Setting a Stage for Sales Selling Coastal Gifts at

Coastal Stores

By Genie Davis

By the sea, the sea, the beautiful sea - selling coastal gifts can be as steady as the tide. For this article, we asked store owners and staff to describe the décor in their shops, their shop’s overall environment, and how both affect their sales. Their best-selling items are also discussed.

At Maison Beach, in Vero Beach, Fla., Owner Darcy Dunbar described her choice of décor in her 1,000-square-foot store. “The main thing is that I display items in a way that makes people notice them, placing like-colors together and things like that. I do nice, cheerful, colorful window displays, and I both show and tell people my ideas behind the items and how I put them together as a gift,” she related. Her wall paint and flooring are nondescript – the better to show off her colorful gift lines. “The walls are white, and the floor is a pickle green,” Dunbar said, “so colorful merchandise really stands out.”

Supply chain issues have limited Dunbar’s access to some of the more coastal-themed gifts she has offered in the past, but the store is doing well with other product lines. In the definitely-coastal-themed category, she said, “I’ve sold hundreds of these little soap lifts shaped like turtles, with a great price point of just $5.95. I used to carry a great deal of Mud Pie coastal styles, they sell wonderfully when you can get them, but it’s literally been two years since I’ve been able to stock them.”

Today, her top sellers are Island Bamboo brand kitchenware with its white and blue themed cooking utensils and cutting boards, and Spice Walla, a regional product line that includes bowls and boards, and is bright and tropically colorful. In terms of display, she noted, “I have two stand-up displays with Island Bamboo items, which really shows them off. They’re so useful and colorful, and people really went for them as gifts. They have a colorful resort aesthetic,” she noted. “Some pieces have a green and blue pattern, others are

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