Cookie Recap!

Compared to last year, this year’s cookie sales were a breeze.  Why?  We set realistic goals!  The Girl Scout cookie market becomes saturated after two weeks of booth sales in our area.  Sales are still great but they tend to slow as the cookies become more “visible” after pre-sales.  So we ordered less cookies for booth sales than we had the previous year.  For the new Cranberry Citrus Crisps we had samples out at each booth sale.  One of the big selling points was that they are great with tea!  We were a pilot council for the Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Shortbread cookie as well.  Although we had quite a few leftover from booth sales, we did sell almost all of our stock at our retail store display.

This was our second year of doing a standing sale in a retail store.  A local florist in our area allows us to have a display in store for the entire duration of sales.  They sell and collect money for the cookies on our behalf.  Here is our booth from this year:

I created and laminated cute signs for the display.  If you are curious about selling at a retail location, don’t be afraid to ask!  I’ve spoken with a few retailers who said they would be willing, but have never been asked.  This is not to be confused with an official booth sale.  We do not have girls outside soliciting customers.  Check with your council to see what the policy is on retail store sales.  Our florist friend likes to have them as a service to their customers.  They also make a great add-on to bouquets, as Mother’s Day gifts or in a gift basket.  So it’s a win-win for both our troop and the florist.  Thank you Strelitzia Flowers!

As our thank you this year, the girls wrapped artificial flowers on pens with floral tape.  We painted tin buckets with chalkboard paint.  Using a chalk pen, I wrote “Pens in Bloom” on each bucket as well as “Thank you from Troop 1949” on the bottom of the buckets. To keep the pens upright, I put a wedge of styrofoam in the bottom of the bucket.  The florist loved them and when I was in visiting last week they were already out on the counter 🙂  All supplies (except the chalk pen) came from the Dollar Tree!

I was happy with the wrap-up of cookie sales this year and especially fortunate that I had two awesome cookie moms on board.   They were uber organized, had great communication and followed through on all the details of their positions.  As a thank you, I gave each of their daughter’s this patch:

and made both moms one of these:

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But instead of sunscreen I added a colorful drink stake to the center of the towel (purchased a pack of two from Target’s seasonal section), similar to these:
The verdict?  Both mom’s were super grateful.  One even said:  “Best gift ever! Just in time for summer!”  So don’t forget to thank your cookie moms for all their hard work!

Happy Summer~