Target to sell Science Museum's dino hoodie made famous on 'Stranger Things'

Target has been selling an exclusive line of "Stranger Things" merchandise with items such as shirts that say, "What would Barb do?" But the one thing missing from its collection has been that one thing that went viral: the purple "Thunder Lizard" hoodie.

The Minneapolis-based retailer is rectifying that situation in a partnership with the Science Museum of Minnesota, whose world was turned upside down when the shirt it briefly produced in the mid-1980s made a surprising appearance on the second season of the Netflix hit series.

Rushing to capitalize on the moment, the museum hustled to reproduce the shirt and has sold more than 30,000 of them since November. In addition to the Science Museum's name, the hoodies feature a picture of a brontosaurus skeleton.

Target will sell the unisex hoodie (in sizes XS through XXL) in about 1,400 of its 1,800 stores starting later this month. It will not be sold on Target.com.

Kim Ramsden, a museum spokeswoman, said the sweatshirts sold by Target will be virtually identical to the ones the museum has been selling, except the inside tag will say Target on it. A portion of the proceeds will go back to the museum and its education programs.

"We're thrilled because it's a way to continue to support the mission of the museum by seeing more 'Thunder Lizard' apparel out there and boost awareness of the museum across the country," she said. "We're grateful for the partnership. They're a Minnesota company, and we're a Minnesota museum."

At the same time, the Science Museum will continue to sell its line of "Thunder Lizard" apparel in its gift shop and on the website it created late last year to sell the items.

She added that Target is already a big supporter of the museum's education programs and has had some executives sit on its board in the past.

The museum decided to act on its own, hiring a printer in Wisconsin to put the design on purple sweatshirts, and setting up an e-commerce site for the "Thunder Lizard" line through Shopify.

The demand for the shirts was so great that the website crashed the first day they went on sale.

The initial craze has died down now. But the museum still sells about eight to 10 shirts a day online, with about a third of the orders coming from abroad.

The shirts have pulled in about $1 million in sales, roughly equivalent to a whole year's worth of revenue from its gift shop, where it sells items like science experiment kits, jewelry, stuffed dinosaurs, rock candy and astronaut ice cream.

With the big influx of funds, the museum is exploring adding new programs, Ramsden said.

The museum is also trying to figure out whether the explosion of interest in the purple dino hoodies has translated to more visitors.

"Having those 30,000 hoodies all across the world are walking billboards for us," she added.

In the meantime, in addition to the dino sweatshirts, Target will be launching more "Stranger Things"-related merchandise in coming weeks.

KAVITA KUMAR

Neither of the two retail stores are new to this market, nor will they be outlet stores. Bath & Body Works has 14 other full-priced stores in the Twin Cities.

Opening in late April, the Body Works store will be about 2,800 square feet with full-priced goods.

The Bath & Body Works stores in outlet malls in Medford and North Branch sell retired and seasonal merchandise at 50 to 75 percent off.

GNC also will sell regular-priced merchandise, similar to the more than 50 stores in the Twin Cities area, although some items will be discounted 5 to 10 percent every day.

It is expected to open in mid-April.

But as more retailers declare bankruptcy, even outlet malls are being forced to rent to a wider spectrum of tenants.

JOHN EWOLDT