What has happened to American Girl?

[DodgerGirl]

I have been a fan of American Girl since I was a little girl and when it debuted in 1986 as Pleasant Company they were known for exceptional high quality dolls and toys that were meant to last for generations and The American Girls books were great but if you look at American Girl today you'll notice that it has gone downhill and I can't figure it out. Is it because American Girl wants to change it's image and focus on products aimed at older kids and teens or is it because American Girl realizes that the girls that played with American Girl dolls and grew up with American Girl have grown up and want to share the dolls and stuff with their own daughters now? Because when Pleasant Company debuted the American Girls line in 1986 with the three dolls Samantha Kirsten and Molly the line won so many awards because it was a smart way to teach girls history. But I think that when Mattel bought American Girl that's when they went downhill. And also the books have gone downhill too. Take for instance if you look at the books of Molly and Addy they have been edited because they talk about war and serious subjects and I can't figure out why they did this? Also it seems that in almost American Girl book except for Kit and Molly's books they have a huge obsession with death and I think it is not right for a young child to read by having a relative die in the books. And what I think American Girl is doing is moving away from historic times and have dolls from the future eras like Melody is from 1964 Julie is from 1974 and Courtney from 1986 and what is shocking about Courtney's books is that they talk about the famous Challenger explosion from 1986 and that is very scary for a child to read about and it tells me that American Girl is changing it's image. And what I think they are focusing on is their Girl Of The Year line and want to make it a successful line. Another line that is very successful is the Bitty Baby line and since it was launched in 1992 as The New Baby line it has grown to be popular for years because the baby dolls are well made and are good quality and now they have the Welliwishers line which is also very popular with little girls too. But I think what also has caused American Girl to go downhill is the fact that they created a store chain called American Girl Place and they think it's a smart move and it led to them selling the dolls in stores like Costco and partnered with Toys "R" Us before it's demise to also sell the dolls as well. I think American Girl will improve and think of other smart ways to bring it back the way it was once before

 

[Nabas]

We adored the product so much that we took our pre-tween daughters to the American Girl stores in NYC, Chicago, and Atlanta. Since then, the one in Atlanta closed while one in Orlando opened.

 

[Beezle2]

I believe that like so many formerly high quality name brands, they have saturated their market and have moved to quantity over quality by trading on their former good name. I can name many brands that have done that, Build a Bear comes to mind. Our original bears are so much better made. Gymboree, Yankee Candle, Jeep, Eddie Bauer, Lands End, just things I used to buy that have cheapened themselves to the point of garbage in the pursuit of shareholder profits.

 

[slo]

My girls are 24 & 19 and there are 22 AG dolls in my house, which include 2 Bitty Babies and 2 sets of twins.

We live in the Chicago area and would take them downtown to the AG store for many birthdays so they could pick out their doll and they asked Santa for several too. When we’d take them to the store you’d see families and little girls everywhere carrying their dolls, and bags from the store, down Michigan Ave and now I see none - it’s so sad. We drove past the store and looking through the window I did not see the usual crowd. I’m curious if it’s like this is other places. We have lots of great memories at this store, but nothing lasts forever.

 

[Eeyore daily]

This is a joke right? Almost every Disney movie involves a relatives (mostly mothers) death. How is that any different than reading about death in books? Some children might relate to that experience and learn how to cope with those feelings.

Also the challenger explosion is too scary? Children are just reading about events of something. It’s not like they’re being shown the aftermath and charred bodies. I learned about the JFK assasination at the age of 8, it’s just historical facts/information and I turned out just fine. Nothing is wrong with teaching children about historical events.

 

[AussieFan8]

My girls are 24 & 19 and there are 22 AG dolls in my house, which include 2 Bitty Babies and 2 sets of twins.

We live in the Chicago area and would take them downtown to the AG store for many birthdays so they could pick out their doll and they asked Santa for several too. When we’d take them to the store you’d see families and little girls everywhere carrying their dolls, and bags from the store, down Michigan Ave and now I see none - it’s so sad. We drove past the store and looking through the window I did not see the usual crowd. I’m curious if it’s like this is other places. We have lots of great memories at this store, but nothing lasts forever.

My daughter is 21 and same thing - she has five or six AG dolls and tons of clothes and accessories (packed away now). They were what she wanted for gifts for years, and I was thrilled that she wanted them instead of a bunch of loud, plastic toys. We took a trip to Chicago one year and our visit to the AG store and cafe was the highlight of our trip for her. Now, both stores in my state have closed, so it's interesting to hear about the decline in quality as I've not been in a store in probably eight years.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think why American Girl decided to make the American Girl Place stores was to see how successful the line would be outside the mail-order catalogues and when the very first American Girl Place store opened in Chicago it became a big deal and was exactly like Harrod's is to London and because girls could really interact with other girls with the dolls and have birthday parties in the cafe and see a show too. But I can expect in a few years that American Girl Place will close too because although a neat concept it was not a worthy idea. Another thing American Girl has done is create dolls that aren't part of a series but come with stand alone books that claim to inspire girls to choose careers by having a doll linked to a career. American Girl started this by debuting Tenney who dreams of becoming a country singer and although she was a great seller Tenney was soon retired. And now American Girl has launched a series of books and dolls called World By Us and they teach girls about charity and doing good and saving the earth and I do not see how these dolls are selling because they never are seen in any catalog of American Girl right now. But as I mentioned in my opening post American Girl should go back to what made them great by focusing on the historical dolls and add some new historic dolls from the 1800's and a doll from the Victorian era as well. Now those types of dolls would sell

 

[DisneyElite4]

I was a young girl when American Girl first came out. Throughout the years on my birthday and Christmas I received the Samantha doll and all of her books and accessories, and my older sister received the Kirsten doll and all of her books and accessories. My parents kept everything in climate-controlled storage once we outgrew them. My sister’s girls then played with them, and now my daughter plays with them. She frequently chooses the original books from her shelf to read. I’m so glad my parents saved everything!

Both my sister’s girls and my daughter have also enjoyed getting their own dolls and accessories and visiting the stores. While the quality has declined, American Girl has still been a fun thing for our three girls. And the bonus is that I’ve bought very little for my daughter who is the youngest, as she received all of the hand-me-downs from her cousins.

 

[TLSnell1981]

AG chose to go after a different demographic a few years ago. It hasn't helped their brand by reducing/eliminating what made them successful in the first place.

 

[AndreaA]

My daughter is 21 and same thing - she has five or six AG dolls and tons of clothes and accessories (packed away now). They were what she wanted for gifts for years, and I was thrilled that she wanted them instead of a bunch of loud, plastic toys. We took a trip to Chicago one year and our visit to the AG store and cafe was the highlight of our trip for her. Now, both stores in my state have closed, so it's interesting to hear about the decline in quality as I've not been in a store in probably eight years.

I had a few of the dolls (came to them late, as a teen, but always loved dolls) but then I had twin boys and expected my AG time was over. Brought them out for the boys because they love history, and one boy in particular was instantly in love. He kept my Josefina and before long we were going to the AG store in Boston to get MaryEllen, and tons of clothes and accessories over the years. Even his brother who had no interest in the dolls loved going to the store because it was just FUN and the cafe had shockingly good food. Place was always PACKED on the weekends and school vacations.

Sadly, they decided not to renew their lease when the mall seriously upped the rent, and now it’s an Amazon store (insert eye roll here) but I think it would have remained popular.

I do think they made a mistake moving away from the historical dolls and into the “girl of today” stuff, and a lot of the quality seriously slipped when Mattel took over (no more accessories made of real wood, real metal, real china, etc.) but it seems they’re starting to move back to that. They’ve re-released one of the older dolls just recently, including some of her more intricate accessories. They’ve also made sets that had more detailed/quality components. I guess time will tell…

 

[seven dwarfs]

It was a good quality company that was produced in the USA. It had cute little stores where it made the doll owner feel so very special. Somehow, someone lost sight of the theme, quality went down, and the rest is history. You no longer had that special feeling. The emotional elements were lost. Some things are better just left alone. Sometimes you can't just look at how you can make the most money. Sometimes, you have to provide a good product. I think Walt Disney was on to something.... corporate greed is the ruination of many things.

 

[sam_gordon]

They published books not related to the dolls?

 

[mefordis]

I'm glad we have several of the dolls, accessories and books that we'll pass down to my girl's girls one day. Glad I never parted with them.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Like poster AndreaA my first American Girl doll was Josefina and I got her for Christmas 1998 and when I first saw Josefina in her debut Pleasant Company catalog I was drawn to her like a magnet because Josefina was very beautiful and also because she came from New Mexico and my mom's relatives were like Josefina's too and so when my Josefina doll arrived on Christmas my mom and I fell in love with her and her pretty outfits and I still have her today. Later I got Kirsten and Kaya and they were excellent too. But the favorite American Girl that's currently a favorite of me and my mom is Maryellen and my mom adores her 50's style outfits and we also like Courtney too because she's from the 80's. But one thing I have to give credit to American Girl on is how they created a doll that's deaf named Joss and you don't see very many dolls that represent disabilities in a wonderful manner and Joss recieved high marks when she came out in 2020. But what I think American Girl will start doing in the future to be still successful is to attract a high selling audience by making more American Girl stuff by expanding the line to make movies gamiing apps and music albums because judging by the movies of Maryellen and Melody and the recent addition Corinne American Girl hopes that this will keep them surviving

 

[NJlauren]

I had a doll growing up, as did my sister and my cousin had a ton of dolls.

My girls have them now, and while I loved the historical dolls and my girls play with them, I find them and their friends gravitate towards the more modern dolls.

We did the store this fall and had a blast, it was packed the one in NYC. Honestly I understand the new doll style isn’t for everyone including me, but I think variety is good. Hopefully they are around for an extend period of time because I just think the dolls are lovely!

 

[SteveH]

It was a good quality company that was produced in the USA. It had cute little stores where it made the doll owner feel so very special. Somehow, someone lost sight of the theme, quality went down, and the rest is history. You no longer had that special feeling. The emotional elements were lost. Some things are better just left alone. Sometimes you can't just look at how you can make the most money. Sometimes, you have to provide a good product. I think Walt Disney was on to something.... corporate greed is the ruination of many things.

Seems like you almost described the old Disney Stores decline. Remember when it was like stepping inside of a park; the friendless of CMs, the quality products - it really was an extension of a Disney Park experience, you could even buy your park tickets there and the CMs knew how to make it an inclusive experience. Then greed took over, and it became a shell of itself; product quality declined and the CM experience declined as well. Now you have a bunch of Disney stuff shoved in a corner at Target, shelves empty and in disarray - but it still does reflect on the current state of Disney affairs - just not in a positive way IMHO.

 

[AndreaA]

Seems like you almost described the old Disney Stores decline. Remember when it was like stepping inside of a park; the friendless of CMs, the quality products - it really was an extension of a Disney Park experience, you could even buy your park tickets there and the CMs knew how to make it an inclusive experience. Then greed took over, and it became a shell of itself; product quality declined and the CM experience declined as well. Now you have a bunch of Disney stuff shoved in a corner at Target, shelves empty and in disarray - but it still does reflect on the current state of Disney affairs - just not in a positive way IMHO.

YES - I remember going to the Disney Store in Boston at Quincy Market. The place was four stories tall and absolutely amazing. It was reduced from that to a tiny little place at our local outlet mall, and then even that closed. Sad.

 

[RedAngie]

Was the other thread deleted?? I was only part way thru reading it.

 

[TippyThomas]

Was the other thread deleted?? I was only part way thru reading it.

Yes,it appears so.

 

[Mysterian]

I myself have never been partial to AG, and it's insistence on creating cloned children, without the ability to fetch the remote.

Typically when I think of American Girl, I think of this segment from Conan: