Gift Shops

[zooman1]

What does everyone think of zoos gift shops i can only really comment on 3 Marwell Longleat and Edinburgh.

Marwells i think if very poor in general a whole back wall nearly full with cuddley toys of animals not even in the collection and very over priced to many plastic kids toys and kids clothes and not enough Marwell logo pocket money gifts

Longleat with its 3 or 4 different shops much better i think lots for all ages and pockets from kids toys to fine china in lady baths kitchen (i am aware that longleat has more space and is not just a safari park so it is bound to have more shops)

Edinburgh i dont know really i was thinking it would have a bigger shop then it did when i went last year.

would like to hear what other people think

 

[Gigit]

They are a means of extracting money from zoo visitors, especially those with children

 

[karenZOO]

Most parents moan about the shop at Colchester as you have to go through it to leave the zoo! A very clever ploy

But then again Colchester also has a huge play area just as you come into the zoo most parents hate that to as all the children want to go straight on that )

I love nosing round the shops for zoo memorabilia although you do get the same old tat in a lot of them! I especially dont like stuffed toys for species they dont have with zoo logos on them!

 

[CZJimmy]

Chester has two main gift shops

-The Fountain
-Trading Ark

The Fountain can be a quiet place to shop as it prohibits prams and is "fenced" into 3 sections which means crowds are controlled.

The Trading Ark is frankly bedlam. It is right next to the entrance/exit which means excitable kids who've just come off a long journey or a day at the zoo want to to go into the shop and shout a lot. It was updated recently which has made the queuing easier.

Both shops stock similar items, which unfortunately is too many generic cuddly toys, plastic animals and kids toys. They have a small collection of animal books and dvds, but hardly any relating to Chester Zoo or zoos in general which is disappointing. There is also a number of pretty good branded stuff, such as recycled tire 'Twilight Zone' mouse mats etc

The zoo has also opened up a generic cuddly toy stall outside the exit and has a specially themed Realm of the Red Ape gift stall which sells cuddly Orangs and Gibbons (I think this is a good idea actually - London uses a similar stall outside Gorilla Kingdom)

n.b. on the subject of London, their shop is very generic and considering the heritage of London this is disappointing. I overheard an American tourist looking for a magnet, but sadly could not find one which had London Zoo's logo on.

 

[GillP]

Most parents moan about the shop at Colchester as you have to go through it to leave the zoo! A very clever ploy

But then again Colchester also has a huge play area just as you come into the zoo most parents hate that to as all the children want to go straight on that )

That's me ....... one of the moaning parents at Colchester !

Unfortunately, more and more attractions arrange it so you have no escape except through the blasted gift shop. I'm sure it's entirely co-incidental of course.

They have a small collection of animal books and dvds, but hardly any relating to Chester Zoo or zoos in general which is disappointing.

So far as Chester is concerned, I also agree with CZJimmy ..... I was surprised that there was a lack of merchandise about Chester itself in their main gift shop as I know there is a book (can't remember title at the moment) written by the founder's daughter about growing up at the zoo in the 1930s which I'd have thought would be a popular item in the giftshop. I had also read about a CD-rom containing 40 years worth of Chester Zoo News (think it might have been on a post somewhere in here) but when I asked about it at the Trading Ark was met with very blank stares by all the assistants who clearly thought I was mad. I eventually discovered (from the customer services desk) it was available from the library but as the zoo was closing it was too late for me to go back. A couple of lost marketing opportunities methinks.

Another small observation was the lack of postcards on sale at Chester. This is a cheap, easy buy when you have kids hassling you yet Chester's selction was very small.

The stall near RORA ........ yes, a good idea but the so-called orangutans on sale really didn't look much like orangs at all (IMO), but rather horrid orange monkeys .......

...... ironically, I searched high and low last Christmas to find a reasonably realistic soft toy orangutan for my daughter and the best I could find (with cheekpads, throat pouch, correctly shaped face & head, & realistic colours) came from the London Zoo website shop (even though they don't have orangs of course !)

 

[CZJimmy]

GillP, there are a number of copies of June Mottershead's (founder's daughter) book in the Fountain gift shop.

I had tentatively had looks in the Trading Ark before, but found nothing, then stumbled upon it randomly today in the Fountain

 

[GillP]

Unfortunately, I'm 4 hours drive from Chester so won't be back especially soon (though I'd like to !).

When I went last week we deliberately avoided the Fountain shop (i.e. we wanted put off the inevtitable pleas for tat for as long as possible) with promises (to my 5 year old) that we'd go in the Ark at the end of the day. Wish I'd known.

 

[bongorob]

I had also read about a CD-rom containing 40 years worth of Chester Zoo News (think it might have been on a post somewhere in here) but when I asked about it at the Trading Ark was met with very blank stares by all the assistants who clearly thought I was mad. I eventually discovered (from the customer services desk) it was available from the library but as the zoo was closing it was too late for me to go back. A couple of lost marketing opportunities methinks.

The CD rom is available by post

http://www.zoochat.com/38/chester-zoo-magazine-1937-1982-a-6937/

I bought copies of both June Mottershead's story and Pete Wait's book from bookshops. The zoo were not stocking them at the time of publication.

Like you said, it's a lost opportunity.

 

[zooman1]

yes the lack of postcards is very poor at Marwell a few years ago they did up date them but they have lots of lovely animals that never seem to get used in any pictures its always the same lemurs,penguins ,big cats

 

[JamesB]

Talking of postcards the best ones I have bought have been from London, Whipsnade and Colchester.

 

[glasgowanimal]

edinburgh has recently made several changes at their main shop including making all visitors exit the zoo via the shop (as Chester does)

they have also moved the tills to a more central location, improved their layout significently and (not surprisingly) filled most shelves with Giant Panda related toys!