Where Tees are Tops

T-shirt Trends at Zoos and Aquariums

Americans have returned to zoos and aquariums — but like everywhere else, they have to stay six feet apart. The new line of social distancing shirts and Akron Zoological Park in Akron, Ohio, has a bit of fun with this COVID-era reality, said Gift Shop Manager Joan Hummel . “We’ve got one that says ‘Llamas stay six feet away,’ and another that says ‘Komodo dragons — socially distancing before it was cool,’ ” Hummel said.

A sense of humor goes a long way toward engaging customers in a difficult year. So does practicality: Masks have been a top seller for the Akron gift shop, a popular add-on to those social distance T-shirts, Hummel said. Patrons are also looking for color — blue, green, red, brown, black and this season’s trendy mauve. “There’s no one standout; we just try to make the colors go well with whatever graphics we’re putting on the shirts,” explained Hummel. “But for whatever reason, I’ve noticed people don’t like white.” uncertainty, “we’re more constrained in our buying,” she said. “But we try to keep updated.”

Shades of blue and fun, quirky graphics help sell T-shirts at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines. “Our most popular style before the spring lockdown was a slate blue shirt with a picture of a rhino, and the slogan ‘Save the chubby unicorn,’” said Gift Shop Manager Cindy Campbell . Runners up included a royal blue version featuring an orange giraffe and the words “Living the high life,” and a “Living on the hedge” tee featuring a hedgehog wearing shades.

Recent hits include a line of organic T-shirts in a fabric produced from recycled water bottles. “People are just so surprised that they’re soft — and that bottles actually made the shirt,” Lawriski noted. “They

“We’ve got one that says ‘Llamas stay six feet away,’ and another that says ‘Komodo dragons — socially distancing before it was cool,’ ” love that it’s recycled.”

“Gray is very popular right now; it’s the new neutral,” said Campbell. Another round of new Tshirts is due to arrive at the gift shop just before spring, and Campbell hopes the fresh, humorous graphics will continue to do well in 2021.

The pandemic has prompted Manager Linda Lawriski to order conservatively for the Gift Shop she manages at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Fla. With less foot traffic and ongoing

In Sunny Florida, patrons favor “colors that pop a little,” Lawriski said. Pinks and greens are popular for children, while adults gravitate toward corals and yellows. A line of tie dye sweatshirts and T-shirts in both long and short sleeves “has a beachy feel to it,” Lawriski added, and is on trend for this season.

For 2021, Lawriski plans to increase the number of customized apparel items. “The more we find the more you customize the product, the better it sells,” she observed. People want things that remind them of where they’ve been and what they’ve seen.” That means not only name-dropped shirts, but also graphics and sometimes even names of the animals on view at the zoo — “our bear, with our logo,” Lawriski said.

Indeed, it’s often a specific animal that moves the most shirts. At the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Fla., “it’s all about the sloth,” said Gift Shop Manager Celeste Elam . “Kids love it, adults love it. Everyone relates to the sloth.”

The sloth may be the hot ticket, but the red panda is creeping up right behind it. “I think red pandas are the new sloths,” Elam reflected. While the Brevard Zoo does not currently have any, red pandas were recently featured on a popular children’s show and in a blockbuster exhibi-

“Gray is very popular right now; it’s the new neutral.” tion at other zoos around the country. “They’re the animal that’s taking over,” Elam explained, “and they’re just so cute.”

- Cindy Campbell, Blank Park Zoo, Des Moines, Iowa.

Florida shoppers favor shades like turquoise and coral, but purple is this year’s top color. “We have a sweatshirt line that’s all purple, for both kids and adults — it’s almost a bright lavender,” Elam said.

Gray and muted green are the popular colors for adult T-shirts at Monterey Zoo in Salinas, Calif., while children’s styles do best in anything brightly colored, said General Manager Angie Krall . “But we cannot sell red T-shirts to save our lives.”

The zoo has always been a family attraction, but even more so during the pandemic, with California children home from school and looking for safe diversion. For 2021, Krall is ordering more tees in the toddler sizes that sell best, 2T to 4T. “We’re trying some grown-up styles in toddler sizes — shirts that are less cartoony,” said Krall in December as she unpacked winter inventory.

One trend that will continue, she predicted, is the popularity of elephants. “We’re a small zoo, but the elephants are the big draw here,” Krall explained. “So anything with an elephant [sells] well in any size.” ❖

SGN Asked: Are classic T-shirts selling, or do more sophisticated T-shirt cuts that mimic expensive shirts sell better?

“I think the unisex ones generally do better than the fashion cuts.”

- Angie Krall, Monterey Zoo, Salinas, Calif.

“We’re pretty much staying with our tried and true. Just your basic T-shirt is what people are looking for — color and comfort.”

- Linda Lawriski, Florida Aquarium, Tampa, Fla.

“We do a combo. We’ve got some with a more feminine cut, but we’ve also got plenty of unisex styles. They all sell well.”

- Joan Hummel, Akron Zoological Park, Ohio

“Unisex is normally more popular for us. It’s a more uniform size, so if you’re buying for other people, you don’t have to wonder whether it will fit — especially with COVID, where people aren’t able to try on clothes. That said, we have a giraffe tee in a women’s fitted style that is one of our most popular shirts.”

- Celeste Elam, Brevard Zoo, Melbourne, Fla.

“We don’t do a lot of the fitted tees. Our customers prefer the classics.”

- Cindy Campbell, Blank Park Zoo, Des Moines, Iowa ❖