl Place opened in Chicago, Illinois, on November 19, 1998; the store later moved to Water Tower Place in 2008. This was the first time any American Girl items could be purchased new directly from a walk-in location.
New York, NY: A second store was opened in New York City, New York, in Manhattan 2003. In 2016, it was announced the store would be relocated to Rockefeller Center in Fall 2017.[3]
Los Angeles, CA: A third store was opened in the Grove in Los Angeles, California, in 2006.
Boutiques and Bistros
In Fall 2007, two American Girl Boutiques and Bistros were opened, starting a trend of smaller stores in some locations. These are permanent store locations, though generally take up less retail space than the three American Girl Places.
Dallas, TX: American Girl Dallas was opened in 2007 at the Galleria.
Alpharetta, GA: American Girl Atlanta was opened in 2007 at the North Point Mall.
Natick, MA: The American Girl Boston was opened in 2008 at Natick Collection.
Bloomington, MN: The American Girl Minneapolis was opened in 2008 at the Mall of America.
Lone Tree, CO: American Girl Denver was opened in 2010 at Park Meadows. This store does not have a bistro.
Overland Park, KS: American Girl Kansas City was opened in 2010 at Oak Park Mall. This store does not have a bistro.
McLean, VA: American Girl Washington DC was opened in 2011 at Tysons Corner Center.
Lynnwood, WA: American Girl Seattle was opened in 2011 at Alderwood Mall. The bistro is the only one that offers items à la carte.
Chesterfield, MO: American Girl St. Louis was opened in 2012 at Chesterfield Mall.
Houston, TX: American Girl Houston was opened in 2012 at Memorial City Mall.
Miami, FL: American Girl Miami was opened in 2012 at The Falls.
Columbus, OH: American Girl Columbus was opened in 2013 at Easton Town Center.
Palo Alto, CA: American Girl San Francisco was opened in 2013 at the Stanford Shopping Center.
Orlando, FL: American Girl Orlando was opened in 2014 at The Florida Mall.
Charlotte, NC: American Girl Charlotte was opened in 2014 at Southpark Mall.
Franklin, TN: American Girl Nashville was opened in 2015 at CoolSprings Galleria.
Scottsdale, AZ: American Girl Scottsdale was opened in 2015 at Scottsdale Quarter.
Temporary Boutiques
Temporary Boutiques are pop-up stores, either for American Girl to test potential support for a permanent store within the United States and reach out to new areas[4] or to offer short-term local purchasing during the holiday season. Unlike the Boutiques and Bistros, Temporary Boutiques do not always offer the salon experience (hair styling, ear piercing, hearing aids, and spa treatments) or personal shopping. Temporary Boutiques also do not carry the full lineup of available merchandise.[4]
2014
Honolulu, HI: American Girl Hawaii[5] opened a temporary boutique at Ala Moana Center, running from October 4, 2014, to April 2015.[6]
2015
San Diego, CA: American Girl San Diego opened a boutique at the Fashion Valley Mall running from October 2015 to January 2016.
Mission Viejo, CA: American Girl Orange County opened a boutique at The Shops at Mission Viejo running from November 2015 to January 2016.
Glendale, CA: American Girl Glendale opened a boutique at The Americana at Brand running from October 2015 to February 2016.
Portland, OR: American Girl Portland opened a boutique at Pioneer Place running from October 2015 to March 2016.
Las Vegas, NV: American Girl Las Vegas opened a boutique at the Fashion Show Mall running from October 2015 to February 2016.
Murray, UT: American Girl Salt Lake City opened a boutique at the Fashion Place running from October 2015 to January 2016.
Indianapolis, IN: American Girl Indianapolis opened a boutique at Castleton Square Mall running from October 2015 to January 2016. It was reopened in July 2016 and ran until January 2017.
2016
In Summer 2016, Mattel posted several hiring listings for new temporary boutiques.
Philadelphia, PA: American Girl Philadelphia opened a boutique at King of Prussia Mall running from September 2016 to January 2017.
Pittsburgh, PA: American Girl Pittsburgh opened a boutique at Ross Park Mall running from September 2016 to January 2017.
Novi, MI: American Girl Detroit opened a boutique at Twelve Oaks Mall running from August 2016 to January 2017. It is scheduled to reopen Summer 2017.[7]
San Antonio, TX: American Girl San Antonio opened a boutique at The Shops at La Cantera running from August 2016 to January 2017.
Portland, OR: American Girl Portland opened a boutique at Washington Square Mall running from August 2016 to January 2017.
Raleigh, NC: American Girl Raleigh opened a boutique at Crabtree Valley Mall running from October 2016 to January 2017.
Specialty Boutiques
American Girl Specialty Boutiques are international outlets located outside of the United States. Unlike the Boutiques and Bistros, Specialty Boutiques are located within an already-established store; as licensee locations they are not considered a standalone store in their own right. For the purposes of this section, multiple Specialty Boutiques located within the same city or metropolitan area will be given the appellation of American Girl (City name) (Store location).
Due to space constraints as well as legal restrictions on items (e.g. Canada's language laws mean that only items with bilingual English/French packaging may be sold), these stores have a smaller selection and often only carry a few characters and their collections.
Canada
At present, the Canadian stores carry limited collections: six BeForever characters (currently Addy Walker, Rebecca Rubin, Julie Albright, Samantha Parkington, Kit Kittredge and Maryellen Larkin)[8], twenty-six Truly Me dolls (as opposed to the forty currently offered by AG itself), the Girl of the Year, Bitty Baby, and WellieWishers, along with most but not all of the collections of these dolls.
Toronto, ON: American Girl Toronto may refer to the following locations.
- American Girl Toronto Yorkdale was opened in 2014 within Indigo Toronto at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre.
- American Girl Toronto Eaton was opened in 2015 within Indigo Eaton at the Toronto Eaton Centre.
- American Girl Toronto Sherway was opened in 2016 within Indigo Sherway Gardens at CF Sherway Gardens.[9]
Vancouver, BC: American Girl Vancouver was opened in 2014 within Chapters Robson. In 2015, the Specialty Boutique was relocated to Chapters Granville following the closure of the Robson branch.[10]
Ottawa, ON: American Girl Rideau was opened in 2014 within Chapters Rideau.
Edmonton, AB: American Girl Edmonton was opened in 2015 within Chapters Edmonton at the West Edmonton Mall.
Calgary, AB: American Girl Calgary was opened in 2015 within Chapters Calgary at Chinook Centre.
Mexico
Mexico, D.F.: American Girl Mexico City collectively refers to the three Specialty Boutiques in Mexico City, all located within El Palacio de Hierro department stores.
- American Girl Mexico Perisur was opened in 2015 at Centro Comercial Perisur.
- American Girl Mexico Interlomas was opened in 2015 at Paseo Interlomas.
- American Girl Mexico Polanco was opened in 2015.
United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates: American Girl announced a store will open in the United Arab Emirates in 2017. Unlike the Specialty Boutiques in Canada and Mexico City, the UAE store will have a restaurant.[11]
Ordering from Stores
A person who does not live near an American Girl Place or Bistro can call customer service and may be directed to a personal shopper at the store and order items to be shipped to them. They may or may not have to pay taxes but will have to pay standard shipping costs. Many people do this for exclusives or when an item is retired; some stores have small stock of retired items when an item is no longer available for ordering at the website.
In Fall 2015, temporary kiosks were set up at various locations for customers to place orders as well for customers to facilitate quick purchases and holiday-only items.
Atlanta, GA: Perimeter Mall
Northbrook, IL: Northbrook Court
Minnetonka, MN: Ridgedale Center
Des Peres, MO: West County Center
Paramus, NJ: Garden State Plaza
Frisco, TX: Stonebriar Center
The Woodlands, TX: The Woodlands Mall
See Also
References
- ↑ The locations in Denver and Kansas City are called American Girl Boutique as there is no bistro.
- ↑ Facebook statement, accessed January 30, 2015.
- ↑ American Girl Is Debuting the ‘Store of the Future’, New York Racked, accessed May 12, 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Twitter statement, dated October 7, 2015.
- ↑ This is what American Girl referred to the Honolulu boutique during its tenure.
- ↑ American Girl opening first Hawaii store at Ala Moana Center next month, bizjournals.com, accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ American Girl to re-open temporary Michigan store
- ↑ Chapters-Indigo official website, accessed October 25, 2014
- ↑ Indigo opens world's first cultural department store for booklovers and their friends at CF Sherway Gardens newswire.ca, accessed July 4, 2016.
- ↑ Indigo Optimizes Real Estate in Vancouver, newswire.ca, accessed January 21, 2015.
- ↑ Majid Al Futtaim brings American Girl to Middle East, accessed December 13, 2016.