In the newsgroup rec.food.baking, (paula) writes:

>From: (paula)
>Newsgroups: rec.food.baking
>Subject: cookie sales
>Date: 27 Feb 2004 14:27:13 -0800
>
>whilst watching Judge Judy today ( i am in the u.k.)someone was suing
>someone else for outstanding debts--the usual sad cases ( hey, i have
>been made a temp couch potato because of a recent op.)Well one lady
>owed the other 500 bucks for cookie sales and Judy said ROT no one
>buys that ammount of cookies, and the plaintiff said the bill was
>usually around 1000 bucks.What i would like to know is what exactly
>are these cookie sales.? it seems a lot of cookies for one person or
>indeed one family.--or is there something else going on like selling
>them for a profit for an organisation or what, and are they bought
>cookies or home made ones. anyone care to elaborate for those of us
>who do not reside over the pond?.


It's a traditional fund-raising effort for the Girl Scouts (which is
similar to your Girl Guides, I believe.) The cookies are commercially
manufactured and the kids sell them door-to-door, via their parents'
office-mates, or by setting up folding tables in public places like
shopping malls, airports, or supermarket lobbies.

For more about the organization, see: http://www.girlscouts.org/about/


But times seem to be changing. Here is a story which appeared last
week in our local newspaper:

------------------------ begin quoted text ----------------------------

February 17, 2004

COOKIE QUANDARY:
AS SALES CRUMBLE, WORRIES RISE OVER GIRL SCOUT STAPLE

It was a scene as familar and nostalgic as a Norman Rockwell painting, the
three Girl Scouts in merit-badge bedecked vests who were lined up last week
behind a supermarket table stacked with boxes of Thin Mints and Caramel
deLites.

But something was wrong with the picture. As shoppers wheeled grocery carts
briskly by, they barely acknowledged the girls' entreaties or curtly said,
"Not today."

"Some of them say 'No, thank you,' and that's polite, then others just sort
of walk away and ignore us," said 8-year-old Cristina Savino, who was at a
Stop & Shop in Stoneham with two of her friends from Brownie Troop No.
1409, futilely chorusing "Would you like some Girl Scout Cookies?"

Once a wildy popular staple of American life, Girl Scout Cookies have
fallen on hard times. Sales are plunging in New England. Some speculate
that the sputtering economy or cold New England winters have slowed sales
in the last few years, or that cookies are victims of the Atkins-era,
low-carb craze. Whatever the reason, leaders are worried that one of their
prime sources of revenue is drying up. And, perhaps worse, that a symbol
so closely bound to Girl Scouts might be falling out of favor.

"Without it we'd be lost," said Laura Watkins, executive director of
Patriots' Trail Girl Scout Council, which includes scouting troops in
metropolitan Boston. "The cookie sale is an expression of the American
lifestyle, of the ethic of children working with adults in the community,
and of people supporting children whether they have their own or not. Girl
Scout cookies, for so many Americans, bring back memories of childhood."

Cookie sales nationally are stagnant, and so far this year, sales in the
Patriots' Trail region are down 10 percent from the same period in 2003 -
or 107,000 fewer boxes with a decline in revenue of $428,000. With 45
percent of the council's budget coming from cookie sales, that means the
decline is taking a toll on the scouting program, Watkins said. Last year's
budget dropped $1.4 million to $6.7 million, in part because the Peanut
Butter Patties and Classic Shortbread aren't selling like they used to.

"We'll have to cut our financial assistance to camp and reduce the program
offerings like horseback riding if sales don't pick up," said Watkins,
whose region includes 29,200 girls in 65 cities and towns.

Some scout leaders and parents say frigid temperatures have kept Girl
Scouts indoors when they normally would be outside selling door to door;
the cookie sale typically runs from mid-December through mid-March. Others
say the recent low-carb frenzy has finally put a dent in sales.

"Obviously, the Atkins diet craze is worrisome," Watkins said.

Some also say small but vexing declines in membership mean there are fewer
girls to sell the cookies. Membership in the Patriots' Trail region fell
off by 500 last year. In an era of Xbox video games, Total Request Live
music television, and increasingly popular girls' sports leagues, some say
it's just not cool anymore to don a uniform dotted with merit badges and
be part of a Girl Scout troop. One group of senior Girl Scouts in Wellesley
has taken to calling their troop meetings "Russian tap dancing lessons" so
no one will find out they are Girl Scouts.

"They have a code word for it," Watkins explained. "They don't want their
reputation affected by it."

The Wellesley group members are between 16 and 18 years old and are
planning to take a field trip to Russia, so the name's not that far off,
Watkins said with a chuckle.

Two decades ago, about 18 percent of girls between 5 and 18 joined
Patriots' Trail Girl Scout troops. Now that number is 15 percent. Still,
it's far better than the national average of 12 percent.

"We're working to bring the numbers up," Watkins said.

And attracting new members means the council can't afford slumping cookie
sales that would force them to cut programming.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen," Watkins
said.

So this year the council has organized more booth sales at supermarkets
and banks - booths typically produce 25 percent more sales than the door-
to-door method. The council plans to have a "Super Saturday" sale this
weekend for the first time, installing troops in more than 100 booths
throughout the area for an all-out sales push.

In a nod to the growing Latino population, the Council has joined several
other regions in adding a new cookie to its repertoire this year: the
"Pinatas."It's unclear whether the strawberry-filled, oatmeal-iced cookies
resemble any traditional Latino pastry, but the name is unmistakably
Spanish.

"We want to make sure we have options for every population," Watkins said.

While the new cookie could have provided a powerful sales tool to the
8-year-old Brownies from Troop No. 1409 for attracting shoppers to their
booth, the Brownies chose not to tell anyone about the new offering.

"They're gross," Nicole Zeitlin exclaimed, her face crinkled up with
displeasure.

When one shopper stopped to buy a box, Zeitlin politely said, "Are you
sure you want those? They have strawberry in them." But the customer could
not be dissuaded.

Zeitlin, Savino, and fellow Brownie Kayla Stefanelli giggled.

As of noon Sunday, halfway through their booth sale, the girls had sold 42
boxes of cookies. A few years ago, that number would have been closer to
120. As yet another shopper turned down the girls' plea to buy cookies,
resolutely rolling his cart out the sliding-glass door, Zeitlin turned to
her friends, clearly frustrated.

"He said 'I'll get them during the week,' but we won't be here during the
week," she said, letting out one of those loud sighs it seems only an
8-year-old can produce.

------------------------- end quoted text -----------------------------

For more information about Girl Scout cookies, their history, the sales
program, and a Girls Scout cookie "FAQ", see:

http://www.girlscouts.org/about/cookie.html

Cheers,
The Old Bear

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