Apparel

Selling the Basics (From page 48) and staff are in store shopping specifically for these products since they’re the only store that carries the Oceanography program’s logo, Decenso said.

“Even our regular guests and members seem to be drawn to these pieces of apparel – the Institute is extremely well respected,” Decenso said.

Blue is the most popular color for T-shirts and sweatshirts at Birch.

“It’s fitting because our location overlooks the bright beautiful blue that is the Pacific Ocean. Blue is also one of the staple colors for both the Birch Aquarium and SIO,” Decenso said.

Birch currently follows a strict safety protocol to keep guests, team members, and their living ocean life residents healthy, Decenso said.

“We plan to keep these practices in place for the foreseeable future, until it is safe to remove these added precautions, said Decenso. “The safety of our team members and guests is always our number one priority.”

At The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station in

St. Louis, Mo., Buyer and Union Station Merchandise Manager Chris Pittman said hoodies are popular year-round.

“People are always looking for a comfortable hoodie they can throw on and wear anytime,” Pittman said.

Their Henley hoodies, a lighter hoodie with their logo displayed on the front and rainbow-colored hoodie strings, are their most popular hoodie. Heavier hoodies, with a larger logo on the back and a small logo on the chest also sell very well. Their best-selling T-shirt is a simple circular aquarium logo design in dark grey heather.

Pittman recently started to purchase bright, fun colors in apparel.

“Bright, fun colors have been really well received recently, Continued on page 52

What Are Your Top-Selling Hats? Why?

For female guests at Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas, the top-selling hat is currently a name-dropped animal print ponytail hat. Animal print is always trending, remarked Guest Services Manager and Buyer Michele Schulz. Men love their flat bill or trucker hats with a leather patch embellished with their logo, Schulz said.

Baseball caps branded with the Birch Aquarium and the SIO sell best at The Birch Aquarium at the University of California San Diego, according to store Director Emily Decenso.

“The cap’s laid back style reflects our sunny La Jolla location and beachy lifestyle, making them a favorite among local and visiting guests,” Decenso said.

The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station in St. Louis, Mo., stocks several styles of hats, but the most popular are Dad caps for both men and women. They offer these in red, light blue and green. The letters ‘STL’ are emblazoned on the front of the cap in a wavy pattern, and their logo is on the back.

“People are really proud of St. Louis and where they come from,” said Buyer and Union Station Merchandise Manager Chris Pittman. “So anytime we get the opportunity to feature the St. Louis flag or ‘STL’ in general, people really enjoy that.”

At the Audubon Nature Institute, Gift Show Manager Diana Clark said ball caps are their best-sellers. They’re a classic that every age and gender can make use of, and wear as a souvenir.

Mark Girardy, store manager and buyer at The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa, said that this year, a new hat was the favorite at Mississippi River. It was a customdesigned hat featuring an otter, the favorite animal at the facility. It was also the most budget friendly hat they stocked.

“Guests have enjoyed getting out and supporting organizations,” said Girardy. “And having a little [bit of a] lower price point helped.”

Selling the Basics (From page 51)

especially with the pandemic,” Pittman said.

Early last year, the store opened a website featuring the more popular items at the store so customers could browse from home.

And, in their almost 4,000-square-foot store, Pittman focuses on making the shopping experience easier while one-on-one interactions are limited due to distancing protocols.

Pittman ensures that prices and signage are clear and readily seen. He also reorganized the store to make locations of items intuitive to guests. For instance, popular items like plush are displayed just outside the exit door, and adult apparel is located a little further inside. He also purchased merchandise – like the hoodies with rainbow colored hood strings – that pop from a distance.

Pittman added that almost 65 % of his merchandise is sourced from local businesses (minority, women-owned, and so on) in St. Louis.

“You’re supporting local business when you shop with us,” Pittman said.

Diana Clark , gift shop manager at the Audubon Nature Institute, said the zoo has a large member base. So, top-selling T-shirts are a toss-up between conservation shirts, where the vendor gives a portion of their sales to conservation and T-shirts featuring local themes, like the mythical Rougarou, white gator and pelican.

The facility mainly sells sweatshirts when there’s a spike in cold weather. This year, because Mardi Gras was cancelled, they chose to support local Mardi Gras artists by carrying sweatshirts the artists designed. These ended

Sweatshirts

Continued on page 54

Hats, and in the background, T-shirts, at The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. Sales at the attraction’s four retail locations, two of which are seasonal, were a bit lower last year than in previous years, but were stronger than expected given the pandemic, the store’s manager and buyer said.

Sunglasses

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Selling the Basics (From page 52)

up being their best-selling sweatshirts of the season. Blue is the most popular color for T-shirts and sweatshirts. It’s bright, and works well for all genders and ages, Clark explained.

Due to the pandemic, the store thinned out the number of fixtures on the floor to allow for more space in their two zoo gift shop locations totalling 5,000-square-feet and two aquarium locations totaling 2,000-square-feet. Clark sees this change becoming permanent post-pandemic.

Mark Girardy , store manager and buyer at The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa, said the top-selling T-shirt this year for them was a “returning favorite.” The T-shirt features vibrant neon writing paired with soft, bright background colors. Sweatshirt-wise, their best-seller was a budget friendly hoodie.

“We didn’t overthink it with just our simple logo” said Girardy. “But it gave guests a great opportunity to get a quality sweatshirt, while staying within a price they could afford this year.”

While bright colors took the lead this year, Girardy noted that perennial favorites like navy and grey still performed well.

Their annual sales, at approximately $500,000 last year between four shop locations (two of which are seasonal), was stronger than expected given the pandemic, but still a bit lower than previous years, Girardy reported.

Like Clark, Girardy also removed some floor displays to facilitate social distancing. This presented an opportunity to declutter and give guests more breathing room to shop the store.

“Going forward, we plan to be more aware of how we balance product and space,” Girardy said. ❖