Published: March 07, 2009 10:02 pm      

Girl Scouts try to keep cookie sales fresh in Southern Indiana

Group hopes new promotions, flavor help local sales in time that some councils across nation are struggling

Girl Scouts are trying some new things to combat the impact of a faltering economy on their cookie sales this year.

The scouts have partnered up with Republic Bank for its annual Gift of Caring program. Instead of purchasing cookies directly from the scouts, would-be customers can donate $3.50 — the cost of one box of cookies — at any Republic Bank location and send a box of the cookies to soldiers overseas.

Pre-sale figures for the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana — which represents 52 counties in Kentucky and eight in Indiana — are not yet available, but cookie sales across the nation are faltering, according to a Feb. 20 report in USA Today.

According to Girl Scouts of the USA and numbers quoted in the report, pre-sales are down significantly in some parts of the country. In the Eastern South Carolina Council near Charleston, for example, pre-sales are down 19 percent from last year. Other areas are less hard-hit: The Frontier Council in Las Vegas is down just 1.3 percent, and the Northeast Texas Council near Dallas actually showed a 2-percent increase.

Pre-sale reporting by the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana was delayed because troops in several counties within the council decided to extend pre-sales due to the January ice storm, said Stacy Funk, director of development and marketing for the council.

“We were a little taken aback when those numbers were released,” Funk said in reference to the USA Today report.

Though final sales haven’t been tallied, programs like the partnership with Republic Bank give the Girl Scouts hope, Funk said.

“We anticipated a drop in the sales, and we were concerned about that,” Funk said. “Obviously, it’s a cookie program that allows the little girls to participate in all kinds of activities and do community-service work. So we forged some new promotions and some new initiatives.

“We were concerned that the program might suffer some because of the economy, and so we’ve really beefed things up,” Funk said.

Through the Gift of Caring program, the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana hope to ship 5,000 boxes to the troops, according to the council’s Web site.

Joining the Girl Scout Cookie pantheon of Tagalongs, Samoas and Thin Mints this year is the Dulce de Leche cookie, which Funk described as a biscotti-style cookie with a ribbon of caramel.

And for the first year, the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana are actively requesting those interested in purchasing cookies to visit the council’s Web site — www.kyanags.org — to arrange the purchase of cookies. Though orders cannot be completed online, a representative usually follows up on an online request within a few days, Funk said.

Cookie sales will continue through March 15. Funk said the exact time and locations of booth sales outside of grocery stores and Republic Bank locations was difficult to predict, but Girl Scouts have been seen selling cookies outside of Kroger, Meijer and Wal-Mart locations.



HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLES

Below is a breakdown of the proceeds from each $3.50 package of cookies the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana sells:

• $1.55 goes to council-subsidized programs — girl and adult recruitment, adult education, programs, camp and camping activities and program-related staff salaries and expenses

• $0.90 goes to troop support — troop profits, girl incentives, cookie dough and troop bonuses

• $0.90 goes to sale-related expenses — cost of cookies, promotional materials, training cookie volunteers, etc.

• $0.15 goes to administrative support — office services/supplies, accounting, fund development, administrative salaries, etc.

— www.kyanags.org