Smoky Mountain Gift Show Section

Selling Classic Coastal Images (From page 74) tates items throughout the store, so frequent shoppers can always find something new.

“People will come in and say, ‘I saw it on TikTok and I don’t know where to get it,’” Kwok laughed. “These

“People will come in and say, ‘I saw it on TikTok and I don’t know where to get it.’ These kinds of trends start online, and everybody sends it around to their friends on social media.”

- Elaine

kinds of trends start online, and everybody sends it around to their friends on social media.”

In the same shopping center, retailer Benny Pinaula relies on what he calls “the Louis Vuitton model — word-of-mouth,” along with savvy visual merchandising by color. At New Memories, Pinaula’s 800-square-foot store, tourists and locals alike snap up windproof tablecloths, his runaway best-seller. Except, of course, they don’t run away, because they’ve got elastic on the corners — the better to withstand Pacific breezes.

“They fit your standard 4-to-6-foot tables, and the beauty is, they’re also reusable; you can throw them in the wash,” Pinaula noted. The tablecloths come in solids as well as a variety of coastal motifs, from Guam scenes to generic island and picnic prints.

For those who prefer to entertain at home, another popular item is a Guam-branded apron that fits over a wine bottle. “So that would be your centerpiece for your table,” Pinaula explained.

In Morro Bay, Calif., Store Manager Stacy Alcorn said shoppers at Coastal Treasures and Gifts are almost universally looking for merchandise that features the town name or its iconic images. Favorite items include magnets, keychains and mugs featuring Morro Bay’s famous rock, the Embarcadero or sea otters.

A new 500-piece, specially designed Morro Bay jigsaw puzzle has been a hit this year with shoppers, according to Alcorn. “People come in and ask for it,” she noted.

Locals also go wild for the 800-square-foot store’s decorative sign collection. With cute sayings like “Anchored in Love,” “Salty Kisses, Starfish Wishes” and “The Beach Life is The Best Life,” “they’re mostly coastal,” Alcorn affirmed. She moves signs and other merchandise around the store, bringing in new items every year “to make it fresh a little bit,” Alcorn added. “So it’s not the same thing all the time.” ❖