Gorilla Warfare
A zoo gift shop in St. Louis fights a battle against stagnation.
By Eliza Gallo -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 2/1/2001
Retail concepts and styles change over the years, and stores that don't grow with the times get left behind. One good example is the Gorilla Villa Gift Shop in the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri. Opened in the 1970s as a walk-up souvenir stand, Gorilla Villa was enclosed and turned into a 900-square-foot gift store in 1986. It stocked a selection of souvenir-type merchandise and low-end plush items and toys.
Gorilla in the Midst
While perfectly adequate at the time of its construction, Gorilla Villa began to show its age as the institution around it modernized and improved. Over the course of the 1990s, the Saint Louis Zoo renovated entrance gates and built new facilities such as an education center, a café, and spiffy gift stores such as the Safari Shop and Zootique. From 1998 to 1999, the Central Plaza, where Gorilla Villa was located, underwent an overhaul. The asphalt of the plaza was replaced with grassy islands, shade trees, and flowering plants.
Gorilla Villa's entrance was several feet lower than the level of the new plaza, and it was now hidden behind trees and plants. Zoogoers who did spy the shop behind the leafy barrier were none too enticed by its boxy, plain, dated facade. The building's rough siding and canvas awnings were unappealing. Traffic decreased so much that the zoo closed the shop for entire seasons, using the interior for storage and covering its doors and display window with graphic panels. The march of time had reduced the once-functional gift store to a nearly useless eyesore. Gorilla Villa had reached its low point.
Cooperative Thinking
However, the zoo retail team did not want to tear down the shop, as there wasn't sufficient budget to replace it with a new retail outlet. And the location was still ideal, thanks to the high traffic in the Central Plaza. So, as Anne Worton, merchandise manager of the retail department, explained, the staff sat down and brainstormed ideas for a renovation. They had only $25,000 with which to transform Gorilla Villa, so creativity would take precedence over luxury.
The group kicked around a few ideas. "We talked about how we were going to lay out the store. And that stuff would change as we all talked about it, so it was just sort of a natural progression," Worton said of the cooperative endeavor. The fixturing professional they'd enlisted suggested using interesting facts and footprints inlaid into the floor to trace a journey for customers through the store. However, the 900-square-foot space was deemed too small for this. The staff finally decided to capitalize on the store's adorable name by creating an all-encompassing jungle theme.
It's a Jungle In Here
The renovation commenced. The canvas awnings were taken down and replaced with thatching. The interior was transformed into a jungle glade with the help of wall murals depicting dense foliage and a ceiling mural representing the sky. The floor was redone in materials that evoked earth. Interior fixtures made of lashed bamboo continued the theme. A thatched gazebo was built in the center of the shop to hold cash registers and display merchandise.
The team also addressed the problem of Gorilla Villa's lack of visibility. They asked the horticulture department of the zoo to remove the trees blocking the store; a rock garden was created instead. Because the shop was still a few feet below ground level, they enlisted designers to create a rustic post and beam sign for the rock garden, heralding the entrance to Gorilla Villa. A matching sign was hung on the store by its sloping entry pathway.
The group made another important change: They freshened up the store's merchandise mix so that it would be just as appealing as the decor. The low-end plush items and toys were replaced with high-end plush and giftware. "We've made the mix more upscale," Worton explained. The new Gorilla Villa also carries books, souvenirs, and apparel. All of it ties in with the jungle theme and is displayed appealingly. Rows of brightly colored monkeys hang from displays as though in their natural habitat. Finally, in a stroke of aural redecorating, the team installed exterior speakers and added upbeat reggae music and jungle sounds to complete the fun atmosphere.
That's a Lot of Bananas
The refurbished Gorilla Villa opened in mid-1999, and the reaction has been extremely positive. According to Worton, the store's annual sales jumped by roughly $100,000, for a total 2000 take of about $350,000. Gorilla Villa, one of several gift shops in the Saint Louis Zoo, generates about 11 percent of the zoo's total gift department sales. The results of the renovation have been reflected not only in the store's bottom line but in the faces of the customers. According to the staff, one woman who was a regular visitor at the zoo asked about the interesting "new" building. And Worton reports hearing a lot of comments like, "Oh my God, it turned out so cute!"
Gorilla Villa's success is proof that a store doesn't have to be big to make a big impression, and that you don't have to give up on an old-fashioned facility or else pour millions of dollars into a renovation. All that's required is a good location, a little thought, and a lot of creativity.
