The American Girl Places - especially the one in New York - were proving to be very costly for Mattel to operate. “American Girl dolls are dying, and taking Mattel with them,” read an apocalyptic 2017 headline in MarketWatch, atop an article noting sharp declines in demand for the dolls - they were down some 30 percent over the previous year. There was even a new boy doll introduced, named Logan Everett. The focus on history was becoming lost as Mattel generally contemporized the brand. But this was long before Crate & Barrel began to morph into a Starbucks Roastery. In time, most Michigan Avenue stores would copy this approach. While most stores in 1998 merely were selling stuff, American Girl Place was experiential retail, not so much about unloading items as letting people (in this case girls from about 8 to 13) spend time with a beloved brand in a relaxed environment.
American Girl Place had created an alternate universe where girls ruled.Īmerican Girl Place was prescient in so many ways. For someone who was not in the target demographic, the store was a bizarre experience: highly trained and superbly coiffed sales associates seemed to treat the dolls as real people. Others were experiencing the afterglow of afternoon tea with their owners, an event enjoyed in special doll-size seats, the kind of generous touch that could make a doll feel as valued as a young person. Some of these dolls were patients recovering from a trip to the American Girl hospital inside American Girl Place.
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