This past weekend, I went with my mother, my daughter Alexa and her American Girl Doll Olivia, into Manhattan to spend some time at the American Girl Place for her 7th birthday. Three generations (well, four if you include Olivia) spending a lovely day together.
If you have been to American Girl Place you are probably thinking I am nuts because the store is 43,000 square feet, spread over four floors, and can be totally overwhelming and exhausting (carrying all that stuff and waiting on line)! But noooo….I have the best kept secret around! Robyn Roth-Moise. No, she is not the new doll of the year, she is a personal shopper! Personal shopper for a doll store you ask? Trust me on this… Robyn’s job (along with all the other wonderful personal shoppers) is to make your shopping experience simple and completely stress free. Their goal is to make you and your child’s visit to American Girl Place as magical as possible, and she definitely succeeded with us! Now I know what you’re thinking- how can I possibly afford to buy things in the store and pay for a service like that? Guess what? It’s FREE! You heard me correctly. It is a no fee, no commission, no tipping service.
When you arrive at the store you go to the Concierge and they will call your personal shopper. You can check you coats. They will explain the layout of the store and where everything is, including new items and store exclusives. If your child has certain things in mind they can bring the items to you. My daughter knew she wanted a horse for Olivia so instead of going around all the floors looking at all the different horses, we sat in the peaceful personal shopping waiting area and they brought the horses to us!
After choosing a horse that Alexa named butterscotch, we had lunch at the cafe (which was absolutely ADORABLE, but make sure to get a reservation beforehand). I highly recommend it as it was quite tasty and ended up being a great bonding experience. They give you a box of interesting questions to ask each other while you wait for your meal, and I have to say, I learned some new things about my mom and my daughter and shared a lot of laughs.
After lunch we had plans to get Olivia’s hair done at the doll salon (I know it seems frivolous, but this ended up being my daughter’s favorite part of the whole day). We got a great tip from Charlotte (another personal shopper) on how to avoid the 2 hour lines for the salon (no appointments accepted there unfortunately). All we had to do was leave the cafe a few minutes before most people finished their lunch and, voila, we saved ourselves an hour and 55 minutes! They sit the dolls in mini salon chairs and the stylists trim and style the hair (there were about 30 styles to choose from) while chatting with the doll’s owner about proper hair care and other fun things. All that was missing were tiny fashion magazines!
After Olivia got her new “do” we strolled leisurely around the store, chose a few things to buy, and headed back up to the personal shopping area. Robyn did such an amazing job, I can’t say enough about her. She didn’t try to sell us at all, but rather helped us through the endless amount of accessories and apparel, narrow things down, while making Alexa feel very special. The best part was that we could check out and pay right there so we didn’t have to deal with the really long lines at all the cashiers. It was really a perfect day! Thanks to Robyn and Charlotte my mom and I did not have to be stressed and my daughter had a fabulous seventh birthday that she will never forget!
If you would like to get in touch with Robyn Roth-Moise and plan your magical day, you can e-mail her at Robyn.Roth-Moise@AmericanGirl.com.
Visit the website at: http://www.americangirl.com/stores/location_ny.php
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