AG store differences?

[mouselovr]

This year for our kids we have done the year of experiences not gifts for Birthdays and such, my kids have to much stuff that I get tired of picking up! So for Christmas i asked my DD if she would rather have things or go to the AG store for the tea experience.
SO....
Those of you who have been to the store have you been to both Chicago & St Louis or another location. We live in Indiana and Chicago was my first choice of places to go, since it will be a Christmas trip I thoought it would be nice to see the lights and the window shopping there also, but St Louis is a little closer and it is definatly my DHs first pick (since he is not a fan of me heading to Chicago). So I would love some input on the differences in the stores or the tea experiences for any who have been to multiple locations.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

There is a big difference between the AG places & the AG boutiques. I'll assume St. Louis is a boutique. Chicago is a destination(& NY & LA) while the boutiques are cute but really not the same overall experience.

 

[ceecee]

Chicago is a great place to go, especially at Christmas time. The AG Place is huge, plan on spending a lot of time there if you go. Lots of other fun things to do while you're in the city too.

 

[mcbj]

I vote for Chicago, never been to St L, but I have been to DC and ATL, and Chicago is bigger/nicer. Chicago is also next to the John Hancock Building so you can get a view of the city. Have fun!

 

[amyngary]

I had taken DD12 to AG in Chicago several times over the years; this past fall for DD7's birthday, I took her to the AG in St. Louis. I think it depends on your goals. Since we were going to choose DD7's very first doll and accessories, I preferred the smaller size of the store here in St. Louis over the huge Chicago store - it was a bit overwhelming and SOOOOo crowded every time we went to Chicago.

At both places, we did the meal experience, used their free personal shopper to help us shop, and watched the hair salon employees doing hairdos on dolls. The personal shopper here was way better than any I had in Chicago - her name is Mandy, so ask for her if you come to St. Louis.

However, if you are wanting a weekend experience, Chicago would be more fun since the St Louis store is just part of a standard mall. Also, the Chicago store has a theatre, which was kind of cute, but not cheap. We are actually going to Chicago soon ourselves, but we will likely skip the AG store since I prefer the local one.

NOTE: We did stay at a hotel here in St. Louis to give DD7 a similar experience as DD12 had at her age. The AG package at the hotel here in St. Louis was quite nice - DD got cookies an milk, the free doll bed, free breakfast, and they loaned us a VCR and an AG movie. Our personal shopper said that AG forces the hotels to do certain things to offer So from that perspective, it was at least as good as the Chicago packages.

I hope this helps!

 

[Neelloc]

I've done both types of stores. We've been to Chicago which is an American Girl Place. We've also been the the Boston store which is a Boutique. (I would think the St. Loius store would compare to the Boston store in size and experience.)

The Chicago location had a larger restaurant, plus was bigger overall and had a few extra things like a make your own tee shirt "shop," a small "bakery" and the portrait studio. Boston did not have these things. But we didn't really feel like it was "missing anything" if that makes sense.

We did the tea in Chicago and just did lunch in Boston, and I have to say, the lunch was a much better experience and better value for the $$$. We felt the tea was a bit pricey for what you got. They brought a tiered stand of finger sandwiches, and then a tiered stand of mini desserts. It included tea and drinks. If we were to do it again, I'd chose the lunch.

Good