Name-Dropped Products and Souvenirs

Whether Nature-Made (From page 88) boonie hats a shot. As it turned out, the hats flew out of there – and are still selling, said Vessels.

At the Ice Caves and Bandera Volcano in Grants, N.M., they stock name-dropped merch T-shirts, caps, magnets, keychains, stickers and shot glasses.

Visitors also arrive expecting to find items from in the area like pottery tree ornaments sourced from the Acoma Pueblo approximately 35 miles from the Ice Caves. The ancient Acomas used to venture inside their caves to retrieve ice, reported Debbie Reinschmidt , owner.

Magnets with a photo of the caves on it are big sellers. And T-shirts with sayings like “I climbed the volcano” often catch a visitor’s eye as well. Rocks are also hot picks for guests – some are lava and agate from the local region, but others have been collected from locations across the globe.

Magnets, hat pins and patches are best-sellers at the Ice Caves.

Reinschmidt said visitors like small, easily portable momentos of their experience as they’re travelling. These items can also occupy a particular space in a visitor’s home – for instance, visitors can put a magnet on their fridge, or put stickers on their cars or RV for a memory of their good time.

At first, Reinschmidt was skeptical about bringing in shot glasses to sell, but they go like crazy, she expressed.

The keychains were another surprise hit. Sales started out slow, but when they stocked up on new keychains featuring pictures of the ice cave, visitors snatched them up. Many have been buying the keychains to use as ornaments, explained Reinschmidt. In fact, this has inspired her to think about also ordering custom ornaments to sell in the future. ❖

Miles Potter, tour guide, Inner Space Caverns, photographed in front of a polished stone display. Guests can place the stones they select into small, name-dropped bags.