Sure-Selling Souvenirs

How Two Facilities are Faring During the Pandemic

Depending on the area, a good number of zoos and aquariums have re-opened with safety protocols in place. Just as patrons are happy to have the opportunity to visit, facilities are just as happy to welcome customers back. The resident creatures are pretty jazzed about it too! Of course, any such outing would hardly be complete without a stroll through the onsite gift shop. For this article, one zoo and one aquarium in distinctly different locales described what the retail scene currently looks like for them.

Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn., championed the turtle in 2020 and proclaimed it the Year of the Turtle. In March, they even opened a new turtle exhibit to mark the occasion. As a result, plush turtles have sold very well inside the facility’s gift stores. The aquarium is split between two separate buildings –River Journey and Ocean Journey and each features its own gift shop, measuring 2,800 square feet and 1,800 square feet respectively. There is a third retail outlet inside the Aquarium’s IMAX Center, although that remains closed at this time.

River otters are yet another popular attraction at Tennessee Aquarium and therefore plush items depicting them are also good sellers. “All the kids coming though these days are buying plush as a memento while the adults are buying T-shirts,” said Gift Shop Manager Micheal T. Floyd . He didn’t think adults reach for T-shirts out of a pandemic-driven desire for comfortable attire, however. “From what we’ve seen as a result of the pandemic, it doesn’t seem to matter what you have out on the sales floor – it’s probably going to sell! People are just so excited to have an in-person shopping experience when they come visit. For most people, this is one of the first places where they feel comfortable coming because of our mask mandates. And we have everything in place for social distancing so it’s the first time they’re getting a memorable shopping experience that isn’t a grocery store.”

Tennessee Aquarium retail is operated by Event Network which does all the buying and visual merchandising for its gift stores. However, there is one display technique that Floyd always tries to follow, especially in the River Journey gift shop. “If we’re putting a fixture together, we