The Nature of Sales Trends for Today from State Park

Gift Stores

By Susan Mease

As states responded differently to COVID rules and restrictions, so too did state parks. Read on to see the pandemic’s impact on gift shops at state parks.

At Carter Caves in Olive Hill, Ky., Acting Store Supervisor Amy Sparks said that COVID didn’t bother them. People continued to come to their park to get away from “all that.” The store was only closed for a couple of months and the sales this year seem to be running about the same as last year. They have a very popular gem mine outside where little kids and big kids (aka adults) enjoy panning for gemstones or fossils. In addition to the bags of mining material, T-shirts are her other hot seller. They are displayed on the wall so you see them as you walk in. She emphasizes Carter Caves specific designs on all her products and has ordered more name-dropped items like mugs, shot glasses, and backscratchers, keeping mostly to low end prices.

Sparks said the store shelves look a little thin as she is having trouble getting merchandise. Orders are taking four to eight weeks to arrive, so she has to be more proactive than usual in her ordering.

Christa Drake , one of the park managers at Lake Bemidji State Park in Minnesota, said their sales are a little up from before the pandemic. The store was closed for most of 2020. She does best with sweatshirts and T-shirts with the park name on them and with plush of animals specific to the park. She puts plush at kids’ eye level and it’s the first thing you see as you walk in the store. T-shirts and sweatshirts are displayed on the wall under lighting with the various sizes folded in cubbies. Tie dye is super popular in blues and pastels. The store is very small, but they also sell vehicle permits there so there is good walk-in traffic. Like most park stores, they sell pins and stickers that are specific to them and medallions for hiking sticks. They also sell some candy. Drake said there are some positions open as they are having a hard