Retail Interview TnP goes wild at the Fife Zoo shop with MD Michael Knight

Animal

attraction

Managing director Michael Knight, who took over the helm at Fife Zoo alongside his parents in 2019, talks about the latest developments and plans for his animal-themed product offer

Fife Zoo, located 30 minutes from Edinburgh, has had its fair share of misfortune. The small 10-acre site had to combat the effects of closing to the public during lockdown, before two separate fires caused significant damage to the property. The second fire completely destroyed the zoo’s soft play centre, which we relied on for bringing in revenue during the harsh winter months.

Following the fire, we decided to create an online shop and start trading the merchandise normally found in our bricksand-mortar store on Amazon. Our bricks-and-mortar store, alongside our African-themed cafe, opened ahead of our first animals arriving in 2019.

At the time, the zoo stocked the usual range of pocket money toys that can be found in a tourist attraction gift shop. Plush zebras, stretchy frogs, pencils and magnets were an uninspiring selection of affordable takeaway gifts for the casual zoo visitor.

In 2021, we realised that the shop had significant potential to boost secondary spend. And, further to the fire in the soft play centre, the gift shop was suddenly critical to the zoo’s overall revenue.

We have tried to create a unique toy store; the walls are lined with reclaimed timber, artificial ferns and palms to create an immersive experience for young guests and In addition to the collectable Schleich and Playmobil ranges, the zoo continues to stock a range of plush, pretend-play toys and jigsaw puzzles. We are currently trying to increase the number of brands that use recycled materials as part of the manufacturing process. We believe our key brand for 2023 will be Schleich. Every day, without fail, the zoo sells more Schleich than any other brand. Aside 2023 is set to be an exciting “ from Schleich, a number of our bestsellers come from Ravensden’s Eco Range. This collection contains year for us. plush manufactured from recycled plastic bottles and other reclaimed There are plans materials, which is in keeping with to completely refurbish the Fife Zoo’s mission to reduce waste in order to protect the natural world. Unsurprisingly, the zoo shop zoo’s African- sells a significant number of plush themed cafe, toys representing the main animals at the zoo such as zebras, lemurs while the entire and meerkats. zoo’s branding 2023 is set to be an exciting year will be given a facelift ” for us. There are plans to completely refurbish the zoo’s African-themed café, while the entire zoo’s branding will be given a facelift. The gift shop is currently being refreshed under the guidance of marketing consultancy Talking Tortoise, and is set to become even more immersive ahead of the busy summer holiday period. The zoo also has plans to welcome four new species of animals this year, which will present a whole range of opportunities for expanding the current merchandise offering.

their older companions. There are also several reptile and insect exhibits built carefully into the shop entrance. The addition of these exhibits gives visitors further reason to enter the shop, which is near the zoo’s exit.

Since the relaunch in 2021, our giant Playmobil zookeeper greets customers at the door. The gift shop now stocks an increased number of recognisable brands, including the Zoo range from Playmobil and Schleich’s range of Wild Life figures. The collectable nature of Schleich and Playmobil has boosted secondary spend and has also led to greater online sales compared with the previous selection of pocket money toys.

This summer, we intend to hold our inaugural Schleich Fan Day, with giant Schleich figures taking over the park. A Playmobil-themed collectors’ day is also in the pipeline.

Fife Zoo’s online sales continue to go from strength to strength, with more direct hits as a result of launching a dedicated landing page on the website for our ‘Really Wild’ toy store.

Initially, the shop at Fife Zoo was referred to locally as the ‘zoo shop’. But over the past few months, we have noticed visitors coming specifically to visit our retail store and cafe without necessarily venturing into the main zoo.

The vast majority of products in the store are animal-themed to fit the shop’s concept of being a toy store with a ‘Really Wild’ difference.