American Girl Place, LA

When my sister and I went to LA for the American Idol finals at the end of May, we had a free day to see the sights and hang out. I told my sister there were only two things I was really interested in hitting given the limited time we had: Grauman's Chinese Theater and American Girl Place. Not exactly the stuff that fills up travelogues, but I've already been to the AG Places in Chicago and New York, so I figured I'd round it out and get an American Girl Place hat trick (if you don't know what that means, brush up on it because you might be hearing that phrase a lot during the upcoming World Cup 2010).


I think the American Girl Place in LA might be my favorite of the Big Three. The inside of the store is similar to the other two, but the store is located in The Grove, an outdoor shopping center that screams of chic, relaxed SoCal lifestyle. Walking around is an absolute pleasure, and when you see the familiar red awning, you know you've arrived at little girl heaven.

The front facade is not all that different from the other two stores I've been to.


But the outdoor veranda is what makes this place unique. The American Girl cafe is on the second floor, and looks out onto The Grove. It all looks so luxurious and special, I can only imagine what it must be like sitting down to lunch or tea or dinner up on that balcony.





Sadly, they are no longer running any American Girl productions. The theater was closed, and who knows when it will open again. It would have been fun to take The Pea to one of their shows (hmmm, maybe I ought to focus on taking The Pea to the actual store first).


I quickly stuck my head into the cafe and snapped a photo. I love the black, white and pink decor! Note the French doors that open up onto that lovely veranda.


I don't remember seeing a Girl of The Year display in Chicago or New York. I really enjoyed seeing all the dolls for each year lined up, from 2003 (Lindsey) to 2009 (Chrissa). I wonder how much those dolls are worth now.


One corner had a Lainie poster with a small flowerbed in front of it so little girls -- and, in my case, big girls -- could stand and pose with 2010's Girl of the Year.


Even my sister got into the cute AG Place LA souvenirs (not that she needs much excuse to shop -- I think it's in our blood). She got some caps for her girls and I got a floppy sunhat for The Pea -- they only cost $15, which is quite reasonable for any kind of hat, let alone a hat from American Girl -- and now our girls have a nice souvenir of when their moms went crazy at American Girl Place in LA.


Now I have to figure out an excuse to visit Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, and Minneapolis. And start a petition to get an American Girl store out here in San Francisco (Hello, American Girl! Why are you not in the Bay Area yet? Do you know how many dot-com millionaires there are in Silicon Valley just dying to spend their money on their darling daughters??). Hopefully I'll get to cross some of those off my list before The Pea outgrows American Girl. Oh, well, there's always the grandkids.


For more photos of the American Girl Place in LA, check out my American Girl photoset on Flickr.


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