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Mall Fee Restricts Scouts

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI and RAY REYES

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com rreyes@tampatrib.com

Published: January 30, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - Girl Scout cookie season is a month away, and Kim Longo had hoped local troops would be able to set up shop at the new Shops at Wiregrass mall.

Those plans hit a wall this week when mall officials told the scouts they'd have to pay as much as $500 a weekend for a booth at the popular new mall off State Road 56.

"It's kind of a slap in the face," the Girl Scout leader said. It's "like, 'We'll give you the opportunity, but it'll still cost you.' We would've been thrilled to sell cookies there."

In the past, JCPenney let the local girl scouts sell cookies on their sidewalks. At the time, JCPenney was the lone outpost of the now-800,000-square-foot mall. The rules changed, though, once the rest of the mall opened in October.

Mall manager Greg Lenners said he's happy to work with community groups, including schools and charitable organizations, to promote issues and raise money. But because the Girl Scouts are selling something, the mall would charge them "a nominal fee" for a spot at the mall's high-profile center court.

"There are a lot of organizations out there," Lenners said. "We need to maintain some sort of control."

The price quoted the scouts wasn't unusual, Lenners said, though he declined to discuss specifically how the mall negotiates specialty lease deals.
Longo said that the eight 9- and 10-year-old girls in her troop get 65 cents for every box of cookies they sell. The rest of the $3.50 price goes to pay the baker and for other expenses.

During a good selling trip, which lasts two or three hours, the girls might sell 100 boxes, Longo said. Even dividing the quoted cost of a Wiregrass booth among four troops would make sales there untenable, she said.

"We would lose money even if we had a bang-up cookie booth," Longo said.

On top of that, the Girl Scouts national office has asked troops to donate a portion of their cookie profits to charity.

Scouts in the south Wesley Chapel area are limited in where they can set up cookie stands, Longo said. Some of the area's retailers, such as Target and Bealls, ban all solicitations outside their stores.

Local Girl Scouts are still hoping to get Publix and Sam's Club to let them sell on-site for little or no charge.

Wiregrass, though, seemed like a golden opportunity for sales.

"Most of the businesses have been cooperative in the past," Longo said. "I'm really upset."

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201. Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920.

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