I visited the American Girl Place as an adult, and I can’t believe how much it’s changed since I was a kid
- American Girl Place is the flagship store home to its iconic toy brand, which makes dolls with historical and contemporary stories.
- I used to love the brand’s girlhood-centric books and magazine, and I had two dolls of my own.
- Years later, I visited American Girl Place in New York City and was floored at its Instagram-worthy photo areas and hands-on doll “wellness center.”
- Even though the store is now tailored to attract kids born in the 2000s and 2010s, many parts of the brand have remained unchanged since my childhood.
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Starting around age 6 or 7, when I wasn’t at school or swim practice, I was probably playing with Kit Kittredge and her dog, Coconut.
While it may sound like a girl named Kit and a friendly pup named Coconut were my real-life neighbors, that wasn’t the case. Allow me to explain.
Founded in 1986, American Girl started as a toy brand that sold a small collection of dolls with historical backstories via catalogs. Today, the brand — owned by Mattel, Inc. — sells hundreds of its signature 18-inch dolls that can cost from $98 to $200 each. American Girl offers 11 dolls with historical stories, including Kit Kittredge, the one I had as a child.
The idea behind the brand is credited to a writer and former teacher named Pleasant Rowland, who apparently imagined a line of dolls whose stories would educate girls about American history.
Previously, I spoke with American Girl’s current president, Jamie Cygielman, about how the toy brand that I knew and loved as a little girl is getting creative to stay relevant in the digital age.
Keep reading to see what it was like to visit the New York City flagship store as an adult, where I saw with my own eyes how the dolls and their stories are continuing to capture the hearts of children (and parents), but in a much newer way than I would’ve ever imagined as a kid.
