It seems like the pandemic high of AG's target audience being home and having more time for doll play is now back to reality, because American Girl's sales dropped 22% in Quarter 1 of 2022 from Quarter 1 of 2021.
I honestly think this is why there were so many sales this quarter, but it's probably because American Girl has been ignoring the historicals. The new items this month were from Quarter 2, but we got many modern items in the past few months and it's clear consumers want more historicals. I also think Corinne isn't being as well-advertised as Kira was, and while Corinne was a big seller in January, the second wave of Courtney's collection came in addition to Kira last year, so historical collectors bought then, too.
I wish American Girl would listen to their customers more and give the customers more of what they want. For example, every time American Girl posts about the CYO dolls on social media, people request bangs and various retired eye/hair colors. (And I wish they brought back the CYO outfit with the kitty shoes.) And people want JLY4. Also, various historical doll outfits and furniture sell on eBay for three and four times what AG originally sold them for. Why not bring these items back? I want to give AG my money, but AG isn’t giving me a good reason to do so.
I think AG likes to focus on the modern dolls because producing those dolls is cheaper.…
gee ag maybe ur money comes from what makes you original and interesting, the historical dolls that your brand SHOULD be focusing on. like whenever i'm in the OG or disney ILY aisle at target, i'll chat with moms there and ALL the time they're like "oh yea we can't afford to just get american girl clothes for our kids, they're happy with OG" like ag think about that. if you're gonna be expensive have a reason for it.
Sorry girls. It's not time for play that is the problem. It is massive inflation. As in, do you want to eat this week or have a new doll? I kid you not, a 50 pound bag of flour that used to be $55 is now $90. The only things that haven't seen massive price spikes are local grown and organic foods that were already more expensive. Combine that with huge gas price spikes. In 2020 gas where I am was hovering between $2 and $2.30. It is now 4.15. That means that if you all used to spend $200 a month in gas, you are now paying around $400. There's 2 dolls for you right there. Now let's heat…
I worried that Corrine was too seasonally centered. Winter has passed even in Minnesota. I was hoping for summer things and clothes.
I wonder if this is the reason why AG released new stuff for Maryellen, Melody, and Nanea in the last new release.