Girl Scouts say cookie sales are down due to economy

BARRINGTON, N.H.—An economy on thin ice is hurting sales of Thin Mints.

Girl Scout and Brownie troops say cookie sales are noticeably down this year as their customers struggle to pay for groceries, gasoline and home heating fuel.

Becky Santos, leader of Brownie Troop 74 in Barrington, said her group sold 300 boxes outside a Wal-Mart recently, down from 500 in the same location last year. Sue Cusack, the troop's co-leader, said she and her daughter also made fewer door-to-door sales, with some repeat customers buying one box instead of two.

Jan Arsenault of Barrington said she scaled back her purchase because of the economy but couldn't resist two boxes.

"I almost made it by this table," she said at Barrington Middle School on Tuesday. "In past years, I probably would have bought more."

Mary Ellen Hettinger, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Swift Water Council in Bedford, said she is concerned the state may not reach its goal this year because of the economy. Last year, the 14,000 Girl Scouts in New Hampshire and eastern Vermont who make up the Swift Water Council sold more than 1.25 million boxes of cookies, she said.

This year's totals won't be known until later this month, but Hettinger said she already has seen some indications that sales are down. Fewer people have donated to a program that sends cookies to U.S. military personnel overseas, and fewer girls have qualified for an award that goes to those who sell more than 1,000 boxes, she said.

Hettinger said the state council has held the price of Girl Scout cookie boxes at $3.50 for seven years. Other states like Massachusetts sell them for $4 each, she said.

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Information from: Foster's Daily Democrat, http://www.fosters.com

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