Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Wednesday, July 09, 2008

American Girl store to open in Mall of America

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — American Girl is coming to America’s Mall.

The store that’s become popular selling dolls and accessories will come to the Mall of America in November.

The closest store to Minnesota now is in Chicago, and the only other stores are in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta.

Company spokeswoman Stephanie Spanos said American Girl is very selective about its store locations. Only one other store is set to open in 2008 — in suburban Boston.

The Mall of America location will be in a 20,000-square-foot, two-level space complete with a doll hair salon, bistro and party rooms. It will be located near Nickelodeon Universe.

American Girl is a division of Mattel Inc.

Work on the new store began several weeks ago in the space formerly occupied by the Stampede Steakhouse, which closed about a year ago.

“I’m kind of surprised that nobody asked us what was going on, why the walls of what used to be a steakhouse were pink,” said Maureen Bausch, executive vice president of development for the mall.

She said the mall first tried to attract an American Girl store nearly 10 years ago. Mall officials continued to try to lure American Girl as the retailer opened other locations across the country.

“All of our research continues to show that people will travel and spend time at the mall for quality family experiences,” Bausch said. “We’ve known for a long time that American Girl is that kind of company.”

Richard Grones, founder of Cambridge Commercial Realty, an Edina-based firm that specializes in the retail market, said he thought the store would be a good fit for the Mall of America.

“It’s a good signature tenant, and it should work very well there,” he said.

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