On a sunny Friday afternoon, Addison Leatherberry waited while her new American Girl doll was placed in a salon chair and prepped for a new hairstyle — a ponytail veil.
Other spa options at the store at Ross Park Mall? Dolls can opt for ear piercings and nail painting.
It was a birthday outing for 8-year-old Addison with her grandparents, Peggy and Dale Leatherberry. “The dolls are important to the girls,” Ms. Leatherberry said. “They’re a reflection of them.”
The couple live in Girard, Ohio, near Youngstown, but chose to bring their granddaughter to the Ross Park store because it was closer than the alternative — a flagship American Girl store in Columbus.
And those are the kind of shoppers that Ross Park Mall and the company behind the popular dolls are hoping to attract to this temporary storefront. The store opened Sept. 17 and will close at the end of January.
Michael Gianoutsos, director of marketing and business development for Ross Park Mall, noted the mall -— the only one in the region with Nordstrom as an anchor — is a “premiere shopping center, so we’re typically looked at first” when companies are trying to place a store.
“It’s a good position to be in,” he said. “We had the footprint and were happy to welcome them.”
American Girl dolls can have a high price tag, hovering around $100 or more depending on the particular doll and accessories. And while the brand honors history in its various dolls, the company is finding ways to integrate gadgets into the experience. The Maryellen Larkin doll, portraying a girl set in 1954, includes a retro black-and-white TV console for $85 that features a hookup for an iPad to watch homemade videos.
The Ross Park location is one of seven temporary stores the company is opening this holiday season. Others include Philadelphia, Portland and Detroit — a fitting location for Melody Ellison, a doll portraying an aspiring singer growing up in the Motor City in 1964.
“It’s a newer strategy, but it’s a great way for American Girl to provide that added accessibility and introduce it into markets where we don’t have a current retail store,” said Stephanie Spanos, an American Girl spokeswoman.
The chain’s nearest flagship stores are in Columbus, New York and Washington, D.C., locations that feature not only salons but bistros where girls and their dolls can share a meal.
American Girl and Ross Park did not disclose expected customer traffic for the temporary store, but about 3,000 shoppers stopped by during the grand opening weekend, according to Mr. Gianoutsos.
“We expect traffic to be very strong,” he said. “The grand opening weekend we had a good turnout. If that continues through the holidays, we’ll be very happy.”
While brick-and-mortar stores must increasingly compete with online shopping, many retailers have been competing to bring customers into traditional storefronts for a different type of customer interaction.
“We’ve tried to weave in the experiential component,” Ms. Spanos said. “Shopping is one thing, but they can bring in their own doll to have a memory-making experience, go to the salon, have a meal together. It’s a cute, interactive experience.”
Mattel reported in its second-quarter earnings that American Girl brands had gross sales of of $68.1 million, down 19 percent compared to the previous year. The company is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings today. Mattel owns several other well-known brands, including Barbie, Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh: sritenbaugh@post-gazette.com or 412-263-4910.
First Published: October 19, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
