The American Girl Store 美國女孩娃娃專賣店

My friend Kristin and her family is spending their spring break holiday in southern California. She lives in Hawaii, but her extended family still live in Taiwan. Anyways, last week, we met them at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and my kids had a great time playing with her kids. So as they are going home tomorrow, we decided to meet again. This time, we decided to meet at the Grove (http://www.thegrovela.com/). It's an outdoor mall with many one-and-only stores in Los Angeles. Since Kristin and I have daughters, we decided that the American Girl Store is a must visit. I took my daughter to the American Girl Store in New York City last summer and the impact on her then wasn't as much as this visit. It was visible that during our visit today that all three girls had a look of envy and desire on their faces because every girl at the store had a American Girl doll in their arms. Our girls were the only ones without a doll.

The American Girl enterprise (http://americangirl.com/) and the American Girl stores (http://www.americangirl.com/stores/) are a quintessential American experience for American girls. Wikipedia has a good writeup on the American Girl company [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Girl_(company)]. I think the key to the company's success is their series of American Girls books that are well-written and are based on pre-teen girl characters from various periods of American history.

Kaya, a native American girl (1764)
Felicity, a colonial girl (1774)
Josefina, a Mexican girl living in the States (1824)
Kirsten, a Swedish immigrant (1854)
Addy Walker, a fugitive slave (1864)
Samantha, an Edwardian/Victorian girl (1904)
Kit, a depression-era girl (1934)
Molly, a girl who lived through World War II (1944)

There are many more character dolls who are friends of these history-based American Girl dolls, as well as a new Julie doll for 1974. On top of the dolls from the American Girl book series, Mattel also introduced the Girl of the Year dolls and "Just Like You" dolls.

The reading levels of these books are for 8 year olds (grade 2 or grade 3). When the girls read these books, they will get a sense of what girls their age experienced at different points in time that are important in American history. When Mattel bought the American Girl franchise in 1998, it expanded it's product line and established its flagship store in Chicago. With Mattel's huge marketing machine behind the American Girl brand, the American Girl doll has become the most "desirable" doll for the well-to-do segment of our society. At $95 plus tax for each doll, the price tag is staggering!
Although we left the American Girl Store without buying anything (to the chagrin of our daughters), it hasn't stopped the other patrons from shopping and enjoying the amenities at the store. There is a theater, a dining room (for the public as well as for private birthday parties), and a hair salon for your American Girl doll. Despite our reluctance to part with our money at the store, I must say that "shopping" at the American Girl Store is a pleasant one. The store is clean, bright, spacious, and colorful.

I am sure it was hard for our daughters to walk out of the store without buying a thing. Kristin and I have daughters who don't really play with dolls, so it's hard to justify spending US$95 for a doll and US$25 for each additional outfit when they will only spend a little time playing with it. It's more a status symbol than anything else to own an American Girl doll. The key is how to say no to those cute little face without ruining their self-esteem (and that's a subject for another day)! The photo above has the Julie doll (1974) and her best friend, Ivy.

好友 Kristin 帶小孩從夏威夷到南加州來度假。 Kristin 是我在臺灣工作時認識的朋友。想當年我們都是單身貴族, 而如今我們卻是兒女成群的媽媽。難得有機會再見面,所以大家都很開心。再加上兩家的小孩子都相處得不錯, 所以我們決定這星期再見一次面。上星期天我們跑到 Costa Mesa 的 South Coast Plaza 見面。只可惜我們太早離開那個購物中心, 要不然搞不好就能看到賈靜雯一家在那裏逛街。這星期我們決定到 Beverly Hills 比佛利山莊附近的一個購物中心 The Grove (http://www.thegrovela.com/) 見面, 最主要是這個購物中心有幾家別的購物中心沒有的店, 例如 美國女孩娃娃專賣店 (The American Girl Store)。

去年暑假我們到紐約玩時, 就曾經去過那裏的美國女孩娃娃專賣店 (The American Girl Store)。 那時候我女兒還沒有表現出她很想要個美國女孩娃娃的樣子。這一回來到了自家附近的美國女孩娃娃專賣店 (The American Girl Store), 她則向我告白說她很想要個美國女孩娃娃。我告訴她說她是可以買, 不過得用自己的錢買。但是因為 Kristin 阿姨不準備買美國女孩娃娃給她的兩個女兒, 女兒今天也不能買。我順便告訴女兒, Kristin 阿姨很有錢,可是她也不會亂花錢。我是要女兒瞭解花一、二百元買個大陸做的娃娃是個不明之舉。說真的, 她也沒啥時間可以玩娃娃。再加上也沒人可以陪她玩。我說家裏已經買了不少洋娃娃給她了, 其實她可以學著做漂亮的衣服給娃娃穿。這樣會比較好玩。她乖乖的聽我把話說完, 也沒表示什麼意見, 不知道她聽進去沒有。八成是沒有, 但是家長該給阻力時還是要給。到年底, 女兒如果還是堅持要用自己的錢買美國女孩娃娃的話,再說喽。

回到美國女孩娃娃專賣店 (The American Girl Store), 店裏的裝潢非常雅致, 以紅白色係為主。 明尼蘇達州 Javabn 的部落格就有明尼蘇達分店裏的照片 (http://blog.yam.com/scoopy/article/18582245)。每家分店的內部裝飾都很類似。人在裏面就會有衝動想買個娃娃回家做紀念。要不是一個基本十八吋的娃娃要美金九十五元(稅外加), 然後一套娃娃衣服也要美金二十五元, 我真的就會買個娃娃回家做傳家之寶。店裏賣的東西實在是太貴了。

我們在店裏看到許多小女孩到那裏開派對。派對的最低消費一人要 US$32 (稅和小費外加) 至 US$65不等。不要在那裏開派對, 也可以在那裏用餐 (一人費用: 中餐 US$22 、下午茶 US$20 、晚餐 US$24, 外加稅和小費)。真的是高檔消費! 除了在店裏買東西、開生日派對及用餐之外, 小女孩也可以在店裏拍照,然後就可以擁有一本由自己做封面女孩的 American Girl Magazine。女兒七歲生日時, 她姑姑特別訂了兩年的 American Girl Magazine 給她做生日禮物。女兒很喜歡。她其實會很想上 American Girl Magazine 的封面。說真的, 我也不知道怎樣才能讓她有機會上 American Girl Magazine 的封面。至少要等她的牙齒都矯正完畢吧! 小女孩的明星夢真的是久無止盡的! 這店裏最好玩的部門是娃娃美容院。如果小女孩的美國女孩娃娃有一頭亂髮, 她可以送娃娃去娃娃美容院做頭髮。做一種髮型要 US$10 至 US$20 。娃娃如果要穿耳洞, 要花 US$14 (包括三副耳環)。這一切都是虛擬的娃娃世界,可是好逼真喔!

其實美國女孩娃娃的產品包括一係列的叢書。美國女孩娃娃的書都有歷史背景。
Kaya (1764) 印地安女孩
Felicity (1774) 美國革命/美國殖民時代
Josefina (1824) 墨西哥人在德州
Kirsten (1854) 十九世紀移民潮
Addy Walker (1864) 奴隸制度時代
Samantha (1904) 英王愛德華時代
Kit (1934) 1929 年開始於美國的大蕭條
Molly (1944) 第二次世界大戰
Julie (1974) 越戰

每一位美國女孩娃娃都有基本的六本書:

Meet the [美國女孩娃娃的名字] “認識她”
[美國女孩娃娃的名字] Learns the Lesson “從經驗中獲取教訓”
[美國女孩娃娃的名字]'s Surprise “她的驚奇”
Happy Birthday, [美國女孩娃娃的名字]! “生日快樂!”
[美國女孩娃娃的名字] Saves the Day “最後關頭取得勝利[成功]”
Changes for [美國女孩娃娃的名字] “變化”