End of haunt giftshop

[savageroad]

At the end of our haunt we have a small gift shop area where we sell T shirts. We have a problem keeping people in this area long enough to buy anything since the last room before the gift shop area involves our customers getting scared out of the haunt with a chain saw. I would love to hear some suggestions on how to develop the gift shop area to generate more revenue and how to keep our customers in the area longer, I know the chain saw does not help but look forward to some other ideas.

[Darkblood]

Hmmm...just off the top of my head...maybe have the chainsaw scare them into a hallway (the actor does not go any further with the saw) and at the end of the hall a door they open that is well lit that says EXIT/GIFT SHOP?

Kirk

[SCfearfarm]

wait for it....

why not wait until after the gift shop for the chainsaw to chase you to your car? They wouldnt expect that!

[spong8]

why not wait until after the gift shop for the chainsaw to chase you to your car? They wouldnt expect that!

Wooah now, lets not get Inception here.

[monsterwax]

Make the gift shop one of the rooms in the haunt, and they have to buy something to move on to the next room. You may not get many return customers, but you could sure make a mint for one season...

Seriously though, we offer the T-shirts with our cashier at the ticket office. We let them know that we will hold it (if they don't want to put it on) and they can cut in line after they have finished the tour to pick it up. The problem I have with a gift shop is you need enough variety to make it worthwhile. Devoting a space and cashier for just one or two items (tshirt/ bumper stickers) doesn't seem worth it unless you sell enough each night.

[freak 'n' stein]

We've been struggling with this for some time. I remember my first year we set up a tent in front of the box office. That was mildly successful. The following year we tried the shirts inside the box and it kinda flopped. This year we put a tent off to the side of our queue entrance. The first night we added shirts to our combo ticket and it did alright. But I like the idea of ending the show with a walk-through gift shop kinda like Disney and all the major theme parks. I know big haunts do the same. We may consider it.

[HauntChick]

I gave one haunt the idea to do this, but the problem there was the last scare was a beast that sounded like a T-Rex. It's a great idea to have the sales at the end of the haunt so they can't miss it, but it only works if you have the room and your haunt doesn't "get in the way". I'm agree with amending your chainsaw scare so it doesn't rush them all the way past the sales. Also, you may want to make sure your sales are "idiot proof". Meaning you have as many of your items up for easy display and you have easy prices (whole dollars) so you have fast cash exchanges. Nothing drives me crazier than $14.99 price tag and there's no reason to add tax onto your sale. Just go ahead and price your shirt at $16 instead (tax included).

[sean]

We added a gift shop this year. Character and logo t-shirts, some other logo merch, etc. We also added several, cheap things that we can sell for 75 cents. We have a few items for sale in concession that are $1.25 and realized we were letting the 75 cents go out the door on several hundred sales per night...slim jims sell like crazy. We bought a 10X20 storage barn, it was built off site and delivered, making it a temporary structure according to the code dude. It sits near the exit (where the chainsaw is) but not too close as to chase people through it and out. The exit from the house is desgined in a manner to force all patrons through the giftshop on their way to their cars. It's the perfect size for what we wanted to do.

[DarkTikiEntertainment]

We added a gift shop this year. Character and logo t-shirts, some other logo merch, etc. We also added several, cheap things that we can sell for 75 cents. We have a few items for sale in concession that are $1.25 and realized we were letting the 75 cents go out the door on several hundred sales per night...slim jims sell like crazy. We bought a 10X20 storage barn, it was built off site and delivered, making it a temporary structure according to the code dude. It sits near the exit (where the chainsaw is) but not too close as to chase people through it and out. The exit from the house is desgined in a manner to force all patrons through the giftshop on their way to their cars. It's the perfect size for what we wanted to do.

Any chance of you posting a picture of the barn/gift shop??

[Tom]

Put the gift shop at the entrance of your haunt where tickets are being sold (we had a entrance lobby area). While folks wait in line to get there ticket, they will be looking at all the cool stuff you have for sale. They have nothing else to do but wait, look and spend money. Bag up the stuff and they're good to go into the haunt. Plus, if you are using credit card, you can do one transaction for tickets and mechandise. This worked great for us.

[sean]

Any chance of you posting a picture of the barn/gift shop??

Yea, lemme grab a pic of it, then I'll put it on here. patrons who exit the house are forced into it and the front is still open to the yard waiting area so it's dual purpose.

[sean]

Photo0167.jpg

Any chance of you posting a picture of the barn/gift shop??

PM with any questions, etc