August/September 2010

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	Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Assistant Director of Retail Lisa Jones shows off a shirt. A female python image, in a nod to a new zoo resident, will soon be featured on T-shirts for sale at this Powell, Ohio attraction.

or a wearable token of a trip to the zoo or aquarium most anywhere, the visitor is covered. Beyond the standard T-shirt, a wide range of apparel options are available for all seasons. Custom designs provide identification of the institution with names, logos and representative animals. Additionally, current events at the animal conservatory or in the world at large are recorded on some of the clothing pieces through unique artistry or even with the choice of fabric.

Zoos and aquariums are naturals for drawing attention to climate change and the effects global warming is having on animals. The active role of the gift shops is carrying merchandise that gives voice to the movement and is made from eco-friendly materials. In apparel, conscientious visitors to the Birch Aquarium Scripps in La Jolla, Calif., can find organic Tshirts after being inspired by the “Feeling the Heat, the Climate Challenge” exhibit. The shirts are a little more expensive, said Susan Malk, manager.

Susan Malk, the Aquarium Bookshop manager at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps in La Jolla, Calif., with an apparel display. A climate change exhibit inspires guests to check out the store’s organic T-shirts.

Two logo styles are available on the clothing lines in the store, which is the public face for the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Students usually choose the UCSD collegiate logo, and tourists the Scripps Institute symbol.

In addition to crew T-shirts and sweatshirts for adults, several other apparel items folded on large tables or displayed on mannequin torsos, contribute to the over $1 million in annual store sales. Fashion-forward scooped neck styles are available for women. Being close to the beach, Tshirts displaying surfer imagery are popular, as are the warm, waterproof fleecelined jackets that volunteers wear out on the whale boats. Parent and grandparent tourists are drawn to the youth “Marine Biologist in Training” T-shirts, the Jolly Jellies T-shirts for toddlers, and some child-size sweatshirt styles, all of which are hanging face out on slat walls.

Everyone is going green, said Tonia Wells, purchasing manager for the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Md. To keep up, Wells plans to order recycled Tshirts from Sansegal. Additionally, in accordance with the Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s designated year of the frog, Wells commissioned Panamanian to customize golden tree frog T-shirts for the store.

At present, infant, toddler, youth and adultsized T-shirts, fleece, hoodies, jackets, hats, and infant onesies augment store sales, which are upward of $700,000 annually. Wells noted that the T-shirt/hat combo is especially attractive to customers because of its price point and perceived value, and that youth and smaller sizes sell better than adult sizes.

Though Eques T-shirts are sold at a higher price point, Wells plans to expand the line. Consumers are willing to pay for the artwork and quality, she noted, as they are captivated by the polar bear mom and baby image. The images are accompanied by animal facts.

T-shirts in all sizes displayed in a cube system and samples hung on flat wall catch the eye of visitors in pursuit of a memento at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa. Cindy Hutt, manager of the Wild Things Gift Shop, which brings in $400,000 in revenue each year, is stockpiling Steve and Joseph child-sized T-shirts. “All their kids shirts have very nice artwork, age-appropriate and in very bright colors,” Hutt said.

Hutt is also expanding the J Shadow Apparel line of adult shirts enlivened with embroidered designs because the styles she carried last year sold so well.

Toddlers keep staff on their toes, supplying Tshirts, that is, at the Safari Post Gift Shop in BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo in Baton Rouge, La., more so than the Tshirts and sleepwear also available in infant, children and adult sizes. “We have a large selection of them in very cute styles,” noted manager Carroll Shirey. “And the top selling Steve and Joseph line is fantastic, followed by The Mountain.”

	These colorful shirts are part of the inventory at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Separate racks are reserved for new items and captivating styles, and shelving racks hold the remainder of T-shirts, folded by size and styles periodically interchanged with T-shirt styles on small racks to keep the inventory fresh.

Artwork done from photos taken on the premises are unique and sell the best, said Natalie Buchheim, manager of the gift shop located at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, Calif.

Though not black, the multicolored Black Jelly and an enlarged photo of the microscopic Garvaldi lobster larvae both present a spooky appearance on black T-shirts that sell especially well during the Halloween fall season. The larva T-shirt recorded an unexpected event, the first successful attempt to raise baby Garvaldi lobsters, the state marine fish, which is bright orange and lives in the kelp forest. An aquarist zeroed in on one of hundreds of larvae when the eggs hatched in the aquatic nursery.

It is not large shop, said Buchheim, bringing in $200,000 in annual sales, and in apparel, selling baby rompers, children’s and adult Tshirts, sweatshirts and hats. The categories revolve around a theme of what is going on seasonally in the area, folded and stacked on glass shelves, with one shirt highlighted hanging on the wall up high, related to the theme. One design depicts a grey whale because at this time of year, grey whales migrate to the area and whale watching is big.

For little kids who like things a bit more fanciful, Buchheim orders Tshirts with animal designs that are not biologically correct.

Once a new inhabitant or baby animal makes an appearance at a zoo or aquarium, many visitors make a beeline for the gift shop to check out what they might wear home that reflects their experience or that can be shared. Others might be cruising through to find the latest design of a favorite species or one highlighted for some reason at the animal observatory.

Children’s apparel for sale at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Md. Shirts made form recycled materials will soon be offered at the shop.

For the last few years, the Siberian Tiger had reigned as the most recent addition to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio. Visitors gravitated toward the apparel in the gift shop bearing the tiger image, which occasionally shared the spotlight with the Christmas holiday tree frog. The apparel choices range from T-shirts and shorts to sweatshirts and pullover windbreaker jackets. Summertime is an especially hot time for apparel sales, especially the tie-dye shirts imprinted with manatees, remarked team leader, Stephanie Weaver.

This year, the tiger will have to move over to make space for the newest animal on the block, a female python named Fluffy, the largest snake in captivity in the world. Weaver is still on the hunt for a T-shirt bearing a python likeness to Fluffy. When the search is complete, the snake-bitten shirt will be displayed on one of seven four-way display floor stands, each equipped to display a different design on each of four hooks. The apparel section cannot be missed, comprising close to 50 percent of store merchandise.

Visitors to Niagara Falls often include a stop into the Aquarium of Niagara at Niagara Falls, New York, where sea lions and penguins command as much attention as the falls themselves. This year, sharks new to the aquarium will be an anticipated attraction and will make their way into the imagery inscribed on T-shirts in the Finesse Gift Shop.

“Most traffic occurs in the summertime when people think of wearing T-shirts. We don’t get many in winter and those that do come in buy zippered hoodies,” said manager Simone Russell. Tshirts are available for kids and adults along with sweatshirts, polos, some fleece, and rompers for toddlers, displayed on flat wall and hooks according to size, scaling down the wall to gain attention.