Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia Announces Grand Opening of Its New Girl Scout DreamLab, the First in the Country to Open Inside a Walmart

Staff Report

Tuesday, September 24th, 2024

 

Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia is proud to announce the grand opening of its latest Girl Scout DreamLab, located inside the Walmart Supercenter at 2825 Ledo Road in Albany. This marks the first time a Girl Scout DreamLab has been integrated within a retail environment, bringing the Girl Scout experience to a new, centralized location that is open and welcoming to all.   

The state-of-the-art Girl Scout DreamLab creates visible, innovative spaces to inspire girls and help them make their dreams a reality. Located at the front of the Walmart store, the new facility offers convenient and dynamic spaces where Girl Scouts can engage in hands-on activities that promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), entrepreneurship, life skills, and outdoor adventures.  

“We are thrilled to lead the way with this new concept,” said Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia Chief Executive Officer Sue Else. “As an organization, we are evolving to meet the needs of today’s girls and offering enriching opportunities for them to try new things, explore their interests, develop as leaders, and make a positive impact on their communities. This facility will allow us to reach more girls than ever before and eliminate barriers that might prevent access to the resources and life-changing programming that Girl Scouts provides.”  

The Girl Scout DreamLab will offer a hands-on STEM center, podcast booth, Girl Scout boutique, and meeting spaces for troops and groups. It will also double as workspace for Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia staff who provide support for Girl Scouts, families, and volunteers. 

The Girl Scout DreamLab concept builds upon Girl Scouts’ iconic national properties model, which includes camps, offices, and programmatic facilities such as STEM centers. Through independent research groups working closely with councils, Girl Scouts, and communities, GSUSA developed the innovative Girl Scout DreamLab concept.   

Girl Scouts USA has collaborated with industry leader Newmark Group Inc. to implement the DreamLab concept across the country. The partnership has already opened six DreamLabs nationwide, with plans for further expansion.   

"It's an honor to help Girl Scouts of the USA and Girl Scout councils to strategically place Girl Scout DreamLabs in accessible locations throughout the country, allowing girls of all backgrounds find their inspiration to become future leaders," said Elizabeth Hart, Newmark's president of leasing for North America. "This partnership illustrates how physical locations can facilitate achieving Girl Scout’s mission to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.” 

The new Girl Scout DreamLab will officially open its doors with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, October 3, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. The grand opening event will feature a tour of the facility, interactive demonstrations, and remarks from local leaders and representatives from Girl Scouts. The community is invited to attend and celebrate this exciting milestone.  

For more information about the DreamLab, please contact Brandy Tatum or Brianna Jarvis, Marketing and Social Media Specialists for Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, at [email protected] or [email protected]. To RSVP to the grand opening, please visit https://gshg.wufoo.com/forms/albany-girl-scout-dreamlab-grand-opening-rsvp.