ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Girl Scouts are getting a chilly reception from some retailers this year.
Their cookies will go on sale next month at local stores except Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, where for the first time, the Scouts must set up booths at least 10 feet from the front door.Parents such as Jerry Gabrielson of St. Paul believe taking the sales outside will put a damper on the girls' spirits and business.
"When you're outside, do you want to stop at a booth and fumble through your purse for three dollars?" said Gabrielson, whose daughter, Dana, 10, sells cookies with fellow members of Troop 1180. "You can't show off your Girl Scout uniform. You can't smile and be happy when you're all bundled up and cold."
Girl Scouts have sold cookies in Wal-Marts for about five years, said Anne Bray, cookie program coordinator for the Girl Scout Council of St. Croix Valley.
"We care very much about the Girl Scouts," said Les Copeland, spokesman for the Bentonville, Ark.-based company. "We hope that they understand that unfortunately in a case like this, this is the option that we have."
Wal-Mart also banned Salvation Army bell ringers from its stores nationwide during the past holiday season.
The change follows a dispute between Wal-Mart and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents largely retail food workers in the United States and Canada. After union representatives distributed materials at several stores nationwide, Wal-Mart sought a restraining order against the group.
In addition, the company "reminded" its 2,500 stores of a policy banning solicitors of any kind from entering the stores, Copeland said.
"We had organizations go into unauthorized areas, including meat-cutting areas, soliciting employees," Copeland said. "We were simply reminding them of a policy that's been in place for many years."
He insists that stores like the one in Vadnais Heights that allowed Scouts to sell cookies inside were "more the exception than the rule."
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union counters that its actions did not warrant hurting the Girl Scouts, said Greg Denier, UFCW spokesman in Washington, D.C.
"We did not disrupt business," Denier said. "We want the Girl Scouts to be able to sell cookies. Nothing in our complaint forces Wal-Mart to ban the Girl Scouts or any other group."
The UFCW has filed a complaint against Wal-Mart with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the discouragement of employee union activity, Denier said.
Wal-Mart's solicitation policy is not unusual, said Steve Befort, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Owners of private property often ban solicitors, he said.
"(According to the law), They've got the right to control their properties as they see fit," Befort said. He noted that Wal-Mart's decision could be broader than other businesses, which allow charitable groups like the United Way.
Cub Foods' corporate-owned stores have the same policy as Wal-Mart, which applies to groups inside or outside of the store, said Deborah Erickson, Cub Foods spokeswoman.
"No matter how worthy the cause, we want to be consistent with our policy," she said.
But individual franchises, such as the stores in White Bear Lake, Woodbury and West St. Paul, can decide for themselves about solicitation, Erickson said.
The four Wal-Mart stores and one Sam's Club that have hosted cookie sales in the past are the only locations where troops must set up outside, Bray said. While Wal-Mart was a warm host, she worries about the impact this year's outdoor booths will have on participation.
"As a parent, I can see where other parents could say, 'I don't want my daughter outside selling cookies for two hours,' " Bray said.
Gabrielson still plans to reserve a booth outside the Vadnais Heights store, but he will need more volunteers willing to work shorter shifts in the cold.
"When you're outside, you need twice as many parents and girls to work multiple shifts," Gabrielson said. "I don't think anybody's going to want to stay out there for two hours.