Name Programs

Trends in Name Program (From page 124) in terms of name-dropped items; we’ve learned what they buy from 28-years of experience.” His top name-dropped sellers? “Ornaments do very, very well here…they’re something that our customers ask for.”

Like Wurstner at the Buffalo zoo, Bannister has seen a “surge in business in general since we reopened this March. We have been at capacity. Sales in gifts flow in with that attendance.” He reported, “I don’t think the product mix is different than it was two years ago, but name-dropped items definitely do well for us. People do come in and specifically ask for things with our name on them, like our specially designed ornament that features our animals as well as our name.”

As it is for Wurstner, selling more name-dropped items is all about display for Bannister. “They’re displayed where customers can easily find them in the store, and in the case of the T-shirts and sweats we don’t carry any that aren’t name-dropped, so they’re front and center, easy to find.”

At the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas, Assistant Gift Store Manager Leslie Reyes includes toy survival kits, binoculars, magnets, mugs, shot glasses, and popular “twisty” souvenir cups in a long list of name-dropped items. “About the only thing we don’t name-drop are plush items. At one point, we did have name-dropped little hoodies and ribbons for plush, but we don’t do that anymore. The items that we are name-dropping are definitely the ones that people are buying.” She added, “With a lot of Spring Break visitors from out of town and

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