American Girl Place

American Girl Place is a chain of stores where American Girl products can be purchased directly. It is billed as an "experience" rather than a regular store.

Each store has well decorated displays of each doll and her accessories and items; dolls can be hand picked by the purchaser from the shelves.

Activities
While there is plenty of shopping that can be done, other activities help round out the experience.

Theater: A small theater show could be seen here. Shows have included Circle of Friends and Bitty Bear's Review. The theaters were all removed in 2008.

Cafe: A restaurant serving brunch, lunch, tea, and dinner. The menus are preset. A person can use a doll chair to prop their doll up at the table with them; if a doll has not been brought, there are "loaner" dolls that can be used.

Personal Shopper: Personal shoppers are store employees that allow a person to shop in personal comfort in a secluded room. They will bring items to you and let you make the purchases without having to wait in line. Many personal shoppers will give extra gifts as well. This is only in the larger stores; the Boutiques and Bistros do not have personal shoppers.

American Girl Hospital: If a doll needs to be sent to the American Girl Hospital, she can be sent from here and shipped back home.

Photo Studio: A picture can be taken which is then modified to look like a cover of American Girl Magazine.

Doll Salon: A doll can get a hairstyle chosen from a sheet. The doll will have her hair brushed and styled with hair accessories that can then be kept. Each hairstyle costs about $10-$20. Ear Piercing is also available and includes the Silver Earring Set and a duplicate pair of star earrings.

American Girl Place Exclusives: Each location has exclusive items that can only be purchased via the stores. These mostly consist of specific clothing and accessories for dolls as well as items that are used at the locations. Many shirts have the name of the stores on them. See the List of American Girl Place Items.

Party Hosting: Parties can be hosted for a length of two hours. These include craft making, dinner, and a party activity. The minimum cost is $450 for an eight-person guest list.

American Girl Place
Chicago, IL: The first American Girl Place opened in Chicago, Illinois in 1999 and moved to Water Tower Place in 2008. This was the first time items could be purchased new directly from a walk-in location.

New York, NY: A second store was opened in New York City, New York in Manhattan 2003.

Los Angeles, CA: A third store was opened in the Grove in Los Angeles, California, in 2006.

Boutiques and Bistros
In Fall 2007, two American Girl Boutiques and Bistros were opened, starting a trend of smaller stores in some locations. Unlike American Girl Place, these locations do not have a photo studio or personal shoppers.

Dallas, TX: American Girl Dallas was opened in 2007 and is a flagship store of the Galleria.

Alpharetta, GA: American Girl Atlanta was opened in 2007 at the North Point Mall.

Natick, MA: The American Girl Boston was opened in 2008 at Natick Collection.

Bloomington, MN: The American Girl Minneapolis was opened in 2008 at the Mall of America.

Lone Tree, CO: A fourth store was opened near Denver, Colorado, in 2010. 

Ordering from Stores
A person who does not live near an American Girl Place or Bistro can call each store directly and order items to be shipped to them. They will not have to pay taxes but will have to pay standard shipping costs. Many people do this for exclusives or when an item is retired; some stores have small stock of retired items when an item is no longer available for ordering at the website.