Everyone is familiar with the Universal Annual Passholder and Team Member Garage Sale – a highly anticipated event that took place once a year (usually in November) to allow Universal Team Members and Annual Passholders the chance to purchase closeout merchandise at steep discounts. Held usually over a three- or four-day period, the Universal Garage Sale was a high-capacity event, with some guests waiting hours to access the sales floor, which was packed with elbow-to-elbow guests trying to navigate tight corridors between folding tables full of merchandise. Since January of 2025, Universal has been iterating upon that idea – first, with the opening of the Brown Derby Hat Shop, utilizing the space as a pop-up discount store for Annual Passholders and Team Members to grab heavily discounted merch right there in the park.
Now, that idea has been expanded on even further, as the Brown Derby Hat Shop has once again closed, leaving all of Universal’s discounted merchandise to find its new home in the Williams of Hollywood location on Hollywood Boulevard, right next to Mel’s Diner.
This store, which utilizes the expanded five-room Williams of Hollywood location, is decked out from head to toe in old Universal Studios Florida memorabilia. From vintage signage to props from the late, great Monster’s Cafe, this tribute to Studios’ history is a sight to behold – but only if you’re a Universal Orlando Resort Annual Passholder or Team Member.
That’s right: without an annual pass or a Team Member ID, this new store – much like its predecessor at the Brown Derby Hat Shop – is off-limits, with team members stationed at the entrance and exist ensuring that IDs and Passes are checked before guests are permitted entry into this ongoing garage-sale experience. With merchandise from countless gift shops and franchises featured throughout this massive retail space, it’s a much more engaging than the Brown Derby Hat Shop was, and much less cramped – with plenty of space for guests, this was a walk-in experience, as opposed to the numbers game the Team Members had to play when allowing guests into the Brown Derby.
In addition to the signage throughout the shop, some of the busts from Monster’s Cafe, which went to the big theme park in the sky in 2022, were also on display in the final room, along with the portrait banners from HHN 25, featuring Jack, The Caretaker, The Storyteller, and The Director, some of Halloween Horror Nights’ most famed and beloved icons.
If you had a keen eye, you could also find props and signage from other Halloween Horror Nights characters, like Major Sweets and everyone’s favorite hard-boiled Delancy detective, Boris Shuster:
While it’s unclear whether or not this discount store will be replacing the Summer Tribute Store this year, it certainly has the same flair to it that a Tribute Store would, paying tribute to the designs and props of Universal Studios of years’ past.
Plenty is looming on the Horizon at Universal Orlando Resort. Recently, Theme Park Shark covered this year’s first merch drop for Halloween Horror Nights 2025, which debuted in the Five & Dime and the All Hallow’s Even Bootique earlier this week, and will be covering the opening of Epic Universe early next week. Combining all that’s going on here with the upcoming opening of Horror Unleashed, the Las Vegas-based, year-round horror experience that was spearheaded by the Universal Orlando Horror Nights team, it’s a wonder how things are working as smoothly as they are. It’s no secret that Universal Orlando’s creative team has its hands in many pots, and to be in the production process of so many high-demand projects all at once (which isn’t even touching the Universal Kids’ Resort or the plans for Universal’s first UK park) it’s truly a testament to their creative skill and project management team that the quality of these projects has not suffered.
All that to say: if you’re a Universal Orlando Resort Annual Passholder or a Team Member, definitely check out this impressive pop-up store housed in the Williams of Hollywood location – it’s a delightful trip down memory lane as Universal showcases some of its most beloved relics, from Shrek to Slashers and everything in between. Keep an eye out for some true pieces of Universal Studios history, like the promotional photography from Fievel’s Playland, or the blueprints of the Pharo’s Lighthouse at Islands of Adventure.
While the prices on some of the merch may be eye-catching, I promise you’re gonna wanna stop and soak in all of the history that this shop offers – and then do some shopping, of course!
Check back soon, as Theme Park Shark will continue to report on all the details of Universal Orlando Resort’s newest retail locations, as well as theme park news from Disney, Universal, and theme parks from all across the world!
