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cookie sales
On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 18:32:56 -0500
(The Old Bear) wrote:
> 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?"
Oh, come on. That's just poor salesmanship.
The key with girlscout cookies is to go to the people you're connected
to. Just standing around outside the quickiemart is a waste of time.
Though i'll have to note that the recent additions to the lineup do not
excite me. I'm still buying thinmints and samoas from my niece Aleks.
This, and the fact that there are millions of people out of work in this
country and many millions more underemployed, probably account for the
stagnant sales. I make less than half what i did two years ago. I'm
buying about half as many boxes.
But this particular girl just needs to get out there and knock on some
doors. I've seen Aleks sell $12 worth of cookies to a diabetic.
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