Michelle Wulfson | The ItemClaire Haverstick, Camilla Gates, Jalynn Merrell, Jessa Merrell and Sophia Moreno are preparing for this year’s cookie season, kicking off on Feb. 6. This year’s sales will be more oriented towards virtual marketing and purchasing, and will introduce a new cookie flavor.
As this year’s Girl Scouts cookie season approaches, troop leaders are eager to make up for disappointing losses sustained from the onset of the pandemic, as they guide their girls through a new horizon.
“Last year, we were going so strong until COVID hit,” community leader Jamie Arlt said. “We were set for a record year, then we really took a loss with cookie sales.”
In March, 32,000 cases of cookies that had just been sent out to troops in the San Jacinto Council to finish out their season quickly began to stack up when sales ended abruptly at the start of the pandemic. Girl Scouts USA quickly launched an online sales platform, extending the sale season in an effort to salvage what sales they could to continue funding the program. It’s a new initiative that has been heavily requested to keep up with the times, and now, it could very well be the future of cookie sales, according to Arlt.
Gearing up for a new season, big changes are in store for the 2021 Girl Scouts cookie sales, including a new revamped Digital Cookie platform, the exit of a cookie favorite and the introduction of a new hit flavor.
While S’mores will be making its last rounds in the market this year, new cookie flavor, “Toast-Yeah” will be making its debut.
“It’s a French toast inspired cookie, so it looks like they shaped it in a piece of toast, it has a maple glaze on the back of it and it almost tastes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it’s really good,” Arlt said.
Toast-Yeah and all of the tried-and-true cookie options can be purchased over their newly developed virtual sale structures, expanding each scout’s reach beyond neighborhood booths and door-to-door sales, to anywhere across the nation.
“I’m optimistic (about the upcoming season), I think it gives the girls a different avenue. I think that the new virtual links for us are definitely going to help the cookie sale this year where we didn’t have this in place when COVID hit last year,” Arlt said.
Michelle Wulfson | The ItemClaire Haverstick, Camilla Gates, Jalynn Merrell, Jessa Merrell and Sophia Moreno pose in front of the Girl Scouts lodge with boxes of cookies. The Girl Scouts cookie season officially kicks off Feb. 6 and will include new socially-distant purchasing options while still supporting local scouts.
The scouts began taking digital sales orders on Jan. 23 that will be fulfilled at the official start of the season on Feb. 6 through personalized social media links that the scout and her guardian can post on their online platforms or share over email. The link will redirect shoppers to the scout’s online store, where customers can order their cookies and submit their payment. Local shoppers can then opt for the scout to porch-drop their cookies for a contactless delivery, or they can be shipped.
“That’s a really good way for girls to participate that don’t want to have contact, if they want to keep their contact level down, this digital platform’s the best way to go,” Arlt said.
Customers can also use the link to donate to Cookies4Heroes, a program that enables cookie buyers to purchase boxes of cookies to be donated to local first responders, organizations that support the military, healthcare professionals and COVID-19 frontline workers.
For the less tech-savvy, Cookies4Heroes can also be purchased at booth sales around town that will kick off on Feb. 12, but under different circumstances than usual.
Typically capitalizing off of crowds of weekend shoppers at Kroger, H-E-B and Walmart, this year’s booth sales are currently scheduled to be held at Brookshire Brothers in Huntsville and Trinity, Autozone, Arnaud’s Food Park and Prosperity Bank.
“The girls are thinking of ways that we can work past not being able to be out in front of those major retailers,” Arlt said, although she adds that the cookies really sell themselves.
Virtual cookie booths will also be new for this season to offer a socially distant pick up option. A troop’s virtual cookie booth will be posted online for a week, taking orders Monday through Friday through a posted link on their social media that can be shared. On Saturday, those who purchased can head to a drive-thru style pick up at a designated location.
“That just really helps keep the contact level down and it still keeps the girls involved, because that’s what the cookie sales are all about. It’s the girls’ businesses and we really want to empower them to learn the skills of how to run their own business,” Arlt said.
The Digital Cookie platform and app offers scouts even more tools focused on teaching marketing, budgeting, resource allocation and other critical business skills to reach their highest potential. The girls can also set their cookie goals on the platform, track their progress, manage orders and inventory, learn internet safety skills and more.
Arlt adds that the experience has also given the girls a chance to learn how to conduct a business online, as well as how to adjust their business plans and thinking farther ahead when setting goals for the future.
Cookie sales are essential to fund the Girl Scouts councils, service centers in the area, all 10 camp properties in the San Jacinto Council. To find a troop or booth location to support local Girl Scouts in Walker County, visit www.gssjc.org.
The Link LonkJanuary 31, 2021 at 07:00PM
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Girl Scouts think outside the box to deliver cookies to their fans - Huntsville Item
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