Many travelers come to the Red River Gorge in eastern Kentucky for its hiking trails, climbing routes and outdoor adventures. But for some visitors, an unexpected roadside sight becomes part of the experience: a giant, fuzzy Bigfoot lounging in a camping chair outside the Red River Gorge General Store in Slade, Kentucky. The 72-inch Sasquatch plush from Zoologee regularly catches motorists off guard, prompting double takes — and plenty of impromptu stops at the store.
“Everyone takes a picture with Bigfoot,” says Adrienne McMahon, general manager. “It’s a really great draw.”
A cuddly Bigfoot plush is front and center in a display at the Red River Gorge General Store.
Once inside, customers can find a wide variety of souvenirs and essentials at the Red River Gorge General Store. As people browse the store, they can find plush scattered all about. Some smaller Bigfoot plush line a bookcase in one part of the store, and other plush creatures are integrated into store displays. McMahon says she even places some butterfly plush on the walls.
Plush may not be top of mind for people visiting the park, but when park retailers merchandise this category well, it can be a very successful category.
“Some people say plush isn’t a quick mover, but in my experience, it is,” McMahon says. “You just have to find your place.”
Relevance rules
Earlier this year, Reelfoot Lake State Park debuted a renovated gift shop at its park visitor center in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Park Ranger Cory Hussey says the new store layout is very open and accessible.
Apparel and plush are the store’s best-performing categories, with small, medium and large options available from Wild Republic and Deluxebase. For that reason, Hussey says plush gets a spot front and center in the new store.
“Plush animals are some of the most eye-catching items,” he says. “We make sure they are highly visible.”
He also makes sure that the plush offered is highly relevant, wanting plush animals to reflect the wildlife that visitors see at Reelfoot Lake. As a hotspot for the American bald eagle, plush versions of these birds are favorites. The store also carries plush osprey and pelicans. And as the park looks to goats for vegetation management, Hussey says he plans to start selling goat plush in the store this year as well.
Carrying plush that features native species is also a key strategy for Bre Johnson, park ranger at Dead Horse Point State Park in Moab, Utah.
Dead Horse Point State Park displays a cute horse plush beside a name-drop tee and cap in its gift shop.
“I try to pick plush based off of what we have in the park and the area — scorpions, bighorn sheep, hares, kangaroo rats, bats,” she says. “I recently added horse plush. They’re not in the area, but with the name of the park, I thought it fit.”
At Cook Forest Trading Post in Sigel, Pennsylvania, owner Victoria Reid mostly sticks to woodland-themed plush, but she will venture off a little to include some trendy favorites.
“We have shark plush,” she says. “Sharks are incredibly popular whether you’re near the ocean or not! We tend to focus on the woodland themes, but if something seems like it’s popular or trending, we will add that to our mix as well.”
McMahon says supplementing traditional woodland plush with some unexpected critters has worked well for her at the Red River Gorge General Store.
“We have Bigfoot plush. We have a lot of your standard park animals, but we also like to do bugs,” she says. “I have scorpions, bees and things that you don’t often see at other stores just because I find them fun. By carrying some alternative options like possums, raccoons and armadillos, people love that.”
Try a surprise
There are many ways park retailers can have fun with the plush category. While most plush sits on pedestal-style racks at the Reelfoot Lake State Park gift shop, Hussey scatters some plush around the store to make things interesting.
“We may have an opossum hanging from a clothing rack or an eagle perched on a mannequin,” Hussey describes. “It helps make the space feel more playful, immersive and connected to the wildlife.”
Johnson knows many of her customers want a magnet, so she strategically places plush baskets next to the magnets.
“Everyone comes in for a magnet and then sees the plush,” she says. “That helps with sales.”
McMahon adds that she likes to surprise regular customers who come in more often by moving plush around frequently at the Red River Gorge General Store.
“I change things up quite often,” she says. “Even though I have a plush section, I will change out the plush that is featured in there a couple of times a week because I want to keep it fresh.”
Stuffed strategies
Since kids drive plush sales, Reid says she likes to keep them lower at the Cook Forest Trading Post. Her giant plush aisle is well within reach for kids of all ages, with a variety of sizes mixed together to choose from.
“Children drive toy and plush sales, so they need to be accessible and at their eye level so they can see them,” says Reid. “You don’t want the plush or toys to be too high to where kids can’t reach them.”
Park retailers can also promote their plush on social media to boost sales in this category. Hussey says Reelfoot Lake has found cute ways to feature plush in park social media posts. He notes that the park team collaborates on creating fun, engaging social media posts.
“A ranger might take a plush owl out on our boardwalk for a photo that will be shared on social media, or we also made a post for Plush Animal Lover’s Day where we asked park employees about their favorite plushies we offer,” he says. “These posts are great at featuring our park along with some of the products we offer.”
At the Red River Gorge General Store, the larger-than-life Bigfoot is regularly featured on the store’s social media pages. When the store hosted an ice cream social event, McMahon says she had her giant Bigfoot plush pose for a picture in a fire truck at the event that she later posted to social media.
And because people are drawn to the store’s Bigfoot plush mascot, McMahon likes to give it a name. “Giving your plush a personality and a backstory for social media is powerful because people will come and ask about it,” she says.
Even if a store doesn’t have a giant plush to promote, McMahon says retailers can find some fun way to incorporate plush in store displays.
“Maybe if you have a camping display in your store, have a plush bear in there pretending to eat out of a garbage can,” she suggests. “Give your plush life. That’s what ultimately helps to move them.”
