Whether Nature-Made or Commercially Produced, Gifts Sell at Caves and Caverns

Frank Hurley, the second oldest ‘Cave Man’ in the United States, purchased Jacob’s Cave located in the Ozarks in 1965. He said the merchandise in the cave’s gift shop is reminiscent of a visitor’s experience exploring the cave. They sell numerous types of rocks and minerals, including black light rocks and polished rocks and jewelry crafted from these rocks. They specialize in geodes obtained from northeast Missouri. They saw these geodes in half to expose the mineral matter within. In addition, they extract mineral specimens from inside Jacob’s Cave and create necklaces from the material. These one-of-a kind necklaces are sold for around $25 a piece.

Customers are especially interested in pretty or polished rocks. Minerals that are florescent or that show when under black light are easily sold as well. Little kids are big fans of polished rocks said Hurley. They sell a half cup of polished rocks about the size of a thumbnail to kids aged 5 to 10.

According to Hurley, teenagers or older women are interested in the jewelry they sell, while older men prefer geodes that have been cut in half and polished to place on their desk.

About 10 years ago, they started selling pendulums. Pendulums are chains with a rock made from a variety of minerals attached to only one end. Lore has it that if you ask a pregnant woman to lie down and hang the chain over her belly, if the chain goes in a circle, the baby is female, but if it swings back and forth, it’s male. Ten years after they started to carry the chain, the product is still popular with guests, expressed Hurley.

With approximately half a million dollars in annual sales, Georgetown, Texas-based Inner Space Caverns relies on sales of staple custom items like coffee cups, teddy bears wearing T-shirts decorated with ‘Inner Space Cavern’ and shot glasses. But Danielle Hipp , gift shop manager and Taunya Vessels , general manager, indicated they also stay on top of the trends. For instance, they followed the fidget spinner craze by name dropping them and bringing them in when the item was hot. They

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