Cookie master: Sierra Rechak is Girl Scouts’ top seller

Sierra Rechak could probably sell ice cubes in Antarctica or winter jackets in the red-hot Mojave Desert.

Those challenges will have to wait, though, as Rechak, a 16-year-old junior at Schuylerville High School, is busy with cookies — Girl Scout cookies.

The Gansevoort teenager knows how to make sales. As of early Friday night, Rechak had sold 6,582 boxes, most for $5 a box, at her portable outdoor booth in Wilton. The popular Smores and Toffee-Tastics cookies are $6 each.

Rechak has been the Girl Scouts’ cookie master for several years now. She was the top seller in the Northeast region — a 15-county area that starts in the Columbia and Greene counties area and ends at the Canadian border — with 10,022 box sales in 2017.

In 2016, Rechak sold 7,313 boxes. In 2015, she booked 5,878.

Rechak, a member of Troop 3519 in Schuylerville, began moving Tagalongs, Smores, Thin Mints and other scout faves in Wilton Square on March 23. 

“I’ve had years of experience selling cookies,” Rechak said on a windy, chilly Thursday afternoon, when a winter coat, cap and gloves were all required gear. “It’s been easy to tell if people want to buy more cookies or if they don’t want to talk.

“Overall,” she added, “I think I have an upbeat attitude and always make sure to ask if they would like to buy more cookies or donate to buy cookies for soldiers.”

Rechak has been selling cookies since she was a first-grader in 2007. She and her mother, Ivy, received permission from Albany-based Nigro Companies, which owns Wilton Square, to sell their sweets. They also received approval from the Town of Wilton, purchasing a temporary merchants certificate for $25.

The cookie team began weekday sales at 4 p.m, with last call at 8 p.m. Saturday hours were 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.. On Sunday, the Rechaks are in place at 9 a.m. and are out by 6 p.m.

Sunday is the Scouts’ last day for booth-style sales. If Scouts have leftover stock, they can keep selling — at sporting events, school activities, anyplace people are in the mood for Do-Si-Does and Savannah Smiles cookies. The final sales day will be May 31.

Rechak knows her customers’ tastes. Thin Mints are her top seller.

“Everybody just loves them,” she said. “They’ve always been the most popular cookie as long as I’ve been a Girl Scout. Then Samoas – coconut and caramel, rich and chewy, drizzled in dark chocolate. Third are Tagalongs, peanut butter inside and chocolate on the outside.”

Rechak greeted all customers — “Hi, how can I help you?” — and asked for their orders. Some wanted boxes; one guy ordered two cases, 12 boxes in each case.

“I’ve been here four or five times,” said Peggy Vary, of Malta. “We love the cookies — my family — but I buy them for other people. We believe in supporting the Girl Scouts.”

Rechak believes in her cookie goals, especially when Scouts earn trips for hitting certain sales goals.

“It’s like going to school,” said Rechak, who said she has zero problems with the huge time investment. “I’ve been doing this for years; it’s just something I do.”

The seasonal job has not affected her school work. She carries about a 95 average at Schuylerville.

Ivy Rechak has no problem working as silent partner with her daughter.

“This is what she wants; I’m here to support her,” she said. “I want to help her make her goals and achieve her dreams.”

Chilly and windy spring weather has kept some people inside, but there have been other days with sales in the hundreds of boxes. Rechak also has learned about advertising. When she sells to customers, she often asks them to tell their friends about the Girl Scout tent at Wilton Square.

Learning is all part of the plan.

“The Girl Scout cookie program is a lot more than just getting cookies into peoples’ hands,” said Susan Conway, product program and retail services manager for Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York. “It’s about teaching girls life skills, entrepreneurial skills, goal setting, money management and how to finance their dreams. It is the largest woman-owned business in the world.”

Rechak’s trips — Ivy has joined her daughter — have included Savannah, Georgia, and a Sierra favorite, Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Rechak would love to get a job at Disney someday, as an “imagineer,” or maybe as a host for VIP tours.

As a high school senior, she she will be back at Wilton Square in 2019, her sixth cookie campaign at the location. After that, she has no plans to sell Chevrolets, vacuum cleaners, ice cubes or winter jackets.

“I prefer Disney,” she said.

Reach Daily Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 518-395-3124 or at [email protected]

Categories: Life and Arts, News, Schenectady County