Sowing Sales

Home Décor Merchandise Trends at Botanical Garden Gift Stores

This winter, visitors to Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden marveled at the large-scale glass art of “Chihuly in the Desert” — and decided they wanted a little Chihuly to spruce up their own homes. Sales of artwork and décor by the blown glass artist Dale Chihuly were brisk all winter at the Garden Shop, where visitors have come to expect distinctive souvenirs.

“A visit to our Garden Shop is part of the Botanical Garden experience,” explained Store Director Alejandra Herrera . “We use the opportunity to connect our products to what they just saw in the Garden.”

People visit botanical gardens for their beauty, and stop at the gift shop to bring home a bit of that aesthetic inspiration. At the Desert Botanical Garden, for instance, the Garden Shop is renowned for its selection of Southwestern and Native American home décor. “Our retail buyers look to connect with area artisans, makers and businesses wherever possible,” noted Herrera. “We want our offerings to reflect the uniqueness of our region, and to help support the local community.”

Around the holidays, the city of Albuquerque, N.M., features sparkling light attractions — and unsurprisingly, novelty lights are a hit with shoppers at the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden gift shop. All year round, visitors gravitate to name-dropped drinkware at the 10,000-squarefoot store, which is managed by the SSA Group. Water bottles are the top seller, followed by wine tumblers and coffee mugs. “They’re all really big,” said Anthony Marquez , retail operations manager. “Our customers all want that ABQ BioPark logo.”

In Richmond, Va., Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden visitors love handmade vases from Thailand, colorful Mexican pottery and lamps crafted from real dried leaves. “We source our products from new local artisan vendors as well as gift markets,” explained Garden Shop Manager Tricia Wherry , who oversees the nearly 5,000-square-foot outlet.

Kathleen Steedman relies on her sales reps to find new and interesting items for the gift shop at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Colum-

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