Suburban Square Calls Cops on Girl Scouts Selling Cookies

Girl Scout cookies on display at a Girl Scout cookie sale like the one at the Suburban Square shopping center in Ardmore, Pennsylvania (Getty Images)

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Suburban Square Calls Cops on Girl Scout Cookie Sales

It’s that time of year: Girl Scout cookie season! If you haven’t encountered tables of Girl Scouts selling their cookies or you haven’t bought boxes of Girl Scout cookies from your neighbors, fellow churchgoers or co-workers, it may be a sign you need to get out more — or increase the size of your social circle. I’ve been suckered into shelling out $5 per box a few times already.

Most of these Girl Scout cookie sales you see go off without a hitch. But that wasn’t the case on a winter Wednesday earlier this month at Suburban Square. That’s the very Main Line-y shopping center in Ardmore.

Ardmore resident Eric Lowry showed up outside the Starbucks at Suburban Square with his 13-year-old daughter, whose name he asked us not to reveal. Between his two daughters, Lowry has been helping sell Girl Scout cookies for close to 10 years. And he says he’d never been told that the girls couldn’t sell wherever they chose to. They’d even sold at Suburban Square in the past.

But on this particular day, an executive with the Suburban Square management group, Kimco Realty, approached Lowry and his daughter and asked them to move. “They said we had to stop selling cookies because we were standing on private property,” Lowry tells me, insisting that the specific spot they were on was not private property, but public. “They threatened to call the police as some kind of intimidation tactic.” Lowry flat-out refused to move and dutifully documented the encounter on his cell-phone camera.

At some point thereafter, the Suburban Square executive relocated to a different part of Suburban Square. There, she spoke with officers from the Lower Merion police department who had arrived on the scene. As seen on police body-cam footage that Lowry later obtained and published on YouTube (yes, this guy actually jumped through the required hoops to obtain body-cam footage from the cops), the Suburban Square executive explained her dilemma to police.

Part of that dilemma, it becomes apparent, is that Lowry’s Girl Scout cookie setup was outside of Starbucks. And Starbucks is a Suburban Square tenant that sells cookies, so the Girl Scout cookies were presumably creating a business conflict. She said that Starbucks was “freaking out.” (A manager at that Starbucks told me they have no comment on the matter.)

There’s also some confusion in the footage (seen below) over what is and what is not a public space. And there are open questions about who is allowed to sell what outside at Suburban Square. “I can’t have a hot-dog guy just come and put an umbrella up and starting selling stuff on the corner,” the exec tells the cops. The cops then tell her that a nonprofit like the Girl Scouts isn’t the same as a hot-dog guy.

Eventually, the cops suggested that while they sort out with the township exactly what the laws and rules are regarding this sort of thing, they’d talk to the dad and tell him to make sure he stays on a section of the complex that the cops know to be public property. But then the exec had second thoughts about getting the cops to intervene at all.

“He was filming everything,” the exec told the cops. “So I don’t know if I want you to approach him. I don’t wanna be on the [Facebook] community page. The Big Bad Wolf of the community knocking down these little Brownies.”

And sure enough, once Lowry’s account wound up on social media, the backlash was swift against Suburban Square. But consider this: The Suburban Square exec also told police she actually suggested to Lowry that he and his daughter set up near Shake Shack, because Shake Shack doesn’t sell cookies. When I interviewed him earlier this week, Lowry’s position was clearly that he believed he had a right to be where he was, and he wasn’t moving. As far as Lowry is concerned, he and his daughter can take their wagon of Girl Scout cookies and sell them wherever they want, so long as they’re on public property or on private property with owner permission.

“We as Americans have certain rights,” he maintains. “And this was just gross abuse on their part. I know they’ve done this to other Girl Scouts in the past, and it’s just wrong.”

It’s true that we as Americans have certain rights. But the Girl Scouts actually do have rules about where Girl Scouts can sell cookies. According to a representative from the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania, public sales can only happen at locations that the Girl Scouts organization has pre-approved. The local Girl Scouts office wasn’t able to say whether Suburban Square or the area immediately surrounding it is on their pre-approved list.

I reached out to the Kimco exec seen in the video. In response, a spokesperson for Kimco sent me the following statement:

We welcome nonprofit organizations to Suburban Square and Kimco properties across the country, collaborating to support fundraising initiatives. We have a simple application/approval process to ensure safety and security. In this particular instance, a father and daughter set up a wagon on a sidewalk at Suburban Square with no prior notification. When asked, the father would not share his daughter’s Girl Scout troop number, so we were unable check if it was an authorized Girl Scout booth location. We offered a safer, larger area along our primary road next to Shake Shack and our firepit. We remain committed in our support of the Girl Scouts and invite them to contact Suburban Square to set up a booth for the duration of the cookie selling season.

That’s all well and good. Get your Thin Mints while you can. Girl Scout cookie sales officially end on March 10th. I have two boxes in my freezer — frozen Thin Mints is the only way to go.

Yet Another Escaped Prisoner

Is it just me, or are more prisoners escaping these days? Police are asking for the public’s help to find Alleem Bordan, who escaped from Temple University Episcopal Hospital early on Monday. He was in custody for allegedly stealing a car last week. And he’s set to stand trial soon in an aggravated-assault case in Delco. One notable thing about his escape: He was wearing handcuffs, though police note that he may have been able to get them off by now.

I’m Definitely Not a Fan of This

Area Wendy’s are about to start testing surge pricing on their menu, basing it on demand, time and location. As of Tuesday morning, I was still able to get a Frosty for $1.29. So humankind isn’t completely doomed.

Local Talent

We were all pulling for Chris Pannullo. The Ocean City resident went on a 21-game Jeopardy winning streak in December. That brought him to the “Tournament of Champions.” Pannullo appeared on the ToC on Monday night.

Chris Pannullo on Jeopardy (photo courtesy Jeopardy)

But Pannullo went into Final Jeopardy with less than half of what the front-runner had. So his only chance at winning was that the front-runner was really bad at math. He wasn’t.

Rowan prof Melissa Klapper is set to appear on the ToC next week.

By the Numbers

$1 million: What the Charles Koch-connected SuperPAC Americans for Prosperity Action is spending to help Dave McCormick become the next United States senator from Pennsylvania. His opponent: Bob Casey. You may remember that McCormick tried to be the Republican nominee for the job in 2022 but was defeated by Dr. Oz, who went on to lose to John Fetterman. You may also remember McCormick for his gun ad that seemed to play on TV nonstop:

$550 million: Size of the wild Par Funding financial scandal that has absolutely rocked Philly and the Main Line.

35,000: Number of cigarette butts this war veteran is hoping to pick up off the streets, in support of lung-cancer awareness.

And From the They’re-Number-One Sports Desk …

The Sixers are in Boston tonight to play the top-ranked Celtics, who’ve won their last eight straight. Still no Joel or RoCo. Tip-off’s at 7:30. Pray.

How’d the Phils Do?

They faced the Red Sox in Fort Myers yesterday afternoon, with David Buchanan on the mound to start, followed by a cast of thousands. Buchanan worked two innings and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk. The Phils eventually lost, 7-6, but their bats have been smokin’ hot. Second baseman Whit Merrifield hit his first Phillies homer, and DH Darick Hall and catcher Aramis Garcia hit round-trippers as well. I gotta learn these guys’ names. Today they’re up against the Twins, starting at 1:07.

Any Doop News?

It’s déjà vu all over again tonight as the Union face Deportivo Saprisso in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, starting at 8:15

And in College Hoops?

The Drexel Dragons dragooned the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens last night in Newark, leading 33-27 at the half and staying strong, fighting off a Fightin’s flurry toward the end. Archbishop Wood grad Justin Moore had 18 points.

Finishing off the road trip in style 🐉 pic.twitter.com/DRcWuVgojm

— Drexel Men's Basketball (@DrexelMBB) February 27, 2024

Tonight, Villanova’s 15-12 Wildcats, who still have a shot at making the NCAA tournament, host the Georgetown Hoyas, tipping off at 6:30.

The Flyers also play.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.