By Mary Whitfill
Features Editor
Five-year Girl Scout Madeline McGregor of Troop 8491 marked her second year as top Girl Scout Cookie seller in the Coppell and Valley Ranch area. With almost 900 boxes sold in initial sales, McGregor hopes to surpass last year’s sales by the end of the booth sale season.
During the month of January, McGregor spent weeks going door to door to sell cookies to Coppell residents. While the initial selling period is now over, booth sales have just begun and McGregor is confident she will be able to sell as many as she did last year.
“At first, my goal was to sell 500 boxes of cookies,” McGregor said. “Then it went to 610, then 750, then 800 and it just kept going. With booth sales, I sold over 1,000 last year.”
The first booth sale was held on Sunday and McGregor is expecting to participate in three troop booth sales by the end of the selling season.
“My favorite part of Girl Scouts is asking people if they want cookies and if they say yes I like helping them get the cookies,” McGregor said. “Once the cookies come in, my favorite part is sorting them and getting them ready to hand out.”
One of the things that makes McGregor’s selling style unique is that with each order of cookies she delivers, she includes a hand written note, thanking each person for buying from her.
McGregor’s father John says that he thinks Madeline’s high sales can be attributed to her perseverance.
“I think one thing she is really good at is her persistence,” John said. “She likes to go and she’s not afraid to knock on somebody’s door and if they say no she just keeps going and keeps knocking.”
The Girl Scout program offers incentives for selling certain numbers of boxes, and Madeline has reached some of the top prizes in recent years.
“I got a night at the Great Wolf Lodge with three other people last year, and this year the 1000 box prize is a night at the Gaylord,” Madeline said. “The top prize this year is a color Nook and you have to sell 2000 boxes.”
Madeline has a formula that she says has helped her sell so many cookies each year.
“Go to a lot of doors and start early, but not too early, “ Madeline said. “Go until you’re either tired or until you can’t sell anymore and it gets dark. I actually gave my grandfather the idea of giving the Thank You Berry Munch cookies to his customers, so he buys a lot which helps me.”
