ORLANDO, Fla. – American Girl this week opened its 18th store.
The Orlando store, located in the Florida Mall, opened Wednesday, and the official grand opening takes place Saturday.
The company tells Local6 that it expects more than 10,000 people to walk through the doors this weekend.
The store plans on having a lottery system, handing out tickets with a time on a first-come, first-served basis. Customers will receive a text on the time they will be able to come back so everyone can enjoy the store without having to wait in line for hours.
The company says its customers travel up to 250 miles to tour one of the stores, which offer numerous accessories and personalized dolls.
Mattel, which also owns Barbie, owns American Girl, which is more popular, despite the much higher price. One doll costs more than $100. Accessories, including clothing, shoes, hair tools, bedding and hobbies, for the doll are additional.
American Girl says the dolls are personalized and that's what makes them such a big draw. Girls can pick dolls with different skin tones and hair styles. Each also comes with a book to teach about the doll and the era upon which is based.