Zoo and Aquarium Retail

Sure-Selling Souvenirs (From page 77) so they will fit on a bookmark. They then mount them on colorful paper, put the animal’s name and species on the back, decorate it a little, laminate, and then finally tie a ribbon to the top. “Those are extremely popular. I think it’s because it’s a unique item, something you’ll only find here. And it’s like taking a piece of that animal home with you.”

Barton has had much success working with local vendors while scouting for new souvenir merchandise to stock the gift shop. “We’ve got this wonderful Made in Montana fair and I can go there and find local vendors. It’s great because we’re a smaller gift shop that wants fun, custom ornaments or key chains or pottery or whatever, but we also don’t want to buy 4,000 of them to get a decent price!”

Barton finds she can work with local vendors and get some really unique items, tailor-made in smaller quantities. Her customers feel good about supporting local artisans as well. In terms of display, ZooMontana’s retail space is very compact, so staff has to be very creative and utilize every square inch to the best of its ability. Case in point would be a chicken nesting box that once hung from the store’s ceiling which they pulled down and incorporated into their plush display. Whereas once it was inaccessible and a waste of space, now it’s packed with plush birds and people shop right out of it. “Plus, it’s magnetic so we stick some of our souvenir magnets on it too. We sell more magnets off of that nesting box that we do off of our actual magnet display!” Barton concluded. ❖

What Are Kids’ Favorite Souvenirs?

Plush is leading right now at Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn., primarily the facility’s main creatures which are turtles, otters, sharks, and penguins. “We’ve been able to keep a pretty large quantity of plush on hand, but toys have been a little harder to get because of the pandemic. They’re delayed months out sometimes, but fortunately we have great relationships with our vendors who have helped mitigate that impact by suggesting alternatives so we still have a great selection available for our guests,” said Micheal T. Floyd, the gift shop manager.

Although plush is always a winner at ZooMontana in Billings, Mont., the gift shop also sells thousands of Good Luck Minis – a line of miniature animal figurines by Safari, Ltd. “We sell them for just 75 cents apiece. We try to carry as many animals as we can, so kids start to collect them. Every visit, they get others to add to their collection,” said Guest Services Manager Kathy Barton ❖