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Some Girl Scout Troops Having Cookie Concerns

By Reg Chapman, WCCO-TV

NORTH ST. PAUL (WCCO)
-- It has become the time of year many of us look forward to: Girl Scout cookie season. However, this year, some Girl Scout troops aren't so happy with how those cookies are being sold.

For the first time, each troop was given a certain number of cookies. "Cookies NOW" is the new approach to selling girl scout cookies. Instead of going door to door and soliciting orders, Girl Scouts now order ahead and then try and sell the inventory.

It's their job to sell those boxes, but some girls are finding it's not as easy as it sounds.

"It's kind of more difficult because you have to carry them around everywhere you go," said Caitlyn Swiech.

For 10-year-old Caitlyn and the rest of Girl Scout Troop 53631 in North St. Paul, the new approach is not working.

Stacie Swiech says her troop is on the hook for more than a thousand boxes of cookies.

"Almost every troop has an excess of cookies," said Swiech.

A online cookie trading site for troops shows how bad the problem is. For example, a troop in Brooklyn Park has 1,500 boxes and owes the Girls Scout Council $4,500. Another troop in Robbinsdale has more than 700 boxes of cookies left and owe more than $2,000.

"It makes me kind of sad," said Swiech.

The Minnesota Wisconsin River Valley Council says they do not want any troops to be financially burdened by cookies. They extended cookie sells for one week and now have added another Cookie Comeback Day this weekend.

The Council says 75 percent of troops managed its inventory extremely well and only 1 percent have a serious inventory problem.

It is good news for troops in N. St. Paul, but not good enough for them to do this again next year.

"Our troop has unanimously decided not to sell cookies next year. It has left such a bad taste. We will look for other ways to do fundraisers," said Swiech.

The Cookie Comeback Day is set for March 19, and only unopened boxes of cookies will be taken back.

The Girls Scout Council said troops sold more than 5 million packages of cookies, which makes them the largest cookie program in the country.

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