My wife and I went out to Dallas for a little lunch at the Galleria. For those of you who don't know, the Galleria is a mall that's a bit on the high end side. For example, there is quite a bit of valet parking at this place. It does have some of the usual suspects for food and retail but then it gets a little pricey for a mall. Some very expensive and exclusive stores, the restaurant we went to was good but I don't think we could justify going there too much.
After lunch we popped into an American Girl store because my wife had heard that they were a bit crazy so we decided to check out the insanity. It's a cult. If a kid wants a doll I have no problem with that. If they want to wear the same outfit as the doll then I'm still okay with that. If the kid wants the doll that is like them (pick eye color, hair color and texture, pick skin tone) then I still have no problem. Then I saw the price tags. $110 for the basic doll. The doll does have an outfit or you can buy more. While you're getting the extra outfits you can get accessories like glasses, retainers, hearing aids, pajamas, furniture, pets, and even doll care items. On a side note I was impressed with the furniture, the ladderback chairs with the rabbit ears and woven seats was something I've worked on in the past and the Duncan Phyfe chairs look like the ones I've repaired and swore over. Even the roll top desk was workable. I was really impressed with the furniture if you couldn't tell.
But no matter how much I was impressed with the furniture I still think it's a cult. Then I thought about the truth of the marketing. The kid might want it but it's the parents that whip out the cash. Then I started wondering how many women and couples have a miscarriage or still birth and get one of these as a physical object of their grief. That I can accept.
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