Kid Territory:Jobs: Keeping the Store
Customer service skills comes in handy for those working in our shops.
Display coordinators decorate our gift shops and display windows to encourage visitors to come inside and shop!
Buyers often travel far and wide looking for unique items to sell in our gift shops.
What we do
Our job is to go shopping! And organize, display, sell, and keep track of all those great things we find to put in the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park gift shops and on ShopZoo.com, our online store. Our buyers may have the opportunity to travel to other countries, looking for interesting items native to those cultures that also represent the exotic animals and plants in the Zoological Society of San Diego's collections. They may also work with product developers and distributers to bring unique gift items into our shops, like toys, jewelry, clothing, and many other things. Some employees handle deliveries and mange the stock of merchandise in our warehouse and at the individual shops, and others keep records of how much is sold, where, and when. Then there is setting up the shops, designing the displays, restocking the shelves, and ringing up purchases at the cash registers, and of course helping guests find something wonderful to take home as a memento of their visit.
What’s cool about this job
We get to meet many types of people, from all over the world, and it’s nice to help someone find the perfect T-shirt for their grandson or a unique birthday present for a friend. It’s also fun to see the huge variety of great merchandise that’s out there, and to look especially for things with animal and plant themes. There’s a lot of variety in what we do, so it’s always interesting.
Job challenges
Working with customers isn’t always easy—sometimes they’re cranky and tired or demanding—so it’s important to have good communication skills and a desire to be helpful. Because we work so closely with the public, we need to act as a team to make sure visitors have the best experience possible.
How this job helps animals
The merchandising department has an important role in the Society, since the money the shops bring in helps support the care of the animals and the construction of animal exhibits. We may not work directly with the animals, but we provide some of the funding necessary to support the animal collections here and the Society’s conservation efforts in the wild.
How to get a job like this
Get experience working as a sales clerk in shops and department stores. Consider a college degree in business with a focus on sales and customer relations.
