Popcorn Newsletter 07-09-25

Hello Popcorn Kernels! 

Believe it or not, it’s time to start heading down the trail toward the 2025 Popcorn Sale! Our theme this year is Animal Expedition. Here are a few things you should start doing now to be prepared for your trek.

1. Sign up for a training session

   Thanks to those of you who have already registered for a training event! For those who haven’t, now’s the time. We offer several opportunities to take this training, in person and virtually. See the attached list of options. In person sessions give you the ability to ask questions on the spot and to pick up your sales materials. Super Saturday (July 26) is our biggest event, which will offer the main training, break out sessions, youth activities, prizes, and more! Regardless of which version you take, if you are trained by Sep 15, 2025 your unit will receive an extra 3% commission on all in-person sales, for a total of 35%. Let us know you’re trained by signing in (in-person training) or following the instructions in the video (virtual training). Please sign up for the training you plan to take at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/popcorn2025 

2. Check your Trail’s End login

   Sign in at https://trails-end.com/ to make sure you can get into your unit’s account. Remember that you need to use the web version for your Leader account, the app is just for Scout level activity. If you are the chair for multiple units, you can toggle between them using the drop down arrow on the top left of the website. If you don’t have a Trail’s End account, are having trouble logging in, don’t see the correct unit(s) listed, or need other past volunteers removed from the Trail’s End system, please contact me (Becki Whitaker) at [email protected] or 612-261-2403.

3. Sign up for Storefront blocks Mark your calendars! Trail’s End is once again booking storefronts on our behalf at select locations (see the list below). The primary Popcorn Kernal will have access to reserve these blocks. Reservations will open at 7:00pm central time.

   Tuesday, July 22	Units who sold $10k+ in 2024 can select 4 reservations
   Wednesday, July 23	All units can select 2 reservations
   Thursday, July 24	All units will have unlimited reservations

   
   

   Locations reserved by Trail’s End are:

   Cabela's	Coborn's	County Market	Cub Foods
   Festival Foods	Fleet Farm	Hy-Vee	Jerry's Foods
   Lowe's	The Marketplace	REI	Sam's Club
   Texas Roadhouse	Total Wine & More	Tractor Supply & Co	Walmart

   
   

   At this time, please do not directly contact any of the store chains on this list. Trail’s End is still working to contact them.

   • The reservation site defaults to show reservations in your district. You can change it to “All Districts” if you’d like to see others.
   • If you sign up for two shifts on the same day you can have Trail’s End merge them into one storefront, as long as you contact them AFTER July 24 and BEFORE you assign inventory, money, or Scouts. Contact [email protected] with the date and location you’d like merged.
   • You do not need to sell during all hours of the block. For example, if you select the 8am-2pm shift, you can start selling at 9 or 10am.

   You are also welcome to contact any stores that are outside of this list (Ace Hardware, local grocery stores, etc). You can manually enter storefront shifts in the Leader Portal.

   Note about signing July 24 and beyond. Please do not sign up for more reservations than your unit can staff. Be considerate to other units in your area and do not wipe out an entire store’s availability because you can on July 24. We saw some units do that last year, only to have them drop the shifts later in the year, sometimes the morning of.

4. Stock up on Unit Prizes Northern Star Scouting and Trail’s End provide the best prize program in the country, but you can make it even better for your unit! Be on the lookout for prizes you know will motivate your Scouts. Target, Walmart and Amazon have a big clearance sales right now on games, toys camping gear and more!

5. Need help? There are several places you can turn to for help! Bill and Becki are here at Northern Star to answer questions, but you can also try these methods:
   • Our council volunteer team is made up of current and former Popcorn Kernels who can answer many questions. Watch for their contact information on the back of your Leader Guide.
   • Buyscoutpopcorn.com has information specific to Northern Star’s sale: dates, guides, tips, and more!
   • https://support.trails-end.com/ has an extensive Knowledge Base with answers to many questions regarding the Trail’s End sale program, tips, etc

   We’re looking forward to a great 2025 Popcorn Expedition!!

   Becki Whitaker