Predictions for Summer Best-Sellers

What jewelry items will do best this summer? For this article zoo shop staff members offered their predictions.

At Zoo Boise in Boise, Idaho, Warehouse Manager Delaney Vatcher said, “We have a new line of bracelets that’s doing really well from Tree Mission. The line plants a tree with every purchase, and depending on what kind of bracelet they pick, people will get a certain kind of tree planted. People really love that.” She expected that line, as well as the ever-popular mood jewelry, to do well this summer.

Ross Beardsley, retail director at the Santa Barbara Zoo in

Santa Barbara, Calif., said that when the main store, which sells his jewelry, opens again “Bracelets always do the best. We sell many of those with different animals. We also have a separate rack just for friendship bracelets, three for $9.95, and those sell all day long. And I expect our high-end rings from Covenant to continue to do well.”

Retail Manager Bre Wong predicted her summer best-sellers at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Anchorage as relying on locally made items. “I think the biggest difference this versus last or any other season will be that we will not offer mass-produced items. and their flavor and their craft. That will make the difference in what sells this year.”

At the Salisbury Zoo located in Salisbury, Md., Gift Shop Buyer and Development and Marketing Associate Mary Seeman said the shop’s Jajebo line of earrings will do well. “They are lightweight for summer, and unique. Being located close to the Maryland shore, inexpensive items like sharks’ teeth pieces do well for us, as well as anything with flamingos on it. Jewelry with bears and cats on it also does very well and should this summer.” ❖ other items are close to the counter. My Fair Trade items are grouped in displays by the counter on turnaround-style displays. And, I have a flat wall right by the cash wrap that I use to hang items on as well. This kind of placement is what works best for us in terms of sales.” She added that the zoo itself is relatively small in size but receives a large attendance at the zoo itself and in the shop, which makes keeping the jewelry displays easy to spot essential. “I don’t have a lot of space in the shop itself,” she said of the approximately 300-square-foot space.

Despite the shop’s small size, jewelry is a strong seller for Seeman. “Our expensive pieces such as Fair Trade, things like alpaca silver jewelry and copper cuffs and necklaces all do well and are somewhat zoothemed. We try to keep things affordable; with more inexpensive items, we do well with necklaces and earrings from both Sienna Sky and World End, as well as with the Jajebo line,” she said. “The Jajebo line features drawn images of animals that are reproduced on recycled, laminated cereal boxes. They are just beautiful, and true to what the animal looks like, whether its bees, bugs, or zoo animals.”

For Retail Manager Bre Wong at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Anchorage, Alaska, keep- ing displays fresh, cross-merchandising, and separate jewelry display areas all work to enhance sales. “For higher-end items, we keep those in a display case. Items that are more attainable for everyday wear are on jewelry racks that either the vendors themselves have created or on a table with nice holders that I have. We change our displays based on what items we have at the time.” The gift shop is just under 2,000-squarefeet, Wong said.

High-end jewelry items include Alaska-made silver, sea glass jewelry, and hand-painted jewelry from Trickster Company, Wong said. “Locally made items are the focus of what we have. We are shifting everything in the store from mass-marketed or made-overseas items to those that are locally created.” This is true of more inexpensive jewelry items as well, Wong attested. “We have lovely laser-cut wooden jewelry priced at $12 for a set of earrings. In the more expensive category, we have $50-$100 silver and gold necklaces, and even some expensive ivory pieces that are hand-carved by Native Alaskans.”

Whether inexpensive or high-end, jewelry sales continue to be a gem at zoo gift stores in a variety of locations. ❖