The Tree House Gift Shop at Washington Park Zoo along the western Indiana shores of Lake Michigan is in many ways a retail challenge course. Director Shawne Sheldon has mastered the art and logistics of stocking a variety of apparel and souvenirs that represent the venue’s local, endangered and exotic species.
With 800 square feet of floor space and a spiral staircase smack dab in the middle of the shop — the only way to access an upstairs office — the layout might remind people of a tree house, and Sheldon makes sure to maximize every inch of the store with displays that scale the walls, crafty cubbies and racks for apparel.
Like the zoo itself, which guests appreciate for an “up close and personal” experience with animals, the Tree House Gift Shop offers the same type of accessible hospitality. And Sheldon knows the Michigan City zoo’s operations by heart, having served various roles since she started in 2006.
Colorful kid-friendly tumblers and water bottles with animal themes are available at the gift shop.
Photos: Alyssa Staats
Back then, there was no Tree House and Sheldon oversaw a tiny gift cart with eaves that opened to display products. She would park the gift cart next to the zoo’s bear exhibit.
“During that time, we were working on building the new gift shop at the zoo’s entrance,” she says.
The zoo’s retail has evolved significantly with Sheldon buying to be sure the gift shop “looks full and there’s always something new for members,” who represent about 25% of customers who shop there.
“Even though we have a small footprint, I like a large variety,” Sheldon says.
Brimming with product
The Tree House Gift shop is located by the zoo admissions and one person — often Sheldon — operates both windows of the city-owned attraction, which opened in 1928 as a sanctuary. The zoo is managed by Michigan City’s Division of Parks and Recreation and its grounds span 15 acres with exhibits featuring 90 different species.
While zoos across the country vary in size, 130 acres is the average, so by all accounts, Washington Park Zoo is quaint and Sheldon’s approach to retail is highly personalized. School and scout groups are frequent fliers, and so are children with some allowance money to spend at the shop along with visitors who make an annual trip to the destination as part of a family vacation.
Displays marked with $5 and $10 signage help the younger set find souvenirs that suit field trip budgets with items like stickers, drinkware, small plush, magnets and friendship bracelets by Pichincha. “The boys like shark teeth and glow-in-the-dark bugs — and anything ‘best friends’ and mood jewelry does well,” says Sheldon.
Of pricing, a thrifty approach tends to ring in more sales. “We have people tell us they really appreciate our prices here,” she relates. “If you keep them reasonable, people do spend more.”
For instance, higher-end women’s jewelry didn’t sit all that well at the zoo shop. But customers are wild about Fahlo animal tracking bracelets, Sheldon says.
A magnet wall is impulse-buy ready with a variety of styles including colorful wooden magnets by Fire & Pine in motifs that speak to popular zoo creatures such as the capybara and axolotl, two species that also have gone viral on social media.
Tree House Gift Shop organizes plush by animal type in baskets.
Other popular animals presented on products throughout the shop include river otters, parakeets — a nod to a walk-through aviary exhibit — wolves, lions and black leopards, which were a new addition to the zoo last year.
Customers love snakes, even though this reptile is not housed at the zoo. And across the board, plush of all kinds is a top-seller and positioned front and center in the Tree House Gift Shop. “We’re selling lots of extra-large plush, like 36 inches long,” says Sheldon.
Because temperatures at the zoo can be chilly, given its location on the lake, Sheldon says apparel such as long-sleeved tees and sweatshirts appeal to those with goosebumps.
From onesies to unisex T-shirts in all sizes, Sheldon stocks apparel by vendors like The Duck Company, OPI Apparel & Souvenirs, Stephen Joseph Gifts and Perrin Sportswear. Adult sizes hang on racks while cubbies house infant and toddler clothes.
“I roll them up and make sure the size tag is sticking out,” Sheldon says. “It saves space, and while we still get people who will unroll them, it’s not too bad.”
Wallets, purses and bags are a growing category that Sheldon is preparing to expand given the demand so far this year. Pichincha supplies brightly colored embroidered bags with animal designs such as birds, peacocks and owls, along with fanny packs, backpacks and wallets in similar motifs.
Sheldon also sees customers gravitate toward Shagwear’s faux leather wallets and coin purses in motifs including piggies, a crow, wolves, owls and a snail “that I had to get for myself,” she confesses.
Trading spaces
To maintain the full shop Sheldon aims for and make use of available space, the zoo traded a conference room connected to the shop for more retail footage. In a way, the addition has a shop-in-a-shop feel because of how its entry is angled toward the back of the gift store.
Sheldon reassigned some categories to this room to expand the number and styles of products in wallets and bags, drinkware, toys and decor. She also centered a rack with more apparel in this space and added more plush since those are go-to souvenirs for new and returning guests.
Navigating the shop can get hairy when strollers and wagons rush in during busy summer months. Sheldon says efforts to potentially build a new gift store are percolating. For now, she hustles — and especially when ordering, storing merch and stocking products.
Sheldon sources most of her products at the Smoky Mountain Gift Show and places an order by November. “It’s hard to get orders in once we are open,” she explains, relating that disparate storage areas away from the shop require logistics and time to access. There’s not a back room full of extra products.
In fact, storage spaces are in three spots: up the road at city hall, across the street at a splash park and in a trailer at the back of the zoo.
“There were a couple of vendors I had to do re-orders with last year, so I bumped up the order for this season,” says Sheldon.
As for her buying strategy: “I go with my gut,” she says. “My theory is, I need to make sure we are introducing new products for members, and I don’t like to carry over a ton of stock from the year before.”
Exploring the market for variety is what Sheldon loves about her role and serving on the zoo staff. “Every day is different,” she says. “When we are open, I’m working the register and then my gift shop manager hat comes off and I’m doing whatever else is needed.”
