Last Week for Girl Scout Cookies

After a new cookie-selling program rolled out for the Girl Scouts this year, sales are up, and so is the inventory.

The new program, called "cookies on demand," gave girls the opportunity to buy boxes in advance and then manage their sales that way. Before, it was the buyers who had to pre-order, and boxes ran out quickly.

"Even despite the recession, people came out and supported the girls," said Debbie Donovan, the mom of two Girl Scouts who sold 20 percent more cookies this year. "There was plenty of cookies for the demand and plenty of demand for the cookies."

On Monday, 9-year-old Shawn Rose of Troop 60838 and her mom, Cathy Christie-Patton, stood on the corner of Castro and Mercy streets and reminded passersby about this last week of cookie sales. They still had boxes of Thin Mints, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Lemon Chalet Creme and the new Dulce the Leche cookie.

"We didn't have to pre-order cookies," said Christie-Patton. "They gave them to us in bulk, and it worked so much better."

Christie-Patton added that because her daughter gets to manage the sales, they actually have to "take out the red wagon and meet people."

Dana Allen, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Northern California, said that only 78¢ per $4 box trickles back to the troop. The rest goes into shared resources, like campgrounds owned by Girl Scouts of Northern California, screening and training of volunteers, online resources and more.

If you want cookies this year but don't know where to go, the Girl Scouts of Northern California have a link to a Cookie Locator Mobile App. Just add your ZIP code, and you will be directed to your nearest cookie seller. Cookie sales end Sunday.

—Additional reporting by Rachel Stern.