American Girl is heading to Toys R Us!

American Girl has started selling Wellie Wisher dolls and accessories at all of the Toys R Us toy stores in the United States of America. But that's not all. 97 Toys R Us stores will have a American Girl "store-within-store" that will sell Wellie Wisher dolls and Truly Me dolls only by the end of October 2016. BeForever dolls, the Girl of the Year, the upcoming contemporary characters and Bitty Baby dolls will not be sold at the mini stores. No doll hair salons or bistros will be there, also. More "stores-within-stores" will open in 2017.

Katy Dickson, the President of American Girl said this about the new stores: "Partnering with a top retailer like Toys R Us allows us to meet our customers where and when they want to shop and to take our timeless life lessons to even more girls." That's exactly why this could be good for American Girl. I see that in 2017, American Girl will be about expanding to other girls who can't get to the dolls. In May, when American Girl announced the "store of the future" in New York City to open in fall 2017, Racked.com said this about a possible American Girl 2017 revamp: "The new store fits in with a bigger brand refresh customers will notice in the coming year. “We’re evolving as a total brand," says (Wade) Opland (Senior Vice President of Retail for American Girl), "and this will be one expression of that.""

I feel really optimistic about this move because it will give the American Girl experience to girls who are hours away from getting to a actual store.

AMERICAN GIRL TRIVIA: Sonali and Gwen were the only time a Girl of the Year had a best friend, and any doll had two best friends.

COMMENT DISCUSSION QUESTION: How far away is your nearest American Girl store?

MY ANSWER: About 25 minutes away.