MUSEUM SHOPS

Staying Power

Loyal Customers Pull Museum Shops through Pandemic

“I call it the retail jailbreak,” laughs Sara Birmingham, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s vice president of retail.

She’s describing what happened last spring, when all four Museum Shops reopened to the public after pandemic closures. Customers poured in, eager for a shopping fix.

“It was like the floodgates opened,” she continues. “We had to hit the ground running in order to cope with the amount of visitors we had in New Mexico, plus all of our members who came out to support us.”

Pent-up demand for in-person museum shopping made for a robust final quarter of FY2021, with sales taking off in April. Book sales, which soared during lockdown as people sought at-home diversions, remained steady after the shops reopened. Other activity-based items were strong sellers, too. “If you were in Santa Fe in April, May or June, the amount of RVs on the road was crazy,” Birmingham says. “People were trying to entertain themselves at night, camping or in their hotels. Card games, puzzles, books and stuff for kids were in huge demand.”

Ultimately, an “if it ain’t broke” philosophy proved to be a winning sales strategy for expanding a product selection that might appeal to pandemic shut-ins. “I went back to the well and said, ‘If we’ve sold this in the past, let’s bring it back in,’” Birmingham says.

Online purchases have also been riding high. The online sales boost began in Fall 2020 and lasted into the new year, resulting in an estimated 30 to 40 percent increase over 2019. Based on that trend, Birmingham is anticipating strong online holiday sales.

Birmingham says the successful reopening of the Museum Shops is thanks to a loyal cadre of volunteers. Twelve of them were back in action by mid-April to keep customers safe and sales running smoothly.

“I was more than happy to have them come in, vaccinated and masked,” she says. “They were thrilled to be back and doing something. They hadn’t been shopping either, so it was a win-win for them to help customers and shop a little themselves.”

Despite a difficult supply-and-demand situation, increased shipping prices and other pandemic-related challenges, the Museum Shops proved their staying power. Ultimately, Birmingham attributes this success to a loyal customer base.

“There’s a gracious consciousness of customers asking ‘How do I help?’ or ‘What can I buy to support an artist?’ This is what continues to get us through,” Birmingham says.

Masked and happy shoppers return to the Museum of International Folk Art Shop. Photo by Saro Calewarts. To learn more about the Museum Shops, visit shopmuseum.org.