SYRACUSE -- It's that time of year... Girl Scouts are out selling their iconic cookies. They cost $3.50 a box in Central New York. As anyone in sales probably knows, it's a tough time to be pushing a product.
"We have identified, in parts of the country, sales may be down, but not as a result of the quality of the cookie," says Sue Stewart, CEO of the Girl Scout Council of CNY. "Girl scouting all across the country is down. We don't have as many members as we did, as well as definitely the economy may have an impact."
Stewart says it appears this product is recession-proof, at least locally. While sales started out slower, she says they expect to exceed last year. The council's goal this year is 48,000 cases or 572,000 boxes. She says, last year, they sold about the same.
Stewart also says that the economy is teaching Girl Scouts a good lesson. "In a sense, they're learning a great marketing skill which instead of going to the neighbor and selling 15 boxes to one neighbor now they're cultivating 15 new customers and maybe selling one or two boxes each to those customers."
Anyone in the market for the signature cookies may want to stock up now. Stewart says the price is likely going up next year and that's because of the economy although, she doesn't know what they'll be yet.
