At 130 years old, Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach is known for seaside amusement park traditions, wooden roller coasters, the Big One and its shows. Its retail operation is less discussed, but Damian Jackson, head of retail, says merchandise is treated as a way to carry the visit home rather than an afterthought at the exit.
Jackson oversees stores, e-commerce, ride photography and merchandise development. He works closely with Amanda Thompson from initial concept through design brief, product development, sampling and final approval. He describes the role as combining creative, commercial and operational work: one day developing an attraction range, another reviewing sales, stock, pricing, presentation or guest experience.
The resort’s flagship shop is at the main entrance in the Casino building, supported by outlets across the site. Jackson says the team does not simply put a logo on a product; every range must have a reason to exist, a clear customer and an authentic connection to the resort.
Different guests, different reasons to buy
Pleasure Beach serves families on first visits, school groups with limited spending money, teenagers, couples, international tourists, lifelong fans and coaster enthusiasts, often on the same day. A family may want a traditional souvenir; an enthusiast may seek an accurate collectable tied to a ride. Teenagers may respond to confectionery, accessories and trend-led apparel, while heritage-minded guests value nostalgia and craftsmanship.
Jackson says sales data shows what is selling, but not why. The team combines reports with time in shops, conversations with staff and guest feedback. It asks whether a product is desirable beyond a logo: would someone wear it away from the resort, would an enthusiast display it, would a child be excited by it, and would it remind a family of their visit.
Ranges built around customer missions
The portfolio spans impulse purchases such as confectionery, magnets, keyrings and badges; practical items such as bottles, bags and ponchos; fashion-led apparel and accessories; children’s products and plush; and premium or limited-edition pieces for collectors. It also balances attraction-specific merchandise with broader Pleasure Beach branding, licensed ranges, playful products and heritage collections.
Jackson argues that offering something for everyone does not mean unlimited choice. It means a carefully edited range in which each product has a purpose, target customer and appropriate price.
The Aviktas attraction range is an example. Instead of applying the ride logo to a set of products, the team built the range around the attraction’s visual world: its golden snake, emerald colouring, mythology and sense of mystery. Jackson says retail is strongest when it is part of the original creative conversation, not added after the attraction is complete. A limited run of 50 models priced at £250 each sold out, which he cites as evidence that guests will invest in premium collectables with authenticity and detail.
Different attractions call for different approaches. ICON lends itself to a clean, contemporary, fashion-led treatment, while heritage rides such as the Big Dipper and Grand National draw on archive artwork, engineering details, nostalgia and generations of guest memories. The team considers materials, colours, proportions, trims, embroidery, packaging and shop presentation alongside commercial questions such as intended customer, demand, price, production quantities, lead times and sales locations.
Heritage, playfulness and licensed IP
Nostalgia matters because the resort is representing generations of memories, Jackson says. Its archive of imagery, typography, posters, architecture and stories can be reinterpreted through contemporary apparel, homeware and collectables. The aim, he says, is not to make everything old-fashioned but to use authentic history in a fresh way. Playful assets such as Mr Funshine merchandise add humour, colour and character for children, families and casual visitors.
Licensed brands including Nickelodeon and Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit require partnership between the park, IP owners and approved suppliers. Jackson says the strongest relationships are collaborative: licensors protect brand integrity while the park explains what visitors respond to and how products must work in an attraction environment. To compete with general online retailers, Pleasure Beach seeks relevance and exclusivity through designs, attraction references, location-specific details, personalisation and products that celebrate the visit.
Retail as experience, online and behind the scenes
Jackson says guests increasingly ask for exclusive, authentic and considered products, including attraction-specific merchandise, premium apparel, subtle branding, collectables and limited editions. They also want items that work beyond the visit, such as a well-designed hoodie, cap, bottle or bag. Enthusiasts are particularly interested in accurate details, models and technical artwork. Generic souvenirs remain important, but their design, quality, presentation and relevance must evolve.
The less glamorous side is stock accuracy and availability. Jackson says an outstanding product cannot generate revenue if it is in a stockroom, has not been reordered, is mispriced or is missing where guests expect it. Deliveries, stock movement, replenishment, pricing, signage and daily compliance checks protect the guest experience.
Supplier relationships are treated as partnerships. Jackson says the best suppliers understand the brand, bring ideas, respond to feedback and translate concepts into commercially viable products while meeting standards for quality, communication, lead times, compliance, pricing and consistency.
To encourage spending, Pleasure Beach uses price architecture, presentation, storytelling and product adjacencies. A plush character may lead to an outfit; a ride photograph may lead to a frame or multi-photo offer; apparel can be supported by accessories. Retail spaces are meant to reflect their location, so a thrill-ride shop should feel different from a children’s character store, heritage collection or confectionery outlet.
The park also offers gift wrapping and personalisation, including embroidery, for guests who want a purchase to feel more personal or complete a gift. E-commerce extends the relationship year-round, letting enthusiasts follow launches, former visitors reconnect and people who cannot travel to Blackpool buy selected products. Online behaviour can differ from in-park behaviour, giving the team another view of demand.
Staff are expected to be hosts, storytellers and brand ambassadors rather than only transaction handlers. They demonstrate products, explain stories, help with personalisation and feed back emerging requests. Jackson says retail should feel like another chapter of the day, not an obligatory gift shop at the exit. Pleasure Beach looks for inspiration to museums, heritage destinations, premium fashion brands, department stores and experiential retailers, but he stresses that inspiration is not imitation: the aim is to create products guests associate only with Pleasure Beach.