At 130 years old, Pleasure Beach in Blackpool is best known for its seaside amusement park atmosphere, classic wooden roller coasters, the Big One and its shows. Less visible, but central to its business, is a retail operation that spans stores, e-commerce, ride photography and product development.
Damian Jackson, Pleasure Beach's head of retail, oversees that operation. In an interview, he described a role that combines creative work with commercial and operational responsibility, from developing a new attraction range to reviewing sales, stock, pricing, presentation and guest experience. He works closely with Amanda Thompson from initial concept through design brief, product development, sampling and final approval. The stated aim is not to put a logo on a product, but to give every range a reason to exist, a clear customer and an authentic connection to the resort.
Retail as part of the attraction
The flagship shop sits at the park's main entrance in the Casino building, supported by outlets across the site. The offer is designed to help visitors take home memories, celebrate favourite attractions and continue the experience after they leave. That positioning matters because Pleasure Beach sees retail as more than an exit gift shop. Jackson argues that retail should feel like another chapter of the day, which means considering shops during the planning of attractions, events and guest journeys.
The resort's audience is unusually broad. On the same day it may serve families on a first visit, school groups with limited spending money, teenagers, couples, international tourists, lifelong fans and serious roller coaster enthusiasts. Their reasons for buying differ. A family may want a traditional souvenir of the day, while an enthusiast may seek an accurate collectable tied to a specific ride. Teenagers may respond to confectionery, accessories and trend-led apparel, while heritage-minded visitors often value nostalgia, craftsmanship and the stories behind the resort.
Pleasure Beach combines sales data with direct observation and guest feedback. Sales reports show what is selling, but Jackson says understanding why requires time in the shops, conversations with teams and listening to guests. The team asks whether a product is desirable beyond carrying a logo: whether someone would wear it away from the resort, whether an enthusiast would display it, whether a child would be excited to receive it and whether it would genuinely remind a family of their visit.
Product missions and price architecture
The portfolio is built around different customer missions, price points and levels of engagement. It includes impulse purchases such as confectionery, magnets, keyrings and badges; practical products such as bottles, bags and ponchos; fashion-led apparel and accessories; children's products and plush; and premium or limited-edition pieces for enthusiasts and collectors. The resort also balances attraction-specific merchandise with broader Pleasure Beach branding, licensed ranges, playful products and heritage collections.
Jackson stresses that offering something for everyone does not mean unlimited choice. It means a carefully edited range in which each product has a purpose, a target customer and an appropriate price. That discipline is visible in the way the resort describes trade-up: better materials, greater detail, exclusivity, personalisation or a complete bundle should show additional value rather than simply a higher price.
Aviktas and the value of early involvement
The Aviktas range is presented as an example of developing merchandise alongside a new attraction's identity. Rather than treating the range as a collection of products carrying the ride logo, the team built it around the attraction's visual world: its golden snake, emerald colouring, mythology and sense of mystery. The Aviktor snake plush ties into the Aviktas storyline. Retail was involved early, which Jackson says makes merchandise stronger than when it is added after an attraction is complete.
The range also demonstrated demand for premium collectables. A limited run of 50 models priced at £250 each completely sold out. Jackson uses that result to argue that when a product has authenticity, detail and a strong connection to an attraction, guests are prepared to invest in something special. The lesson is not that every product should be premium, but that a clearly defined collector offer can work alongside accessible souvenirs.
Different attractions require different creative approaches. ICON lends itself to a clean, contemporary and fashion-led treatment. Heritage attractions such as the Big Dipper and Grand National allow the team to draw on archive artwork, engineering details, nostalgia and generations of guest memories. Quality and attention to detail apply across materials, colours, proportions, trims, embroidery, packaging and shop presentation. Commercial fundamentals still matter: intended customer, expected demand, price points, production quantities, lead times and where the range will be sold. The final product must be creatively distinctive and commercially viable.
Heritage, playfulness and licensed brands
Nostalgia is important because Pleasure Beach is representing generations of memories, not simply selling products. The resort has been part of family traditions for 130 years, and its archive includes attraction imagery, typography, posters, architecture and stories. The aim is to reinterpret those assets for modern audiences through contemporary apparel, homeware and collectables, using authentic history in a fresh way rather than making everything feel old-fashioned.
Playful assets are equally important. Humour, colour, character and unexpected ideas make the portfolio more accessible and help engage children, families and casual visitors. Heritage and playfulness together give Pleasure Beach a retail identity broader than a collection of ride logos.
Licensed brands such as Nickelodeon and Aardman require strong partnerships between the resort, the IP owner and approved suppliers. Pleasure Beach follows brand guidelines and approval processes while considering how characters and stories are experienced at the park. Jackson describes the strongest partnerships as collaborative: the licensor protects the brand, while the resort explains what visitors respond to and how products need to work in an attraction environment. To compete with general online retailers, Pleasure Beach emphasises relevance and exclusivity through exclusive designs, attraction references, location-specific details, personalisation and products that celebrate the visit itself.
What guests want now
Guests increasingly ask for products that feel exclusive, authentic and considered. Jackson reports growing interest in attraction-specific merchandise, premium apparel, subtle branding, collectables, limited editions and items with a clear story. There is also greater demand for merchandise that can be used or worn beyond the visit; a well-designed hoodie, cap, bottle or bag must work as an attractive product in its own right.
Enthusiasts are particularly interested in accurate details, models, technical artwork and products that recognise an attraction's history or engineering. Generic souvenirs and heavily branded products without an additional story have become less compelling, because guests can quickly recognise when something has simply had a logo applied to it. Traditional souvenirs have not disappeared, but keyrings, magnets, mugs and confectionery must continue to evolve in design, quality, presentation and relevance.
Operational discipline and supplier partnerships
Jackson identifies stock accuracy and product availability as the least glamorous and most critical parts of retail. An outstanding product cannot generate revenue if it is sitting in a stockroom, has not been reordered, is incorrectly priced or is unavailable where guests expect to find it. The basics include accurate deliveries, stock movement, replenishment, pricing, signage, daily compliance checks and ensuring every unit is ready to trade. Clear pricing builds trust, strong housekeeping makes products more desirable and effective replenishment prevents missed purchases.
Suppliers are viewed as creative and commercial partners rather than simply manufacturers. Pleasure Beach shares the story, ambition and intended customer behind a range so suppliers understand what the resort is trying to achieve. A strong supplier brings ideas, understands the brand, responds constructively to feedback and can translate an initial concept into a viable product. Reliability in quality, communication, lead times, compliance, pricing and consistency is essential. Long-term relationships, Jackson argues, allow both sides to be more ambitious and efficient.
Extending the visit through service and e-commerce
Driving retail spend begins with products guests genuinely want. Presentation, location, storytelling, pricing and team confidence then influence the decision to buy. Product adjacencies also matter: a plush character may lead to an outfit, a ride photograph to a frame or multi-photo offer, and attraction apparel to matching accessories. E-commerce extends the relationship year-round, letting enthusiasts follow launches, previous visitors reconnect with memories and remote customers access selected products. Online behaviour can differ from in-park behaviour and provides insight into demand.
Staff are treated as fundamental to the experience. Retail colleagues provide energy, product knowledge and personality; they can demonstrate a product, explain a range's story, suggest an addition and recognise when a guest needs help. At Pleasure Beach, retail can also involve entertainment, from candy floss and teddy building to bubble demonstrations, photographs and personalisation. Jackson encourages teams to act as hosts, storytellers and brand ambassadors, and their feedback can reveal emerging requests before formal sales reports do. Gift wrapping and personalised embroidery add value by making a purchase feel personal and significant, and by offering something that cannot be bought from a general online marketplace.
The account shows that Pleasure Beach's retail approach depends on integration rather than volume alone. By involving retail early, building ranges around distinct stories and audiences and maintaining operational discipline, the resort treats merchandise as a continuation of the day. The limits are equally clear: not every product needs a logo, not every range should be premium, and the strategy relies on consistent execution and close supplier collaboration.