As the weather warms up, Girl Scout cookie sales are coming soon to booths around the Tri-Cities, and this year will be the last season for one of the cookie flavors.

Booth sales kick off March 21 at stores around the region, from Safeway to Walgreens, and they run through April 13. 

For fans of the Girl Scout S’mores, this will be the last year to buy them before the cookie is retired at the end of the season. Luckily, a new cookie will be unveiled near the end of this summer, set to make its debut in 2026. 

This also might be the last year this region’s council, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, sells cookies for $5 a box. 

Cookie sales and rewards

The council has sold cookies at $5 a box since 2016, and it is only one of about two councils of 110 U.S. councils that haven’t raised prices in the last three years.

Not only is that a sweet deal for Girl Scout cookie lovers, but it helps the girls, too. A girl “will typically sell about 10% to 14% less cookies for every dollar that the price is increased, and her rewards benefits come from the number of boxes she sells. So when prices go up, she sells less boxes. That’s less beneficial for her,” said Brian Newberry, the council’s CEO.

The money from Girl Scout cookie sales stays local, funding programs and rewards. Some of the rewards for this year’s top cookie sellers include spending a week at a woman-owned dude ranch, a dinner and theater night in Spokane, and a whitewater rafting trip with Newberry.

The whitewater rafting trip is specifically for girls who meet a specific goal on Troop to Troop donations. That’s a program where customers can buy a box of cookies to donate it to VA hospitals, military installations and troops overseas.

The cookies are distributed throughout the year as they’re needed, and a total of 39,000 boxes were donated last year. 

“It’s quite a few, it’s a million dollars in donations for our troops,” Newberry said, a veteran. “It’s just so heartwarming ... (when) it ends up in the hands of troops in the middle of the Iraqi desert.”

Through the Troop to Troop program, customers can buy Girl Scout cookies to donate to VA hospitals, military installations and troops overseas. In early February, U.S. troops in Iraq, above, received a delivery of cookies from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.

| Courtesy Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho

Girl Scout growth

Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho hit its highest number of cookies sold yet last year at 1.23 million boxes. This year, the council hopes to break the record again and surpass that number in sales.

Already, the council is the third highest-selling in the country, with an average of 452 boxes of cookies sold per girl in the council.

The local council is made up of about 3,500 girls, and there’s been a good membership growth. Newberry said the council is up about 2% in girls, and in September 2024, membership peaked at 4,307 Girl Scouts, the highest the council has seen since 2012.

The Tri-Cities has helped contribute to the council’s growth, increasing to 700 members this year, up from 600 the previous year, and a new starter troop kicked off at Robert Frost Elementary School in Pasco, bringing the number of Pasco schools in the Girl Scouts program from two to three. 

Buying from booths

While the Girl Scouts have been offering online sales since early February this year, and digital sales have been on the rise, consumers still enjoy buying cookies from girls in booths.

Digital sales make up about 15% of the council’s overall cookie sales, said Renee Smock, the council’s chief operating officer. Part of that is because girls participating in digital sales have a specific link to their digital storefront, which they primarily share with those they know, like friends and family. Booth sales mean a larger pool of consumers.

But it’s also because “I think people love to get their cookies in traditional ways,” Smock said.

“Overall, more people buy cookies from the girl that’s standing right in front of them,” she said. “So when consumers are asked why they didn’t buy Girl Scout cookies, the No. 1 answer is that they weren’t asked so they never came in contact with a Girl Scout and the No. 1 thing that consumers say is ... they miss having girls come to their door and sell cookies.”

With cookie prices holding steady at $5 a box and membership growing, Newberry anticipates a positive cookie season. And that goes along with this year’s theme of “embrace possibility.” 

“Embrace possibility that Girl Scouts rock, and come celebrate $5 a box, and enjoy your cookies, and you make our world a better place by those purchases,” Newberry said.

 To find a Girl Scout booth near you, go to: gsewni.org/en/cookies.html.