High hopes for merchandising at new Caterpillar Visitors Center

The Caterpillar Visitors Center, set to open in Downtown Peoria this week, will do more than showcase the company's machines and people. Also on display will be the Caterpillar brand.

That brand was ranked 61st in this year's Top 100 Brands as compiled by Interbrand.

"The Cat brand continues to expand," said Sarah Gutchall, manager of the Cat Merchandise Center, which is moving to the visitors center from its previous location at 121 SW Adams St.

Gutchall has been selling Caterpillar merchandise - caps, shirts, shoes and replica models - since 1999. In 2007, she came to Peoria as vice president of retail operations with Louisville-based MPC Promotions to operate the Cat store here, the largest of its kind in the country.

She's excited about the new location at the center. "Caterpillar was going to open a store here, so they gave us first option. We didn't hesitate," said Gutchall.

Moving to a highly visible vantage point in a new $37 million development on the Peoria riverfront is a definite upgrade, she said. "We got a lot of the tour groups when they came to town before. We'll get all of the tour groups now," said Gutchall, adding that she's also looking for more traffic from the general public.

"We weren't part of a tourist attraction before. Now we hope to get the attention of people who never visited the store before," she said.

No move comes without adjustments, however. The new location at the center will require what Gutchall calls some "streamlining." "We had 5,000 square feet on Adams Street, plus storage and office space. We have about 2,700 square feet here," she said.

"We'll have the same selection of merchandise. We'll just have to be more efficient in what we display," she said.

Gutchall knows from experience which items to stock when it comes to the Cat brand. "Hats and boots are hot ticket things, along with the scale models," she said.

The Cat brand continues to grow, said Gutchall, noting that sales have picked up 30 percent since 2007.

Cat's footwear is so famous in Europe that some associate the Caterpillar name with shoes and boots before the company's machines, she said.

Caterpillar continues to spread across the retail spectrum, said Gutchall. "You're seeing the Cat brand on luggage, briefcases and backpacks now. The Cat watch line is also expanding," she said of branded timepieces.