Tag Archives: Alaska Gift Shops

Filming for the Travel Channel’s New Show “Only Happens In: Alaska”

Earlier this year, I was contacted by PSG Films with questions about my moose poop business. After interviewing over the phone and Skype, I was informed that the creators of the TV show “Only Happens In” wanted to feature The Winking Moose on an episode of their show that would soon air on the Travel Channel. The episode would consist of several segments showcasing people, places, businesses, or events that were unique and could be found “Only Happening In” Alaska.

The producer for “Only Happens In” gave me some specific instructions for preparation and I was also encouraged to follow my own ideas for scenes and presentation. These included arranging to film at Arctic Travelers Gift Shop (where some of my products are sold), going on a winter moose poop collection, demonstrating how moose poop is processed, and showcasing my 3D printer. I also created several Alaska Moosquitos at different stages of production to explain how they are made.

The Alaska Moosquito Christmas Ornament

The Alaska Mooseltoe Christmas Ornament

Preparing The Winking Moose for the filming was both a time-consuming and creative task. I have always enjoyed making short films, but this time I was going to be the film’s focus while the professionals took care of the cameras, editing, and other logistics. By the time the crew arrived at my house I was extremely nervous and very excited.

The two-woman crew was very nice, professional, and brought me coffee! As soon as filming began, my nervousness turned into excitement and I had a blast spending the entire day filming the different facets of my Alaskan moose poop business.

Since the filming earlier this year, I have heard from PSG Films that the Travel Channel is very pleased with my segment. I am excited to see if the scene where I informed the camera, “I’m taking poop to the next level!” actually makes it on the Travel Channel. More information to come!

Expedited Shipping, More Bitcoin Options, and an Alaska Gift Shop Map!

What Christmas celebration would be complete without moose poop artwork? Since Christmas is only nine days away, The Winking Moose has decided to offer an expedited shipping option. Our products can now be shipped from orders made on our website or eBay account via USPS Priority Mail to beat the busy holiday shipping rush!

Over the past few months, The Winking Moose has been exploring options to make our products available for purchase with Bitcoin. The “Currency of the Internet” is sometimes difficult to actually spend compared to US dollars when it comes to holiday shopping. To offer Bitcoiners more holiday variety, The Winking Moose has now listed many of our products on “The Etsy of Bitcoin” website Bitdazzle.

Our Bitdazzle Store

The Alaska Moosquito Christmas Ornament

The Alaska Mooseltoe Christmas Ornament

Our artwork is now in five stores in Alaska and the list continues to grow. I mentioned four of these stores in last week’s article and last weekend during the North Pole Plaza Craft Bazaar the Alaska Moosquito and Mooseltoe Magnet both found their way into Way Up In Alaska in North Pole. Burnt Paw Cabins Gift Shop & Cabins is the next store looking to sell our products so we decided to make a map of Moose Poop in Alaska Gifts Shops. Pinterest’s new map board provided a slick interactive map option:

That’s it for this week. The Winking Moose is still hard at work filling the holiday demand for moose nugget gifts and we will be at the Winter Solstice Celebration in Downtown Fairbanks this weekend at Arctic Traveler’s Gift Shop from 4-8 pm on the shortest day of the year!

Beginning to Breakthrough: Moose Poop Artwork Now in Alaska Stores

In the past week, The Winking Moose’s artwork has made its way into three stores in Fairbanks, Alaska. Online orders continue as Christmas nears and sales at holiday bazaars have been profitable.

Originally, I speculated that the best venue for moose nugget artwork would be in Alaska-themed gift shops throughout the state. The online selling potential of my website, Etsy, eBay, and the Square Market opened up immediate opportunities to start marketing The Winking Moose’s products, however. I was able to get the company up and moving this way before I was ready to start selling to gift shops.

Holiday bazaars were also not part of my original plan. One day I saw a flyer for a holiday bazaar on a bulletin board in the grocery store. I thought that maybe Fairbanksans would be interested in my Alaskan moose poop products as gifts for their relatives. Although the first bazaar I participated in wasn’t the biggest sales event, I learned some things that were very important and the next one was a great success. Meeting fellow crafters and hearing their stories and advice has also been extremely helpful and fun.

Refining my products and hearing customer feedback at bazaars along with fine-tuning my online sales routine (writing descriptions, taking pictures, html, and dealing with shipping) has helped prepare The Winking Moose to cross into the realm of marketing to gift shops: the original plan.

A few weeks ago I described my first experience working to sell my products in a local gift shop. The owner of Alaska Raw Fur Company decided to put several of my products in her store after I showed her a selection of moose poop products in an old gun case. Earlier that day, however, I brought the same bunch of moose poop gifts into another local shop and before I even opened the case, the owner of The Ornamentry informed me that in over 20 years she had never sold ‘excrement’ in her store (she was helpful and suggested I make some of my products using something other than poop and took several of my business cards for customers who might be looking for moose poop gifts). You win some, you lose some!

Last week I was finally able to showcase my refined moose poop creations to the owner of Arctic Traveler’s Gift Shop. This is a very popular tourist stop for those looking to find Alaskan gifts during their visit to Fairbanks. Its downtown location is excellent and it has an extensive selection of gifts. After working hard to convince the owner to take a look at my wares, it was only a matter of opening the case before she instantly wanted the products in her store. She has created an entire display for The Winking Moose and has also been very helpful by giving me ideas to create professional looking tags for the products she purchased.

I had the opportunity last Friday to showcase my artwork at Jade Resale Boutique, another shop located in downtown Fairbanks near the tourist hubs. The First Friday event was really fun, an excellent opportunity to discuss business, and the owner decided to purchase some Alaska Moosquitoes for her store.

On Saturday, I participated in the Ryan Middle School Holiday Bazaar and had a blast. The owners of Burnt Paw & Cabins Outback in Tok, Alaska stopped by my table and left a business card to arrange a purchase of some moose poop artwork for their gift shop by the end of the month. After the bazaar, the owner of Space For Movement Studio (another downtown Fairbanks location) allowed me to create an entire display case full of my products in her store.

I am very thankful that each of these business owners decided to give The Winking Moose the opportunity to make progress towards my original plan of marketing my Alaska moose nugget artwork in gift shops in Alaska. I look forward to following up with each store owner to see how products are selling and I am very excited for the future since tourist season is much busier in the summer. Not only has The Winking Moose benefited from these opportunities, but I believe the businesses will also benefit as well.