As Girl Scouts stocked with Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and Adventurefuls prepare for the opening weekend of their famous cookie booths, troops are learning something new about the business world: worker strikes.
Roughly 2,500 Girl Scouts from 470 troops in metro Denver count on the ability to sell cookies outside King Soopers locations each year. But this weekend, 77 King Soopers stores in the area are striking, leaving troops to get creative with replacement locations.
Leanna Clark, CEO of Girl Scouts Colorado, said troops are reaching out to businesses located in the same parking lots as King Soopers in an effort to maintain sales this opening weekend.
“We're respecting the strike and the picket lines, but also being creative and really banding together and making calls and doing whatever we can to support the girls,” said Clark.
Other businesses like Safeway, Arc Thrift Stores, and Vectra Bank are also extending booth times to help make up for the lost space, and troop leaders are taking to apps like Nextdoor to find local businesses willing to help.
“We know folks are clamoring for cookies and so it's also a good time to get that old-fashioned wagon out and pull it around in the neighborhood,” said Clark.
Because the King Soopers booths are so popular, Clark told CPR News it’s likely troops will feel the impact in some ways regardless of efforts to pivot.
“It's still tough because of Super Bowl weekend. Everybody's hitting the grocery store to stock up for their Super Bowl party, so the girls are still going to feel a loss of some income there,” she said.
Last year, girls in Colorado raised an estimated $2 million for their troops through the annual cookie sale. The funds help them pay for educational adventures and travel opportunities throughout the year.
“One troop is planning an outdoor adventure trip to Belize. Another troop is planning to use their dollars towards a service project for refugee kids. So those are the kinds of things that get impacted when the girls don't earn the money that they're hoping for through cookie sales,” Clark said.
Despite the potential impact, Clark said the opportunity is also a teaching moment.
“These girls are really running their own small businesses, so we are trying to look at this as a learning opportunity. We know that there's frustration, but we're also trying to have troop leaders and parents talk to the girls about what a strike is, the history behind strikes, why people strike,” she said.
There are about 10,000 Girl Scouts across the state. All of them are preparing for the potential of strikes in their cities. The workers’ union, UCFW Local 7, said Colorado Springs and Pueblo workers are set to begin strikes Friday morning. Workers in both cities voted to authorize a strike last week.
“This is a remarkable lesson for them. These are girls running their own small business so, we're just asking folks – when they see our girls, maybe do a little extra, give 'em a little high five, buy an extra package of cookies, do whatever you might be able to do to support them,” Clark said.
Businesses with high foot traffic interested in hosting a Girl Scout Cookie booth can contact Girl Scouts of Colorado customer care at 877-404-5708.
To find a booth location near you visit the Cookie Finder online.
