The Forest Preserve District of Will County is getting into the fashion business.
The district recently opened a new online store that features nature-themed products, such as T-shirts, hats as well as magnets and a dog bandanna. Designs feature animals such as raccoons with the phrase “stay trashy” or hummingbirds accompanying the text “keep the drinks coming.” Many of the products are now sold inside the district’s nature centers as well.
“We wanted to be thoughtful in the items we were creating,” said Chad Merda, the district’s digital communications manager. “We also wanted to have things at various price points, especially to start out, and that’s where we came up with the magnet idea. And of course, people love their dogs, so the bandannas also gave us a lower price point item.”
The online store at ReconnectWithNature.org was inspired by the popularity of the T-shirt given to randomly selected participants of the Take it Outside Challenge, which encourages people to engage in outdoor recreation. People started asking where they could order their own. Merda said he thinks it is in part because they like the design, but it also may have something to do with the strong sense of community that has formed around the program.
“It also was a way for them to thank us for putting on this free, yearlong campaign,” he said.
Proceeds from the online store support The Nature Foundation of Will County, which helps fund district initiatives, including the Take it Outside Challenge. The selfies posted as part of the program helped guide some of the district’s product choices — noticing how many people were wearing hats, for instance. And in turn, Merda said the hope is that when the apparel is out in the wild it will provide some inspiration of its own.
“We’re a firm believer in crowdsourcing marketing when we can, and this merchandise helps enlist the public to help us get the word out, in addition to our many other marketing efforts,” Merda said.
Setting up the store page was not much work, Merda said, as the district was able to use and connect to The Nature Foundation’s storefront. Much more work went into coming up with the product designs, working out details with vendors, setting prices and establishing a shipping process that minimized the impact on staff, he said.
The products were all developed in-house by the district’s marketing team, which Merda said has its finger on the pulse of what gets a response from people in the world of wildlife. But they still encountered some pleasant surprises, such as someone from Canada already placing an order for its “Not all Canadians are nice” T-shirt — featuring, of course, Canada geese.
District officials said they’ve already sold items to customers in 21 states.
“While our focus is selling these locally, it’s a nice bonus if we can pull in interest from far and wide to support nature education and conservation efforts in Will County,” Merda said.
The merchandise started online only — with free shipping — but a limited selection is in the process of being rolled out to visitor center gift shops in the district, as well, Merda said. Some items, such as ceramic camp mugs, only are available at the district’s visitors centers because shipping them would be cost-prohibitive, Merda said.
Visitors centers where the mugs, caps, magnets and dog bandannas are available include Monee Reservoir in Monee Township, Plum Creek Nature Center in Crete Township, the Sugar Creek Administration Center in Joliet, Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville, Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook and Four Rivers Environmental Education Center in Channahon.
The district’s T-shirts are only available online, to better manage inventory with various sizes, Merda said.
“We’re trying to keep the process as streamlined as possible for both us and the public,” he said.
But what is available now is likely only the beginning of what’s to come for the Forest Preserve District of Will County.
“The merchandise that’s available now is just a starting point, as we’re looking at rolling out additional items,” Merda said. “We’ll have more shirt designs as well as different types of merchandise in the future.”
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
