Club Libby Lu

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Club Libby Lu is an experiential/experience-based retailer for tween girls ages six through 12. Club Libby Lu's mission is to make every little girl feel special. Little girls at Club Libby Lu feel special when they dress-up, sing and dance with their friends, make their own fancy potion, have makeovers performed on them, create their own "design it tote", or pooch parlor. It’s custom-made to encourage girls to express their imaginations and individuality and to just have fun being a girl. The store chain operates 86 stores in 28 states in the United States. Club Libby Lu was founded by Mary Drolet, a former executive at Claire's and Montgomery Ward, in August 2000.^[1] It was acquired by Saks Incorporated in May 2003.^[2].^[3]

1 Criticism and controversy
- 1.1 San Francisco Chronicle
- 1.2 Iraq Essay Controversy
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Criticism and controversy

[edit] San Francisco Chronicle

In an opinion article in the July 23, 2006 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle, columnist Neva Chonin criticized Club Libby Lu for having a negative effect on its preteen shoppers as well as on society because of the gender roles it promotes through its merchandise and philosophy. She argued that the store's promotion of a princess/heiress/drama-queen ideal for preteen girls was related to gender isolationism and negative stereotyping.^[4]

[edit] Iraq Essay Controversy

In late December 2007, a 6-year-old girl from Garland, Texas initially won a Club Libby Lu-sponsored essay contest with a fraudulent claim that her father had died in Iraq earlier in the year. The grand prize was a makeover, airfare and tickets for four to a sold-out Hannah Montana concert in New York in January 2008. After the makeover had been awarded, the company was made aware by local media that the child's father had not, in fact, died in Iraq. The girl's mother, Priscilla Ceballos, said in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW, "We did whatever we could do to win." After the deception was discovered, the grand prize was awarded to another child. ^[5] On January 4, 2008, Ceballos apologized in an interview with Matt Lauer of Today on NBC television, alongside her lawyer.^[6]