American Girl, a division of Mattel, Inc., today announced plans to open its newest experiential retail store at Alderwood, one of the most influential shopping centers in the Pacific Northwest, located in Lynnwood, Washington, just minutes from Seattle. The new 12,500-square-foot American Girl store is slated to open in summer of 2011.
“Given our unparalleled success in experiential retailing over the past decade, we are eager to bring our next American Girl store to such a premier retail destination as Alderwood,” said Wade Opland, American Girl’s vice president of retail. “The premium location, coupled with the shopping center’s world-class mix of retailers, provides us with even greater opportunities to celebrate girls in an unforgettable environment.”
Visitors to Alderwood’s new American Girl store will find the complete assortment of the company’s popular historical and contemporary dolls, along with doll outfits, accessories, girl-sized clothing, and a variety of best-selling American Girl books. In addition, American Girl fans will be able to enjoy a meal and a delicious dessert or celebrate a birthday in the store’s fun and casual 50-seat Bistro, treat their dolls to a new hairdo in the Doll Hair Salon, or design a cute doll-sized T-shirt in the “Creativi-Tees” boutique. A variety of girl-and-mom-friendly events and programs will also be offered throughout the year.
“When you add one of the most recognized brands like American Girl to your retail line-up, you’ve automatically increased your retail and entertainment experience exponentially. American Girl has mastered the creation of the ultimate destination, combining dolls, education and unlimited imagination for little girls. Our goal is to provide our shoppers with a total and unique retail and entertainment experience,” said Alan Barocas, senior executive vice president of leasing for General Growth Properties, Inc.
American Girl has been recognized as an industry leader in experiential retail since opening its first flagship store, American Girl Place®, in Chicago in 1998. Two more flagship stores, American Girl Place New York on Fifth Avenue and American Girl Place Los Angeles at The Grove, opened in 2003 and 2006 respectively. Additional retail stores opened in Atlanta and Dallas in 2007, in Boston and Mall of America in Minneapolis in 2008, and in Denver and Kansas City in 2010. Together, the popular retail and entertainment sites have welcomed nearly 40 million visitors to date.