Zoo shops

[zooman64]

Whenever I go to a zoo, a visit to the souvenir shop is an integral part of my day, and without fail I always leave it having spent considerably more money than I planned. But which zoos have the best souvenir shops, and which the worst? And what makes a good zoo shop?

Incidentally, as you'll have noticed, I tend to call them souvenir shops rather than gift shops (the term the zoos themselves prefer), for the simple reason that most of the merchandise bought by visitors is not intended as gifts but as souvenirs of their day at the zoo. But that is just my personal preference - or pedantry.

 

[Pacu]

When Marwell opened its new shop, I thought it was by far the best zoo shop I had seen, and prices, dare I say, seemed pretty reasonable. Stock seems to have been reduced in the past few years, though, and needless to say, prices seem to have gone up.

As a child I loved the old London Zoo shop, which I recall as a sort of prefab, or maybe even porta-cabin but within it were rows and rows of Britains zoo animals, all in a glass counter, no more expensive than at the toy shop and from the zoo! I also remember the 'zoo sets' behind the counter on a high shelf; all made in hong Kong with awful little animals but also with wonderful cages, fences and trees...

The worst, must be at Linton Zoo. A huge missed opportunity for a nice small zoo.

 

[zooman1]

I have to say Marwell is my fav zoo but their shop is rubbish far to many cuddly toys all over priced and using a corner of it to house a coffee shop.

Longleat has some really good shops and does not seem to be to badly priced
I always look to buy a guide book when i go to a zoo and i find it odd that so many do not publish them

 

[diane monkey]

Dartmoor's is pretty rubbish tucked away in the corner of the food area. it really looks like a after thought. And the range is very good either.

 

[Jordan-Jaguar97]

Chester's new and old one was very impressive. Blackpool's is fairly big in size but not very good for Zoo nerds apart from the interesting postcards and keyrings.

 

[bugs]

Colchester Zoo's gift shops are good. You have the main one with the normal pens, postcards, keyrings etc and every soft toy animal you could imagine. The other sells more grown up items like jewellery, wooden statues and candles.

One of the most unusual items they sell is 'zoo poo'.

 

[mazfc]

I love the Twycross shop it's full of very unusual items as well as a wide range of the more expected stuff. I used to love the book shop at Chester, the best one I've seen - I miss it now. I also like the shop at Monkeyworld too.

One of the poorest is the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, very little of anything spread out over a large area (though I haven't been there for a few months).

 

[pipaluk]

When Marwell opened its new shop, I thought it was by far the best zoo shop I had seen, and prices, dare I say, seemed pretty reasonable. Stock seems to have been reduced in the past few years, though, and needless to say, prices seem to have gone up.

As a child I loved the old London Zoo shop, which I recall as a sort of prefab, or maybe even porta-cabin but within it were rows and rows of Britains zoo animals, all in a glass counter, no more expensive than at the toy shop and from the zoo! I also remember the 'zoo sets' behind the counter on a high shelf; all made in hong Kong with awful little animals but also with wonderful cages, fences and trees...

The worst, must be at Linton Zoo. A huge missed opportunity for a nice small zoo.

I have to agree with the first two comments, as a younster i too loved the London shop & always returned with a model animal & a few postcards or posters, usually of guy, or the pandas, polar bears or big cats, i remember they sold a postcard of a lion, obviously taken in the old lion house, several years after it had been demolished!
I agree Marwell's has gone downhill, loads of empty space, & loads of toys of species they dont even keep. It always amused me that on the tiger enclosure they boast that theyve never held white tigers yet they sell soft ones with their logo stamped on them! Having said that i noticed london branded metal fridge magnets in the shape of polar bears,pandas, elephants & sealions the other day!
Although i agree lintons souvenir 'counter' in the cafe is an after thought, i'd wager they sell a higher percentage of their own branded goods than most! A choice of about 20 fridge magnets, keyrings etc, all with pics of their own animals!

 

[Pertinax]

It always amused me that on the tiger enclosure they boast that theyve never held white tigers yet they sell soft ones with their logo stamped on them! Having said that i noticed london branded metal fridge magnets in the shape of polar bears,pandas, elephants & sealions the other day!

The Merchandising arm of most Zoos seems to have little connection with the ethos or content of the animal collection itself. 'If they can shift it, they'll stock it'

For my money, the best zoo shop I have seen was at Jersey-much less of the usual 'tacky' zoo merchandise and a range of more tasteful products on sale instead, including the best range of Zoological books I've seen in a zoo. In this particular case it does seem to reflect the ethos of the Zoo(sorry, 'Durrell') itself.

 

[TARZAN]

When Marwell opened its new shop, I thought it was by far the best zoo shop I had seen, and prices, dare I say, seemed pretty reasonable. Stock seems to have been reduced in the past few years, though, and needless to say, prices seem to have gone up.

As a child I loved the old London Zoo shop, which I recall as a sort of prefab, or maybe even porta-cabin but within it were rows and rows of Britains zoo animals, all in a glass counter, no more expensive than at the toy shop and from the zoo! I also remember the 'zoo sets' behind the counter on a high shelf; all made in hong Kong with awful little animals but also with wonderful cages, fences and trees...

The worst, must be at Linton Zoo. A huge missed opportunity for a nice small zoo.

I remember the old gift shop at London well, situated near to the rhino side of the Casson, I think it became the Lifewatch office when the gift shop was relocated to its present site. Also remember the Britains animals in the glass cases,and the various purchases made, which, along with others I still have today. I always suspected that the zoo range by Britains was based on the London collection, and this I understand was the case, indeed it has been pointed out on here by a knowledgeable scribe of London Zoo that some of the models were actually based on individual animals that lived at the zoo at the time. Agree, those Hong Kong sets were bloody awful!.

 

[Gigit]

One of the most unusual items they sell is 'zoo poo'.

I gave a bag of this to my mother for Mother's Day. She's a keen gardener and was thrilled! I fought my way round Paignton's shop yesterday looking for zoo-inspired gift wrapping paper. I've seen it there before but couldn't spot it among the heaving crowd so gave up. I would have had to queue for ages to pay anyway. The shop obviously does very well in the summer.

 

[Devi]

I can't really think of good or bad examples, but I do like a zoo shop with an educational slant, loads of books, correct looking toys, fact books for the kids, sciency type toys, microscopes even. I also like things that are specific to the zoo, like the dudley history books and postcards or jeremys book at monkey world.
On the same angle, I'm not much a fan of the opposite, pink gorillas, cartoon characters, those wiggly worm things they always seem to sell. Like others have said, animals that they don't have seem odd.

 

[Pacu]

I was at Monkey World yesterday and the shop was much better than I expected.