Girl Again

Girl AGain sells refurbished American Girl dolls and accessories

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Chandra, Yes She Can employee #1, says good bye

January 30, 2021 by GirlAGain 1 Comment

Like many founders of non profit organizations, when Yes She Can was launched and Girl AGain opened in 2014, I performed just about every job.  Fortunately, I had volunteer job coaches to help, but I ran Girl AGain boutique myself.  When we had enough money to pay someone, the first person I hired was Chandra Russell to run the boutique. I told her that her goal was to double store revenue, so we could pay rent and hire job coaches. (Grants were hard to come by.) Neither of us had a background in retail, but together we figured out how to create a wonderful store offering a great customer experience – while being an effective job skills teaching environment.

Chandra became an expert in retired American Girl merchandise, in running Saturday craft events in the store for kids, in e-newsletters to customers and website updates, in packaging customer orders for the lowest possible USPS cost, in setting priorities for the Yes She Can trainees and assessing their work, in posting our merchandise and message on Instagram and responding to Facebook fan requests, in unpacking 20 pound boxes of donations and not getting too upset when one had mouse evidence.

She was gracious when a customer attempted to haggle over prices. She negotiated with publishers for advertising and editorial (her background), and she recruited Girl Scout troupes to fund raise on Giving Tuesday.

She increased web sales when we shut down last March and made sure that customers wear masks and gloves when we reopened in June.

Her greatest feat has been balancing the store revenue goals with the mission of our non-profit: accepting barely legible handwriting on hang tags and sales receipts, or an under-priced doll, or two items left off a customer sales tally. Even with her revenue target, she has appreciated that we were not in the doll business but in the job skills business.

The pandemic has been especially cruel to working mothers. Chandra’s two middle school children are attending classes fully remotely and she can now no longer come to the boutique in White Plains.  I am very sorry to share that after 4 years with Yes She Can, Chandra made the difficult decision to resign as Retail Operations Manager.  It’s a great loss to our organization.

I shared this sad news with our trainees this week at our regular core skills meeting session,  and of course they were devastated. Izzie cried hysterically. The coaches and I spent the class time discussing this, their feelings, and a model on how to leave a job.   We then made plans to have a Zoom party for Chandra on her last day.

I am sure many customers appreciated Chandra’s patience and kindness.

If you would like to send a message to Chandra, please leave a comment on this page and she will see it.

 

Chandra leading workshop at Girl AGain

Filed Under: Girl AGain staff

Comments

  1. Michelle says

    January 30, 2021 at 1:19 am

    Thank you for all you have done for GirlAgain & it’s amazing mission! .While we never met personally, my daughter and I have shopped in the store many times and have always had a great experience. In fact, GirlAgain was one of the first post lockdown shopping trips my daughter took. She had been holding onto a gift card and just couldn’t wait to start shopping!! Best of luck to you!!! Be well!!!

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Contact Us

4 Martine Avenue, Store 2B
White Plains, NY 10606
(914) 358-1460

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Our Store

American Girl Store Girl AGain opened in February 2014 to rave reviews from American Girl doll fans, their moms and especially their grandmas. You’ll find authentic gently used AG dolls, clothing, furniture, accessories and books that have been cleaned and prepared for sale at good prices in an easy-access store.

We also host in-store events such as American Girl book author readings, tea parties, and craft activities. Our most popular event is Girl AGain Doll Hair Do’s & Don’ts Workshop. Check here often to see what is scheduled.

You’ll find a selection of dolls: the original dolls from the historical periods as well as My American Girl, Bitty Baby and Bitty Twins. We have new and used outfits for all AG dolls, as well as their furniture and accessories. Our merchandise changes daily.

You’ll also find a great selection of new and used American Girl books. You don’t have to be a doll lover to enjoy the advice books like The Care and Keeping of You, and A Smart Girl’s Guide to Money.

Girl AGain is not affiliated with American Girl(r) company.

Yes She Can!

Did you know that 80% of adults with autism are unemployed? We created our boutique specifically to help develop transferable job skills for young women with autism. Our trainees at Girl AGain sort, clean and prepare the merchandise, price it, and display it in our shop. Our trainees learn about marketing, merchandising, retailing, customer service, and inventory acquisition in addition to appropriate workplace behavior, research, collaboration and decision-making. We have staff who manage our accounting (Quick Books) and our website (WordPress).

Our customers learn about the abilities of people with autism. And hopefully, our youngest shoppers learn about acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities.

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