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Girl Scout Cookie Sales Down

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 24, 2009

The recession is biting into Girl Scouts' cookie sales.

In the Tampa Bay area, pre-orders – sales to families and friends – came in at 131,000 cases, a drop of about 3 percent from last year, said Susan Barnes, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.

Sales are down nationwide, as much as 20 percent in some places.

The cookies still cost $3.50, but the boxes have gotten lighter. The Thin Mints have gotten even thinner, and other varieties contain two to four fewer cookies per box.

Local scout leaders say their girls have pushed harder to sell cookies this year, hoping to keep sales as high as possible.

"We have more girls out there," said Lori Rivera, who coordinates cookie sales in Wesley Chapel.

Scouts will open cookie booths across the region Friday to sell to the general public. A typical cookie booth can sell 100 boxes in a weekend. "We fully expect to make up that difference with the launch of the cookie booths," Barnes said.

To find a cookie booth in your area, go to http://cookielocator.littlebrownie.com.

Last year, cookies sales brought in about $5 million for the region. Troops got a quarter of that for their own use, Barnes said.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

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