Dirty Horse Shoes? The newly renovated Kentucky Derby Museum Store has gift ideas for you
While the Kentucky Derby Museum gift shop has all the usual T-shirts, keychains and ballcaps, it is also a gold mine for one-of-a-kind gifts that you can’t find anywhere else. Or at least all under one roof.
Saturday the gift store will celebrate a grand reopening after a monthlong renovation, and the first 50 shoppers will receive a free 149th Kentucky Derby glass.
"We have so many unique items in the store that it's not only museum visitors who shop here," said Kristina Gerard, director of retail operations. "We have a lot of shoppers throughout the year who live right here in Louisville and come to buy gifts, pick up items for Derby-themed parties or items for themselves."
The store has seen significant growth over the last couple of years. Sales are up nearly 17% from 2021 to 2022 with 48% of the merchandise now coming from Kentucky vendors, Jerad said.
"I find a lot of wonderful products by visiting art shows and craft fairs around the state; I also keep an eye out for interesting items when I am shopping in local shops and boutiques in the Louisville area," Gerard said.
The well-dressed horse racing fan can find a large variety of hats, for both men and women in the shop. Plus equine jewelry, men's neckwear, home décor, party supplies and even locally made horse-themed games.
The gift shop also carries a solid offering of local bourbons, bourbon balls and other Kentucky made food items, along with more usual items like brightly colored drink koozies decorated with numbers from the starting gate.
"One customer bought one of every number for a Derby party and used the koozies for a party game," Gerard said. "We had the mother of a bride buy Derby glasses for guests to drink from at the wedding reception."
According to Jerad, when it comes to Derby glasses, customers purchase specific glasses for one of three reasons: "They buy it to commemorate the year they attended the Kentucky Derby, or because it's the year they were born or the year that Secretariat won the Derby," she said.
For those who prefer to shop from home, 70% of the Kentucky Derby Museum gift store's inventory is available on the website. That includes one of the most popular items in the gift store —The Dirty Horse Shoe.
"It's an actual horse shoe with dirt from the Churchill Downs racetrack embedded in the grooves," Gerard said." It costs $8 and is one of those items that is super unusual and easy to throw into a suitcase to take home as a memento."
The Kentucky Derby Museum Store is located just inside the front door of the Kentucky Derby Museum, 704 Central Ave. The store is open during regular museum hours and museum admission is not required to visit the store. The Kentucky Derby Museum is open Monday - Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m.
Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Derby Museum's renovated gift shop offers one-of-a-kind items
