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Wiregrass Gives Scouts A Sweet Deal

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: January 31, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - The manager of the Shops at Wiregrass mall said late Friday that officials will buy 600 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for use in promotions at the recently opened shopping venue.

The decision came after mall officials said local scout troops would have to pay up to $500 for a weekendlong sales table at the mall's high-traffic Center Court - a price scout leaders said was beyond their ability to pay.

News of the mall's request for cash prompted a daylong barrage of angry calls and e-mails - some to the mall's Cleveland-based corporate offices, Wiregrass marketing director Chad Doritan said.

Doritan said he used a similar approach at his previous job with a mall in Columbus, Ohio. He said he'll use the cookies as rewards for shopping at the mall or at mall-sponsored events such as the weekly Kids Club.

Doritan said charging the scouts for a sales location was the only way to be fair to the mall's other tenants.

"It's a product that's being sold," Doritan said. "Everybody else has a product they're selling, and they pay rent."
Troop leader Kim Longo said Wiregrass' 600 boxes will be divided among the dozen or so troops in the Seven Oaks-Meadow Pointe section of Wesley Chapel, an average of 50 boxes per troop. That's equal to a good day's sales at a cookie booth, Longo said.
Longo said she appreciated Wiregrass' offer, but added that it missed the point of the cookie booths.

"It's better than nothing. We'll take it," she said. "But it still doesn't give us an opportunity to sell."

Selling cookies to the public at booths helps the preteen girls in the local troops build their interpersonal skills and learn about handling money, Longo said. Those are skills the girls don't get by selling cookies to relatives and friends, she said.

"It's not just a sales job," Longo said. "It's a teaching tool."

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

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