AMERICAN GIRL VANCOUVER!!!

Today I had the distinct thrill and pleasure of being one of the first people to shop at American Girl Vancouver! The new store will have a grand opening on May 3 and 4th. I had some inside information that there was a "soft" opening today so I ventured downtown on the Skytrain by myself. My son had told me some hints of how not to get lost. Those who know me know I have NO sense of direction at all. I was very pleased with myself to go directly to the store and not get lost once! I was there in time to see the first ever doll sold in American Girl Vancouver. She is a #23 and her new little mommy took a long time deciding which one to pick! It was a lot of fun watching her pick out her new doll. No, I didn't know her but just enjoyed watching!

The store is VERY small but they say they are waiting to see how the two new locations are received in Canada before going further. I have been to both LA and Seattle a few times and both are much, much larger.  Of the three people the supervisor had talked to, 2 of us lamented the fact that the historicals are not present. She said they are keeping track of how many ask for future reference so if you go down, make sure you let them know you would like to see the historicals if indeed you would! There are no store exclusives for Vancouver. None have been ordered (YET) I was told. Again, I was told they are waiting to see how the stores are received. However, if you go down this weekend for the official Grand Opening, one of the handouts is going to be a T-shirt with  American Girl Vancouver on it. Also mention you would like to see store exclusives to the employees, preferably a supervisor, as from what I gathered from several employees, they are tracking the feedback so they know the areas to improve upon.

 At the counter of the hair salon you will see the owner of the first doll sold in Vancouver. Below you will see the doll she bought, she took her promptly to the salon to have her hair done! They also do ear piercing in this store but no design your own t-shirt or Bistro or cafe unfortunately.

The floor staff in this new store are perfect! I enjoyed talking to them all. As there was not really anyone there except me and a couple of folks who wandered in, so there was lots of time to chat with the employees. They are young, bubbly, excited, enthusiastic and perfect representatives of the American Girl line in my opinion! There are friendly and eager to share what they have recently learned about the line of toys and their history. The supervisors are keeping a watchful eye and they also are very friendly and very interested to hear opinions on the line and any suggestions for going forward. It was a pleasure to meet them all and share opinions!

 Isabelle is the girl of the year for 2014 and she is everywhere! I was very surprised to see how absolutely gorgeous she is in person! Photos do not do her justice. She is a really beautiful doll in person. My Jess who had come along to the store with me got in a photo with Isabelle below!

Isn't her cat Tutu cute?

 The crazy doll lady....actually they were quite pleased to have an adult collector come in.

 This is the Bitty area

 The Bitty's!  Lots and lots of Bitty's. Not all of their collection is here though. I was told that space issues are preventing everything from coming.

 Jess had to sneak into this photo too!

 Adorable beach set!

 Don't worry about them running out..l have it on good authority that there is an incredible amount of stock in the back room...mountains of it, I was told!

 So many cute scenes!

 The bedroom set, they carry retainer braces set but I did not see any of the hair pieces. I saw the brush, the pick and one set of hair accessories but not the braided hairbands or any of that stuff.

 This pink dress had to come home with me...it is pink!

 I love the breakfast set!

 This birthday set is really nice!

 Coconut is so cute!

 Isabelle's dress form

 This is Isabelle's sewing studio, the sewing machine is just DARLING! And so is the dress form!

Jess and I had such a good time, Thanks American Girl!