Did you heard that the Seattle American Girl store closed? Sadly, it’s true. We went one last time to say goodbye to American Girl Seattle and it was even sadder than I thought it would be.
For almost 10 years now I’ve been sharing our adventures from the American Girl Seattle store, and this week we went there for the very last time. We were so sad when we heard our beloved store was closing, and there were real tears this week when the American Girl Seattle store closed for good. It truly is an end of an era for us.
Our home away from home at American Girl Seattle
I’m not even a little ashamed to admit that when we walked in the door of the Alderwood American Girl store, it was a little bit like Cheers. Everyone knew our names, only in this case they knew what dolls were our favorites instead of our drink of choice. The store employees literally watched our kids grow up.
Our oldest was only 2 years old when we toured the store for its grand opening celebration back in 2011 {see the post we did about the American Girl Seattle grand opening back in the day}. In the years since we first walked the store almost 10 years ago, we have attended numerous parties, made it to most of the craft days, taken part in media events, done special shopping hours, attended all the summer book clubs, and even attended movie releases there.
Two things to note about us: We aren’t casual fans, and we make friends everywhere we go.
Here’s where it gets *slightly* embarrassing. We once went a few weeks without coming in and the staff and management talked amongst themselves about how worried they were. When we did finally walk through the door, we were greeted as if we had been gone for years.
Then, a few years back, I missed an event and the manager personally emailed me and asked if I was coming in soon so she could save me a few things in her office. The American Girl employees had become our friends throughout the years, so now we’re mourning our beloved store AND the fact that all of our AG friends aren’t just down the street from us anymore.
It still hasn’t fully sunk in that we can’t just pop into the Seattle store whenever we want. We’ve been to the mall once now since the store left, and it was definitely hard on all of us. Thank goodness we can still order online at AmericanGirl.com and have our favorites shipped right to our door, but this was a really hard blow in a really hard year.
I’m completely late to the game, but I was heartbroken to discover this today…it’s a bit of a drive for us so we don’t go often, but it’s been a tradition of ours for years. We’ve had so many special memories from that store! When we arrived at the mall today I was shocked to see it all empty and covered up. Such a loss for this area!
Isn’t it so sad? It’s been months and the wound is still fresh here. Every single time we pass the store we get sad all over again. My hope is that they still do holiday pop ups like they have done in Portland in the past, but it’s just not the same, is it?
I was sad to see it close too. My little girl has just gotten into playing with her AG doll. She was even gifted 2, an older one from her sister and another older one from a friend’s child. So now we have 3 dolls. 1 needs repairs.
Marie, I’m so incredibly sad that it’s gone, and especially because my youngest is really at the perfect magical age for AG. I hope your little one is able to find that magic, and I have my fingers crossed they will eventually come back.
I had no idea the store closed 😢. I was telling my daughter all about The American Girl Store (she’s 5) and she was so excited to go. When I looked up to find store hours and we found out it was closed she started crying crocodile tears. I found your post and it made her feel better that other girls had cried too. She asked me to write to you to let you know 😂.
It’s so incredibly sad! Every time we pass it, we all have a moment of “man, we really wish AG hadn’t left”. Such a loss for the area. Thanks for sharing your sadness, too, I’m glad I’m not alone in wishing they would come back!
Oh, my daughter is crying now just finding out about this. We finally moved to within a days drive and were planning her birthday trip around this store. So sad. Your memories sound amazing. Thanks for sharing with us.
It really is sad. We miss it so much and it’s only been a year!!
Oh my goodness, we would drive all the way from Vancouver, BC, Canada to come to this store! So gutted! Please come back!
I know! So sad! I keep hoping we get pop-ups like they used to do in Portland…. but it’s just not the same!
Sad stuff. I just moved here to the area from Tx and they still have it posted on the sign. I got super excited only to find a generic toy store where it once was.
It’s so sad. We miss it every single time we go to Alderwood.