Fiscal Year 2022 Year-End Sales Recap
As we turn the page on a new fiscal year, here is a look back on EN’s retail operations during fiscal year 2022. There were many challenges for nonprofit organizations and retailers this year. Nationwide labor shortages, global supply chain disruptions, and rising gas prices were just some of the obstacles Eastern National staff had to navigate. Yet, we managed to achieve some noteworthy accomplishments:
• Resumed operations at over 80% of our park stores
• Served over 2.1 million visitors to America’s national parks, nearly 50% more than 2021
• Passport To Your National Parks® program generated a record-setting $6 million in revenue
• Restarted the EN Custom Publications program
• A dozen EN stores reached over $1 million in sales
• Continued to increase our online business, including the release of our first America’s National Parks™ winter digital catalog for holiday shopping
• Earned 99% customer satisfaction with customers’ store associate experiences, and 99.5% satisfaction with store cleanliness and safety protocols
Despite dramatic rebounds in visitation and sales transactions, compared to FY21, EN stores continued to maintain a high average spend per transaction, resulting in a record sales year of over $47 million in earned revenue. None of this would be possible without the extraordinary efforts and contributions of Eastern National team members and our park partners.
Front line team members served park visitors in over 240 park stores. Store Managers led their teams, often while being short staffed, to manage inventory, take price changes to offset rising costs, and re-merchandise stores to balance stock levels while awaiting delayed shipments. The Directors of Retail led monthly staff meetings to remain mission focused, encourage engagement and morale among a community of peers, and applauded teamwork and results. Regional Managers worked with partners to find new ways to serve park visitors and maintain park store operations. Our small, but mighty, Human Resources team worked collaboratively with Field Managers to find creative solutions to staffing challenges. From job fairs to on-the-spot hiring, recruitment support, and workforce planning, HR managers and Field Managers found ways to staff operations and support park partners in innovative ways. Team members traveled to other stores and regions to conduct interviews, count inventory, and just keep the doors open. EN store staff covered tasks and operations to support short staffing at NPS visitor centers.
The Headquarters teams continued to provide significant support to field operations in various ways. As we centralize our buying and product development teams, new items and pricing strategies set by the Merchandise and Creative Departments boosted product assortments and maintained gross margins despite rising inflation. Process improvements and rebuilding our teams in the Finance and IT Departments helped maintain the behind-the-scenes work for more efficient operations. The Operations and Warehouse teams not only supported the field with inventory transfers and PPE supplies, but also by servicing our growing online and wholesale customers.
The outcome of these accomplishments is the ongoing commitment to our mission: Promoting the public’s understanding and support of America’s national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products, and services. EN replenished our cash reserves and resumed providing donations to the National Park Service and gave more than $4 million in direct aid to parks this year. In FY 2022, Eastern National worked hard to maintain our commitment to our staff, partners, and park visitors. The result of these mission-focused activities is that EN has replenished our cash reserves, supported educational programs in parks, and we are in a strong position to start FY 2023.