Time is running out for Iowans who’ve yet to purchase Girl Scout cookies this year. The annual sale wraps up this Sunday.
Antoinette Bernich, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, believes it’s been a solid year for sales. Girl Scouts in Iowa sold more than 1.8 million boxes of cookies in 2012 — which marked the first year of “direct” sales.
“The direct sale format is a little bit different. Traditionally, girls would take orders for cookies. So, there would be a few weeks from the time that you ordered and paid for your cookies to the time that those cookies were delivered,” Bernich says.
“Starting last year, we moved to a ‘cookies now’ format, which means a little more instant gratification for our consumers and I think overall it’s been very well received.” Iowans can find locations where Girl Scouts are selling cookies by using the “booth locator” at: www.girlscoutsiowa.org .
Bernich says the top selling Girl Scouts cookie in Iowa is the Thin Mint. That’s also the best seller across the country.
“In Iowa, we have a couple of areas where there are cookies that trend a little bit better. In Sioux City, for instance, the Peanut Butter Patty is the number one cookie,” Bernich says.
There are eight cookie varieties available for sale from the Girl Scouts. That includes a new offering this year: Mango Cremes. The annual Girl Scout Cookie Sale is designed to raise money for the organization and charities of each troop’s choosing.
Bernich says the sale also teaches girls about financial literacy. “Girls are learning goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics from each box of cookies that someone buys,” Bernich said.
More than 15,000 girls and 4,000 adult volunteers are part of The Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa — which covers 67 counties in central and western Iowa, plus one county in northeast Nebraska and two counties in southeast South Dakota.