IGES Feature

Merchandise for the Fun (From page 134)

toy; mini building blocks featuring pictures of animals found in the park are top sellers at Red Rock Canyon. “We carry a desert tortoise, desert bighorn sheep, collared lizard, roadrunner, and scorpion. They are the perfect size for little hands and keep them busy for hours!” Bell said.

Games continue to see strong sales as families look for alternatives to screens and electronic devices. The more unique, the better. “Anything with the ‘National Park’ on it sells well,” Campbell said. “We have National Park versions of Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee. Also card games for the car. Puzzles sold like crazy during COVID and are still doing well. Grandparents love to buy them as Christmas gifts. They love them because they’re educational and everyone can get involved.”

Plush and toys give young visitors a new way to engage with nature. “Being able to have a plush so the kids can take it into their hands and [it] educates them about the park…it’s another way to sell product and educate the kids, as well as have something soft and squishy they can love,” said Paula Henrie , publications specialist, Bryce Canyon Natural History Association in Bryce Canyon, Utah. “Our biggest sellers in the plush are the 12-inch animals—bobcat, chipmunk, mountain lion. North American wildlife. We did add dinosaurs, and they seem to be going well, too. In toys our best-sellers are mini building blocks with North American animals on them, and a custom source hammer to go with the rock formations in the park, and we also had a Mystery Packet, where they buy and get whatever [surprise gift]. We also sell a Park Ranger pickup truck that’s popular with little boys. They see our rangers driving around in these trucks and they want one, too.” She said plush and toys are big sellers because most are small, can fit into a suitcase or car easily, and, she added, “everyone loves Legos.” “The plush are big because they’re cuddly and fun. Grandparents come in and buy a lot. Every kid who walks in wants a plush. We have two [plush] rattlesnakes—one that’s eight feet long, another one that’s longer, and we sell out of them all the time.” National Park-themed games are strong sellers in the games category; Henrie mentioned an animal card matching game called Skunk in the Campground also does well.

Merchandising—always an important aspect of retail—is a bit different for toys and plush because these items are

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