The Low Down on the AG Clubs

[courtneysunshine]

Okay, we called AG and found out the information on the Club. Hopefully this will clear up a few questions and people will not have their feelings hurt.

The Club is for online ONLY. There may be another Club through the stores, but this is not it. The Club officially starts tomorrow and is for Moms and their daughters ages over seven to 10 only. AG will closely monitor those who register to make sure everyone is a Mom and daughter and the Mom is the legal guardian of the child signing up. There will be a Mom's Manual to go along with the Club and the child will be able to do activities online and be e-mail penpals with other girls their target age in the Club. For the start up of the Club there was a selected group from the "best of the best" on-line customers to receive a free one-year membership.

Kim [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ September 26, 2004 09:03 PM: Message edited by: courtneysunshine ]</font>

[nycgal]

Thanks for letting us know, Kim. It's good to know it's only moms and girls 7-10! That clears things up. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[OSusannah]

And I thought I was a good shopper! I have 2 girls in the age group and we weren't selected. Kim, it doesn't hurt my feelings in the least that you received something that we didn't--in fact, Congratulations!!

[sharlit]

Well I think that's unfair. You guys get special AG merchandise the rest of us can't get. You get to see products before the rest of us. They should have a version of this club for everyone else that excludes the interactivity. Also, 10 seems like an awfully young cut-off. I am terribly disappointed with this.

[dianasmama]

Hi Kim,

well, if the Club officially starts today, I just checked and there still is no mention of it on the website.

Laurie

[moderator]

Kim, thanks for clearing this up! It does make sense that they're giving away free subscriptions in order to get the ball rolling. Subscription-based services have been doing very poorly in this economy and many magazines, for example, are also giving out free subscriptions. I can't even count how many free subscriptions my family has signed up for in the past few months; as soon as they all kick in I think our mailman will want to retire. [img]wink.gif[/img] And by recruiting certain people, AG can be more careful about who is signed up.

Sarah, I agree with you. I started collecting AG at age 12 and felt like I was in the target range when I started, but I would have been too old for the club. And I'm not liking the club idea in general. It sounds "exclusive" and, again, I feel it could only possibly be some bad press for AG that they are starting something that is exclusive for "big shoppers" with little girls. It excludes/penalizes:
(1) Shoppers with little girls who don't spend a lot
(2) Little girls whose moms don't want to be involved
(3) Any children over the age of 10
(4) Any and all adults
(5) It rewards people who live close to AG Place, and not those who don't

All of this might set up bad feelings for anyone who feels they deserve to be in such a club but does not qualify and/or was not recruited. In my opinion, not the brightest [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img] . I'm not a fan of any clubs that reward frequent buyers, though I know a lot of companies do this, even bookstores like Barnes & Noble. But it seems to be saying to the "little people:" "It's your pocketbooks that matter to us, not you as a customer." It sets up bad feelings. I much prefer a flat percentage rate off, offered to all shoppers on special occasions. I won't save as much as others because I won't spend as much, but we'll all be happy because we have been given the same deal.

Just because we don't have as much money as other people or are not the right age does not mean that we aren't loyal customers also deserving of special deals. If all of the "little people" were gone tomorrow, American Girl would be out of business. So, to me, it doesn't make much sense to begin an exclusive sorority.

But just remember that we have "American Girl Fans," and we find out about new products very early here, too. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ September 27, 2004 09:43 AM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>

[Mary Kate]

We received the surprise free membership in the club as well. UPS just delivered the box. It includes a letter from Ellen Brothers stating the club launches October 1st.

The info says the activites are specifically geared toward girls 8 and up. Perhaps that's why some of you with younger girls weren't selected??

It looks like it will be a lot of fun for the girls... and that they have given online security a lot of thought.

MK

[Sail-Away]

I THINK THE WHOLE THING IS GREAT!!!

It is nice to know that they are going to have a version online for all of us to be in. I live NO WHERE near to an AGP and I am glad they are going ot have an online version of this "club".

[lj01]

I'm with Melissa on this one. As an AG customer I feel excluded. What about those of us who have always been good customers of AG. Shouldn't we get to know about new merchandise? Club exclusive merchandise only brings up another issue with the secondary market.
If they are offering things to the Moms like T-shirts (as they did in the new catalog) I sure would like that available to me. I bought PC/AG items for my niece for years before she began to feel to "old" for them. What about grandmas, aunts and other people who buy AG products? Should they be excluded? What about girls who have no Moms? This certainly doesn't sound like a "Dad" thing. I just think this is bad marketing all around for AG.
And on a more personal note, this is just one more thing that makes me feel bad that I cannot have a child. Sometimes the small things hurt the most. [img]graemlins/broken_heart.gif[/img]

[judiaci]

What do you see as the main advantage of the club? I have a daughter who is 9 now, but she will be 10 this coming March. Will she be "cut off" when she turns 10? If the main advantage is finding out about new items and getting to buy exclusive items, some club members on this board would probably be willing to share that info. with us.