When visitors to Kalahari Resorts peruse merchandise in its stores, they will typically find folded hoodies up in front on display tables and mannequins scattered about promoting the latest styles. A couple of the many stores within each location also feature swimwear and neatly showcase both men’s and women’s styles on slatwall racks.
Kalahari Resorts operates large indoor water parks in Round Rock, Texas; Sandusky, Ohio; Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; and Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. While many people come to Kalahari Resorts to swim, they also leave plenty of time for dining and shopping.
Playful shark plush and netting help shark-themed tees stand out in this display at Kalahari Resorts.
Each Kalahari Resort destination has seven stores for customers to shop, and apparel is a top category in many of these stores, according to Corporate Retail Director Nikki Coyle. Water park resort guests are the primary customers, but Coyle says others stop by just to purchase a hoodie, flip flops or swimwear.
“We’re kind of like an indoor outlet mall,” she says. “Even if you’re not staying on property, you can still come to have a great meal and shop.”
Apparel can be a strong category for amusement parks and water parks like Kalahari Resorts, but the key is knowing the top styles and merchandising them in a way that entices buys.
From bright to earthy
Across all four Kalahari Resorts locations, hoodies are a No. 1 apparel seller — even in the scorching hot summer season.
“Even if it’s 90 degrees out, people still want that sweatshirt,” says Coyle.
Amusement park and water park visitors at attractions across the country enjoy collecting hoodies with park or ride name drops to commemorate their visits. Chris Swanson, director of HAPI marketing, music, museums and gift shop at Arnolds Park in Arnolds Park, Iowa, says crew sweatshirts and hoodies are the biggest apparel sellers in the amusement park store. MV Sport is among the store’s top apparel suppliers offering several different options.
A classic wooden canoe holds trendy sweatshirts and tees at Arnolds Park.
“We have mainly crew sweatshirts and hoodies along with T-shirts from infant size to 5XL,” he says. “We have a new T-shirt design with our logo on the pocket that was a big hit this year.”
Many water and amusement park customers are also drawn to tie-dye T-shirts and hoodies. Coyle says this has been the case for as long as she can remember.
“I’ve tried to walk away from the tie-dye tees, but every time, people ask what’s going on,” says Coyle. “Tie-dye is still a No. 1 destination apparel garment people still go to. I think it has a lot to do with amusement, thinking about fun, loud colors.”
“Tie-dye doesn’t die,” agrees Nancy Gorman, retail operations manager at Waldameer Park & Water World in Erie, Pennsylvania. “The more traditional tie-dye and multicolored pastels are most popular.”
Shopping by style
When setting up their apparel sections, many amusement park and water park retailers say they have more success with placing similar colors and similar styles together rather than by size or material type.
“We try to carry mainly unisex clothing,” says Swanson. “Organization is more about the design than the type of T-shirt.”
In both Waldameer’s main amusement park store and water park shop, apparel is grouped by color and design as well.
“I used to group things by size, but I’ve learned it’s better to keep like colors together,” Gorman says. “Browns go together, blues go together to make it easier for people to find what they want.”
Name-drop T-shirts, crew neck sweaters and sweatshirts hang neatly along slatwall in Waldameer’s gift shop.
Coyle notes that brighter colors can help to win over more sales with kids’ apparel — and placing these vibrant tees and sweatshirts in the store window can bring entire families into the store to shop.
“When it comes to kids, the only way I merchandise is just to ensure that the brighter pops of color show up in the window displays,” she says. “Typically, the kid is going to say, ‘Oh, I want that sweatshirt. I love that bright purple.’ That brings them into the store.”
Neatness sells
Strategic apparel presentations can go a long way in encouraging amusement park and water park customers to buy a new ride tee or sweatshirt. At Waldameer’s two gift shops, Gorman leans on slat wall hooks and hangers to showcase all the T-shirts, sweatshirts and swimwear.
“Everything is on hangers — nothing is folded on display,” she says.
But in Waldameer’s storerooms, all apparel comes in folded neatly. Gorman says she likes to keep extra apparel inventory folded so these extra T-shirts and sweatshirts don’t accidentally get stretched out on hangers before they’re on the sales floor.
Coyle says she displays T-shirts and sweatshirts in a variety of ways at Kalahari Resorts stores. Some T-shirts are neatly folded up on display tables. “We use folding boards to make sure they’re crisp,” she notes.
Swimwear is often hung on slat wall in the back of the store. Other T-shirts are on spinners with plexiglass cubbies that show the design with tees neatly folded in little cubbies.
Coyle adds that hoodies tend to only work well on hangers. If a hoodie design is on the back, Coyle says she turns the hoodies backward to display in the store.
“Hoodies look better hanging than folded,” she says. “We can give it more character and dimension when it’s hanging.”
Encourage apparel sales
Using fun fixtures or creative displays for apparel can help amusement park and water park retailers encourage more sales in this category. Swanson says a big wooden boat filled with sweatshirts is an eye catcher for customers as they walk into the store.
“That’s often the first place they look in our store,” he describes.
Since Waldameer is a seasonal business only open May through Labor Day, Gorman keeps a sales rack in her store to ensure old T-shirt and sweatshirt styles move.
“The sales rack in the gift shop always does great,” she adds.
Placing caps near T-shirts or sunglasses near swimwear is a smart strategy at Kalahari Resorts’ stores.
Coyle shares that storytelling with the apparel collections has also proven to be a successful strategy for Kalahari Resorts’ stores.
“I always say to my team when they’re merchandising to make it clean and simple for the guest,” she says. “You want to tell them a story. If they come in and see a sweatshirt that matches a T-shirt, it gives them the opportunity to add on. If we keep it clean and show that everything matches, it makes everything an easier find for the guests.”
