Museum Store Winter 2017

Museum Store A PUBLICATION of the museum store association

fall meeting fun: checking in with our chapters

WINTER 2017

page 26

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Lessons From Las Vegas: Making trade shows work for you

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Pop-Up Standouts: Recent member successes — and things we learned

the Storm: Florida museums 32 Weathering clean up after Hurricane Irma

Museum Store Association 100 N. 20th St., Suite #400 Philadelphia, PA 19103

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Winter 2017 | Volume 45 | Issue 3 Features

12 Learning Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Market serves as a template for how trade events can extend beyond shopping to networking, education, and more.

16 Top of the Pops

A bevy of circumstances can set the stage for a pop-up shop, but all have aspects that we can take with us into the next pop-up experience.

26 Chapter by Chapter

Attendees at fall’s chapter meetings were treated to in-depth looks at some member museums and a slate of educational experiences.

Articles & More

2 Letter from the Board President 4 Letter from the Executive Director 6 Volunteer Culture

Managing Editor

Dana R. Butler dbutler@museumstoreassociation.org

Museum Store Association 100 N. 20th Street, Suite 400 Philadelphia, PA 19103 Phone (215) 320-4667 info@museumstoreassociation.org museumstoreassociation.org Museum Store magazine (ISSN 1040-6999) is produced by the Museum Store Association.

Museum Store Association and MSA are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Museum Store Association, 100 N. 20th Street, Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Staffing a store, either fully or partially, with volunteers doesn’t mean service has to suffer—quite the opposite, in fact.

by Andrew Andoniadis

8 Next!

MSA’s newest initiative, MSA Next, is dedicated to providing resources and experiences aimed at emerging members.

10 Soon-to-be BFFs

Get to know the new Buyer–Vendor Friendly Forum, which hopes to cultivate relationships and engender cooperation among all of MSA’s members.

By Kristen Daniels

32 Member Story

Several areas of the country were hit hard by hurricanes over the past few months; we get updates from three Florida institutions.

38 Vendor Story

MP Barcelona is a longtime supporter of museum stores, offering products that are artistic and customizable.

39 Donor Story

Joe Langman of Schiffer Books shares his motivation to support MSA.

Ad Index

40 Buyer’s Guide

Published by E&M Consulting, Inc. 1107 Hazeltine Boulevard Suite #350 Chaska, MN 55318 p. 800.572.0011 f. 952.448.9928 www.emconsultinginc.com

DIRECTOR of PUBLISHING Krystie Dovenmuehler LAYOUT & DESIGN Jeremy Davis SALES Manager Mike Lindsay

For information regarding advertising please contact Marc at 800.572.0011 or marc@emconsultinginc.com Please Note: Editorial and contents of this magazine reflect the records of the Museum Store Association.

MSA has done their best to provide useful and accurate information, but please take into account that some information does change. E&M Consulting, Inc., publishers and MSA take no responsibility for the accuracy of the information printed, inadvertent omissions, printing errors, nor do they endorse products and services. We take no responsibility regarding representations or warranties concerning the content of advertisements of products/ services for a particular use, including all information, graphics, copyrighted materials, and assertions included in the advertisements. The reader is advised to independently check all information before basing decisions on such information.

On the Cover: One highlight of the North Atlantic Chapter meeting was a breakout session that culminated in a Product Development Scavenger Hunt on the grounds of the deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

M U SE S E U M STO S TO RE RE

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FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT

new year, new starts, new strategies

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s we reach the end of the calendar year—often the busiest time of year for many of our retail stores—it’s often hard to pause amid the hustle to take stock of where we’ve been and which way we’re going next. But as we look forward to 2018, it’s an invaluable time to assess our progress and our strategies.

2017 has been a whirlwind year for MSA: new management, new projects, reestablished member services, and the launch of a bold new strategic initiative: Museum Store Sunday. In addition, the general retail market tossed us all some curveballs with insecurity in many sectors of the economy and major retailers closing stores or shifting brand identities. Some of our museum members faced additional obstacles with devastating natural disasters. Through this cacophony of noise and fluctuation, it’s important to assess and ask questions: Where have we come from, where are we going, and—most important—why?

Through all of these changes, I am convinced more than ever of the fundamental value of museum stores and the promise to connect to our visitors in meaningful ways. Day after day, I read articles warning retailers that sales of consumer goods are down because people want to purchase experiences, not things, and that stores full of “products” stand to lose. They warn that consumers now want to spend their money ethically, supporting causes and strengthening their communities. And they advise that technology and innovation are forever reshaping consumer behaviors.

I look around at our member stores and see that, of all retailers, museum stores are in a prime position to best capitalize on these shifts rather than be subsumed by them. First, our institutions are experiential to their core: museums are where people go to be immersed in new ideas, to expose themselves to new information, and to enjoy an out-of-the-ordinary activity. Our products are inherently linked to these experiences. Second, museum stores’ curated products place us at the center of “supporting causes and strengthening communities.” Retail buying in museums is the entrée to philanthropy: the first step in “being a patron.” And finally, museums are well poised for innovation. Many museums are educationally experimental, and the arts and sciences are at the forefront of investigating new avenues for visitor engagement and public outreach. Museums all over the country are undertaking new initiatives in ways that our stores can follow or join to reach visitors through websites and apps, interdisciplinary educational programs, and new public outreach to re-envision museum experiences or bring the collections of our museums into nontraditional spaces.

So, knowing all this, it becomes easier to plan for the year to come: to focus on ethical consumerism and stories that make our products meaningful as well as the experiences our visitors have in our stores and museums and to think creatively about the ways we can flex our approaches to engage our audience.

MSA will also continue its timely strategic assessments, continuing to create experiences and offer education that brings value to professionals in our field. Through the MSA community, we benefit from the innovations of others and the shared knowledge, experiences, and resources that provide ballast to our businesses and help us better navigate the changes that come our way. I thank you for making MSA part of your strategy for success.

Julie Steiner, MSA Board President 2

M U S E U M STO R E

MSA Board of Directors President Julie Steiner The Barnes Foundation Philadelphia, PA First vice President Ione Saroyan The New York Historical Society New York, NY Se c o n d v i c e p r e s i d e n t Susan Tudor Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens Jacksonville, FL Se c r e t a r y Blue Anderson Columbia River Maritime Museum Astoria, OR Treasurer Karen McNeely Milwaukee Art Museum Milwaukee, WI D i r e c t o r at l a r g e Chris Michel The National World War II Museum New Orleans, LA D i r e c t o r at l a r g e Maria Kwong Japanese American National Museum Los Angeles, CA Ve n d o r mem b e r a d v i s o r Paul Stewart-Stand Stewart/Stand Carlsbad, CA Ve n d o r mem b e r a d v i s o r Ari Lowenstein Emergent Workshop Westminster West, VT

FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

community

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hile reflecting on my first anniversary as MSA’s executive director, a common theme emerges: community. Whenever I describe MSA to someone, I emphasize the community aspect of the association. When asked why someone should join MSA, I first think of the community feel of the organization. Associations are essentially communities, but MSA actually feels like a community.

Recently, I attended a chapter meeting at which the concept of community was on full display. The educational sessions provided valuable content in an intimate and engaging atmosphere. Members networked, exchanged ideas, and offered solutions to their common challenges. Vendors were welcomed and were constructive participants in the conversations. I reconnected with members I first met during the MSA annual conference and made new connections.

I continue to marvel at the lively interactions on ShopTalk. This community is a vital resource for members to share information, contacts, and best practices with their colleagues. It’s gratifying to read the open exchanges between members knowing that MSA is facilitating these connections.

The community of volunteers who give freely of their time and energy to pitch in and make big initiatives such as Museum Store Sunday a reality is an inspiration. Without their dedication, many projects would lack the excitement and personal touches that are the hallmark of MSA. Members contribute to the success of the Retail Industry Report, Museum Store Sunday, membership initiatives, chapters, Museum Store magazine, and many other projects. It’s not an exaggeration to say I am amazed at the level of support MSA receives from its volunteers.

MSA is a community of passionate people. Members are committed to their profession and the mission of their institutions. Vendors are true partners who build long-term relationships with their customers and understand the value of the museum stores and the role they play in the retail industry.

Communities such as MSA play a vital role in our fast-paced and stressed-out world. MSA is a place where like-minded people with a common interest gather to share ideas and gain from each other’s experience. Our members are better personally and professionally for their participation in MSA. That is the definition of a community.

Sincerely,

Jason M. Harbonic Executive Director

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MSA Staff E X E CUTIV E DIR E CTOR Jason Harbonic A s s o c i at e D i r e c t o r , Marketing & C o mm u n i c a t i o n s Gayle Gaskin A d m i n i s t r at i v e C o o r d i n at o r Alissa Jackson

volunteer culture When trained and supervised properly, volunteers can be highly productive store personnel.

By Andrew Andoniadis

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ecause of their general reputation for offering interesting, unique, and high-quality products, museum stores do their part in driving visitation to the museum. But the institution itself has primary responsibility for delivering potential customers (a.k.a. visitors). Visitation can spike on the basis of many factors, including holidays, strong marketing, blockbuster special exhibitions, tourist season, and—especially for botanical gardens and arboreta—dramatic fall colors. There isn’t much a store can do if general visitation is low, but that heightens the need to enhance the customer experience and maximize revenue at every opportunity. Much of that effort revolves around having sufficient staff on the floor, which for nonprofit institutions often means utilizing volunteers.

In many ways, you are ahead of the game when you are staffed with volunteers.”

In many ways, you are ahead of the game when you are staffed with volunteers. Most of these wonderful people have been successful mothers, fathers, and spouses as well as bosses, employees, or business owners in their lives. Then, when they have more free time and decide to do some volunteer work, their experience accepting responsibility and meeting expectations can benefit the store.

Image ©istock/monkeybusinessimages

There are several steps that can be taken to ensure your volunteers are productive workers. First, emphasize the importance of the store to the well-being of the museum. During these times of increasing costs and uncertain funding, I find that when volunteers understand the importance of the store to multiple aspects of the museum, their focus is heightened. In addition, when they realize that in most museums visitors are likely to spend more time with store personnel than with any other museum staff member and that their store experience is usually part of the very important lasting impression of the museum, volunteers more clearly appreciate the importance of their role and strive to do a better job.

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After you have laid this foundation of relevance, build on it by establishing expectations and then empowering the volunteer to do what needs to be done to meet those expectations. Perhaps the most encompassing expectation to be established is that the store is a business, and as such, a professional attitude is required from each volunteer. To those who are familiar with running a business, this phrase has a built-in set of values. Those who do not have direct business experience intuitively know that successful businesses have specific expectations even if they can’t define them exactly.

Expectations can include broad generalities about customer service and sales techniques or operational specifics. Here are some examples of expectations in areas closely associated with a well-run museum store.

• Position: When more than one person is working in the store at a time, require that only a minimal number of people stay behind the cash wrap and specifically assign the others to customer service, sales, and cleaning/stocking on the floor. Whether the store is run with one or several volunteers, sales will increase and the customer experience will be enhanced if there are specific requirements to work in front of the cash wrap.

• Communication: Do this clearly and often. It is critical to train, retrain, and train again. Training should be primarily focused on policies and procedures, customer service, sales, and product knowledge.

• Inspection: Be specific about what you expect and set a good example.

If you have established expectations, make sure—on a regular basis—that those expectations are being met. If you don’t inspect what you expect, or set a good example, the feeling that your expectations are not serious or important will quickly pervade the staff, nearly guaranteeing expectations will not be met in the future.

• Engagement: Boredom is one of the main reasons volunteers quit or that work may be done poorly. Empowering the volunteers and giving them some leeway as to how to get things done results in things actually getting done, the introduction of new ways of doing things, and a more productive group of volunteers. Also, giving volunteers full information about the goals and progress of the store and an explanation of issues facing the store increases their involvement and can stimulate their interest in solutions.

sales. However, if your institution limits monetary transactions to paid employees or if a volunteer is intimidated by the POS, anyone can be assigned an “ambassador” role, helping with product selection and answering questions.

Finally, don’t forget to praise each volunteer’s effort. Thank them for being present and engaged, especially if they do something special.

Andrew Andoniadis is the principal at Andoniadis Retail Services, a consulting company that has specialized in profitgenerating and function layout and design strategies for museum stores for 25 years.

He can be reached at 503.629.9279, Andrew@MuseumStoreConsult.com or www.MuseumStoreConsult.com.

As with any employee, it’s important to have the right person doing the right job.

Use an interview process to make sure potential store volunteers have the social skills necessary to engage and work with customers. Remember, some excellent volunteers are best suited to back-ofhouse organization or online roles with less direct customer engagement.

Over the years, point-of-sale systems have become easier and more intuitive, paving the way for even part-time volunteers to do most of what needs to be done on the sales floor, from greeting customers to processing M U S E U M S TO R E

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next!

MSA Next is committed to the development of emerging museum store professionals.

We hope that all members will be interested in this initiative and look forward to not only the conference in one of the most museum-rich cities in the country, but the new face of MSA.”

Melody Caban-Naidoo, Kate Botelho, Aubrey Herr, and Michael Balbone represent MSA Next at the Las Vegas Gift Show panel on millennial shoppers.

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n the coming months, you will be hearing a lot about MSA Next, a new branch of MSA that was established as part of the organization’s new strategic initiatives. MSA Next, spearheaded by Kate Botelho of the Preservation Society of Newport County in Rhode Island and Aubrey Herr of The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, aims to share with young museum store professionals what makes this association so special and to cultivate creative and innovative voices that will lead the way into the future of our industry. The group’s activities are guided by four objectives: education, mentorship, networking, and communication.

As many readers know, in 2015, the Museum Store Association undertook an extensive strategic planning process, which included a very detailed survey of the members. In evaluating the results of that survey, the board was able to pinpoint some key needs of a section of the member base; specifically, an outlet for emerging leaders, newcomers, and young professionals ranked highly on that list. In addition, the survey showed a shifting desire by some members to learn in more dynamic ways, such as webinars, and to tackle more tech-savvy subject matter. This is how MSA Next was born.

Since then, things have been moving ahead rapidly. MSA Next has formed subcommittees made up primarily of younger, or emerging, MSA members to address these key initiatives. Kate and Aubrey say they are hoping to contribute greatly to the educational content of upcoming webinars and conference learning sessions. Networking is also very important for MSA’s emerging as well as seasoned members, and MSA Next is hoping to be a resource, creating meetand-greets at upcoming events, including a not-to-be-missed reception that will be scheduled during MSA Forward 2018 in Washington, DC, in April.

In addition, MSA Next has rolled out its own LinkedIn page, is on Instagram and Twitter, and will have the occasional post on MSA’s Facebook page. After those wheels have been well oiled, they say the plan is to focus on organizing a mentorship program for MSA Next as a resource for all MSA members. “We hope that all members will be interested in this initiative and look forward to not only the conference in one of the most museum-rich cities in the country, but the new face of MSA,” says Aubrey. “This new face will include what is, hopefully, a clear shift in some educational content and speakers to focus on the now and the future.”

Kate adds that over the next five to 10 years, she would love to see established MSA Next programs and for members to see “MSA Next” in the title of a webinar or event and understand what that means in terms of the targeted audience. “I would love to have an established mentorship program,” she adds, “with cross-directional

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mentoring, so new MSA members and longtime members can continue the conversation and share equally in the kind of environment of support and empowerment that makes MSA the exceptional association it is. We hope to host events that foster the spirit of inclusion for new members, so we can continue to broaden our membership and reach.”

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see fresh, young faces with a purpose as part of MSA?” asks Aubrey. “I would love to think that MSA Next will help to cultivate the future leaders of nonprofit retail!” Her hopes include an expanded demographic of membership in both age range and variety of job titles. “I see MSA Next as a force to bolster these young professionals by helping give them the resources to grow and then giving them a platform to share their personal wisdom via educational content,” she says. “It would be clear that MSA Next did its job of creating educational content and resources for existing members that appealed to them so much they just had to share it with their other staff members and bring them into the fold of MSA.”

Still, it’s a new undertaking, and the founders admit that they are learning as they go. They are eagerly crowdsourcing fresh content and ideas and welcome all suggestions and offers for help. “We are probably most excited about the energy behind this initiative,” says Aubrey. “From the board to the folks that have come up to me at the conference or at the chapter meeting, people really seem to support what we’re trying to do.” The mentorship program also engenders a great deal of enthusiasm. “There is a wealth of knowledge in the MSA,” she adds. “From those who have been in the industry for years to those just entering with new perspectives, there is a need and desire to share that knowledge. MSA has proven time and again that it shares ideas and fosters creativity in a way that helps all of its members, and we can leverage our greatest strengths to propel the organization into the future.”

The first “official” MSA Next meeting took place in Pittsburgh, where the group met for three hours to determine the group’s structure and goals.

Several people deserve a shoutout for helping to get MSA Next off the ground and for the great work they are putting in. Many thanks to the following people: • Paul Stewart-Stand, Stewart/Stand • Melody Caban-Naidoo, Amon Carter Museum of American Art • Steve Santangelo, Popcorn Custom Products • Michael Balbone, Pérez Art Museum Miami • Jennifer Castracane, The Unemployed Philosophers Guild For more information, contact Kate Botelho (kbotelho@newportmansions.org) or Aubrey Herr (aherr@thewalters.org).

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soon-to-be BFFs With the new Buyer–Vendor Friendly Forum, vendors and buyers can learn from each other too.

By Kristen Daniels

The fact that museum stores support each other in so many different ways was, and continues to be, a breath of fresh air.”

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s a longtime browser of ShopTalk, I often found myself wishing that vendor members of MSA had the opportunity to talk, advise, and learn from each other in the same way that MSA buyers do. It is apparent that the knowledge shared and the friendships made on ShopTalk are two of the main advantages of being an MSA member for many buyers, and I was sure that vendors, such as myself, could benefit from a similar group that also incorporated our buyer friends.

With the full support of the MSA board, a new online group called the Buyer–Vendor Friendly Forum (BVFF) was launched in late summer. Its primary purpose, as stated on the MSA website, is to be “…a place for vendors and buyers to share best practices and advice with one another. By sharing our own unique perspectives and business experiences, members of this group will learn from each other so that we can work together in the best possible way and for the good of all.” The group has grown to more than 200 participants, and my goal is for it to exceed 1,000 by the end of 2018.

As a former English as a second language teacher who started Kamibashi with no retail, wholesale, or business experience, I quickly learned that my fellow wholesalers are people who are assets and mentors rather than competitors. Instead of guarding their trade secrets, I met numerous vendors at gift shows who willingly shared these secrets with me. In fact, at one point in Kamibashi’s infancy, when we started selling Japanese art prints, longtime MSA vendor member David Graveen of Popcorn Custom Products gave me the contact information for the company from which he buys frames.

In contrast, I learned that the independent for-profit retailers we met at these same shows saw their fellow shop owners quite differently. Most want vendors to give them an exclusive for their entire zip code or have fights with their neighboring stores over who has the right to sell what product. (Yes, this happened once when we inadvertently sold string dolls to a toy store and a home goods store in the same small town. I let them work it out themselves, and the home goods store won and were great customers until they closed eight years later.) It became clear that regular retailers often view each other as competitors as opposed to collaborators who can help each other succeed in business.

The fact that museum stores support each other in so many different ways was, and continues to be, a breath of fresh air. It made me realize how special the MSA community is, and I wanted to help find a way for vendors to become a bigger part of it. I sensed that I was not alone in this regard and that other vendors reading ShopTalk aspired to have a bigger voice too. We want buyers to realize that vendor members are not only here to help support MSA financially, but to be partners, friends, advisors,

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willing recipients of advice, and so much more. We want to help you fill your stores with high-quality products that benefit not only ourselves but also you, your museum, and the visitors who want to bring a piece of their experience home with them.

The bottom line is that museum store buyers and the vendors who work so hard to create products that fit their missions need each other. MSA vendors want MSA buyers to look to us as their first source for products before looking at the products of vendors who are not members. We want you to understand that we have your backs, we will get it done, and we are here to support you and your store. If you buy from nonmember vendors, we want you to ask them to join us as members and to tell them about the BVFF and how being a dues-paying MSA member will help them not only retain your business, but will help them run their own businesses even better. We vendors also want to help MSA grow by encouraging our museum store customers who are not members to either join or return to MSA. So how does the Buyer–Vendor Friendly Forum work, and why should you be a part of it? It’s just like ShopTalk, but instead of focusing exclusively on what happens in shops, the BVFF focuses on everything that happens from the time a product is born until the time it is sold.

Although we started out with weekly topics of discussion, BVFF members can now post any time and about any topic they choose. If you’re a vendor who has a question about some aspect of doing business, send it in. If you’re a buyer who wants to give vendors some advice on how to improve something, send it in. If you are a vendor with a question for buyers, send it in. Giving someone a shout-out for doing a great job is also encouraged. The whole idea is to use this forum as a way to interact with each other and to help each other learn and improve upon the way in which we do business together.

Discussion topics so far have included shipping costs, gift shows, custom products, Museum Store Sunday, and many more. The sky is the limit.

In addition to discussions about doing business, each Friday will be Product Pitch Friday on the BVFF. This weekly event is a great way for buyers to learn about new products and for vendors to show off their goods. Whereas the discussion part of the BVFF is now “open,” we will continue to have a different theme for each week’s product pitches. A product pitch schedule with at least the next eight weeks of topics is periodically sent to the group and is also posted on the BVFF library on the MSA website. Themes so far have included jewelry, holiday items, and shipping specials. Every four to six weeks, the theme will be something generic in which all vendors can participate, such as new items or top sellers. Buyers can also request information about specific products on any day, just as they do on ShopTalk. However, unless otherwise asked, vendors will limit their pitches to Fridays, when the week’s theme fits a product they are selling.

Let’s become bigger, stronger, smarter, and better together. See you there!

Along with building relationships between current buyer and vendor members, another goal is for the BVFF to be one of the reasons that future vendor members join the MSA. This will not only help the organization financially, but it will also give buyers a larger selection of products to choose from. In an age when attending gift shows can be prohibitively expensive, Product Pitch Friday on the BVFF might even become an impetus for more buyers to join MSA.

• Find the purple bar toward the top of the page, put your cursor on the word “GROUPS” and then click on “All Groups.”

Kristen Daniels and her husband, Chris, are the creative force behind the string doll company, Kamibashi. Twelve years ago, Kamibashi’s first two customers were MSA members, and they have been working with museum stores as vendor members ever since. Kamibashi is also a part of the Fair Trade Federation and is dedicated to producing quality products and to paying their artists well for their hard work.

To join the Buyer–Vendor Friendly Forum, send an email to kristen@kamibashi.com.

You can also follow these instructions to sign yourself up on the MSA website:

• Log on to the MSA website.

• Click on “ShopTalk,” found to the left of the red “Donate” button at the top of the page, and sign in.

• Click on “MSA Buyer–Vendor Friendly Forum.”

• On the top right side of the copy box that appears, you will see an arrow next to the words “Join Now” — click on this.

• Choose how you would like your email address and your visibility to appear.

• Clink on “Join” at the bottom of the box.

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learning las vegas Key takeaways from the Las Vegas Market can teach us to make the most of our regional trade shows.

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he resounding message of the nonprofit retail symposium at the most recent Las Vegas Market is that today’s consumer seeks meaning through the products he or she purchases.

Retail shopping should be an interactive, memorable experience for the visitors to museum stores, and the same can be said for the experience of buyers and managers attending trade shows and markets around the country.

Whereas, on the surface, a trade show is a place to interact with vendors and select merchandise that will continue to tell the retail story of your institution, by partnering with the Las Vegas Market, MSA has increased the value of attendance for its members manifold. In addition to the showroom floor filled with exhibit booths, the Las Vegas Market offers educational sessions that are specifically MSA-themed and -driven; recent topics included advocacy and the millennial customer (and employee).

Curated product tours, led by museum professionals, are always well attended as they are beneficial for buyers and prosperous for both buyers and sellers. Trusted buying peers tell “stories� about merchandising, pricing, and trying new categories, and it inspires a buyer to approach purchasing in a new way.

The Market also featured a joint networking event for nonprofit associations that allowed MSA members to interact with members of the Zoo and Aquarium Buyers Group (ZAG) and the Association for Healthcare Volunteer Resource Professionals (AHVRP), which encompasses retail operations professionals at hospitals and other healthcare organizations.

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Nonprofit Networking The nonprofit retail networking reception at the Summer Market was a huge success. Held in collaboration with AHVRP, MSA, and ZAG, there were approximately 100 buyers in attendance—all there to meet and talk with others in the field and to hear comments from representatives of all three organizations. The event will be repeated at the Winter Market and is scheduled for the evening of January 29.

We know that our customers want to be a part of our story; shopping in the store and interacting with our staff offers them ways to participate in the bigger experience that is attending a museum. The Las Vegas Market offers wonderful examples of ways we can similarly add value to our own experiences of attending shows, whether they are national or smaller regional markets.

We thank Sarah Jones, senior retail relations manager for International Market Centers in Las Vegas, for her invaluable contributions to this article.

Super Symposia

leadership and gain autonomy, using metrics to report successes, ensuring staff development is ongoing, and embracing the changes the future inevitably brings.

The other session involved understanding a key demographic: “Selling to (and Employing) Millennials.”

Melinda Greene of the Kansas City Zoo, a ZAG member, moderated, and the discussion centered on this sometimes misunderstood group and how they make purchasing decisions and how they engage with an experience through technology. This symposium was so popular, it was repeated as a webinar in late October.

All three speakers emphasized the importance of understanding the unique goals and complexities specific to stores connected to nonprofit institutions. Reflecting on the event and looking forward to the next, Michael Davis, ZAG board president and retail manager at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas, says, “Nonprofit retailers have the unique challenge and opportunity to support their institution’s mission and vision. ZAG, MSA, and AHVRP provide their membership with tools to further common goals nationwide. LVMkt have been energetic partners providing exciting experiences to our member institutions.”

Two important symposia were presented at the recent Las Vegas Market that specifically addressed the needs of retailers in the nonprofit sector.

Both engaged the viewpoints of panelists from MSA, ZAG, and AHVRP. The first, “How to Advocate to Administration,” was moderated by MSA President Julie Steiner of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, and it addressed the ever-present challenge of ensuring that the retail aspect of your institution is adequately represented and your voices heard when it comes to the overall administration— having a “seat at the table.” Topics included connecting monetary decisions to the mission, asserting yourself with leadership to educate your M U S E U M S TO R E

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3-D technology has its roots in early entertainment devices like the stereoscope.

The National Gallery of Art has far more items in its archives than could ever be displayed at once—in real life.

Roseanna Galindo-Kuhn, director of volunteer services at Enloe Medical Center in Chico, California, and an AHVRP at-large board member, adds, “Not-for-profit retailers have unique needs within our mission-driven organizations that help to foster support for our communities’ engagement with our purpose. I was grateful for LVMkt for offering a place to bring us together. Market is more than smart buying; it’s buying smart.”

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MSA’s own 2nd Vice President Susan Tudor, manager of visitor services and store buyer for the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville, Florida, says, “Nonprofit retailers, especially in the museum store realm, readily share business information with their museum store colleagues. Museum retailers don’t look at other museum stores as competitors, but rather as sources for learning and helping. It’s really an incredible culture.” She adds, “My participation in this symposium

further confirmed my belief that the consumer wants the unique products and experiences that nonprofit retailers, such as museums, zoos, or hospitals, offer.”

Topical Tours During the Summer Market, Ione Saroyan, director of merchandise operations at the New York Historical Society Museum & Library, led a buyer’s tour, sharing 14 products that she felt would be of specific interest to

museum stores. These fun finds ranged from kitchen towels and silk eye masks to vintage baseballs. Here are some highlights:

Ione says, “Functional with special decorative elements; fresh shiny colors with dainty detail.” (American Design Club)

Ione says, “Perfect for a library, gardens, or history store; a modern aesthetic, but practical and functional items that are proven best-sellers.” (IF USA)

Ione says, “Designs from world-renowned artists for art museums, animals for zoos and nature centers; 100% silk and beading for an elegant higher price point.” (Trovelore)

MSA Vendors at LVMkt

Ione says, “Maker Adam Hizme, a second-generation jeweler, creates these handsome pewter bells in Arizona; designs include Star of David, breast cancer awareness, American flag, military branches, police/fire department, and animals.”

(The Grommet)

Ione says, “Pair vintage baseballs with other memorabilia for a themed display; this company wraps a compelling story around its products.” (K&P Weaver)

ACME Studios, Inc. Alessi USA AMEICO Aurora World, Inc. Batucada USA LLC Caspari Channel Craft Clear Solutions, Inc. Columbia Empire Farms Doodle Pants Dunitz & Company, Inc. Earth Sun Moon Trading Co. Enesco Group, Inc. Fiona Accessories Fiorentina LLC Folkmanis, Inc. Found Image Press GeoCentral

Grandmother’s Buttons Greenmarket Purveying Co. The Grommet K & P Weaver LLC Kingspoint Designs Lucy Lu New York Puzzle Company Palladium, Inc. Peter Pauper Press, Inc. Sagaform, Inc. Tesoros Trading Co. The Unemployed Philosophers Guild Workman Publishing WorldFinds Zen Art & Design Zootility Tools

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top of the pops Pop-up shops come in all shapes and sizes, and each has unique lessons to take forward to the next one.

Pop-up shops can be just outside our stores or miles across town. They can be indoors, outdoors, crowded, spacious, annual traditions, or first-time undertakings.

Each experience is different from the last, and each comes with its own plusses and minuses. We asked our members to share their stories: what happened, what was successful, and what they might do differently in the future.

Currier Museum of Art

The Store-Adjacent Pop-Up The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire is hosting “The Paris of Toulouse Lautrec,” and Heidi Norton, guest experience and retail manager, has created a pop-up shop just outside her store in the museum’s lobby to garner excitement about the work of the French master and to boost sales. It was her first pop-up experience, she says, prompted by other shows whose merchandise edged out regular stock. “Our Escher exhibition took up a quarter of the shop,” she says, and although it was successful, it definitely left less room in the 700-square-foot store.

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Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History

In the lobby, Heidi repurposed some cabinets and tables to use for displays. Colors—a rich royal purple and gold—echoed the colors of the actual exhibition, and a large poster reinforced the concept. The education department organized some craft activities in the lobby as well, so Heidi had to strike a balance between overtaking the lobby and leaving room for people to enter the museum, meet friends, etc.

Products included Lautrec prints, magnets, notecards, and more, complemented by jaunty berets and gauzy scarves as well as umbrellas that are packaged in plastic “wine bottles.”

Although she’s waiting until the exhibition closes for a final assessment, she says, “Sales have been higher than projected—about 20%—although admission numbers are the same as usual.” In thinking about what she might do differently, she says, “Maybe a little more room to walk—a balance between spacious but not too.”

Key takeaway: Heidi says start early and work with other departments early. Find that space where you are not impeding on others’ workloads, but you are still getting it done.

The Annual Event Pop-Up Each year, the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia, has a large train show, and Retail Services Coordinator Michelle Newman is responsible for creating a pop-up shop, one that she says “basically doubles the size of our gift shop.”

The annual nature of the show offered Michelle an opportunity to refine the experience. Up until about three years ago, she says, the pop-up consisted of space in the theater in which tables were rented to vendors. Of course,

the vendors were asked not to carry anything also sold in the gift shop, but some did anyway. This drawback was magnified by the fact that the theater location was reached by visitors before the shop. Michelle says they lost sales, and in addition, some vendors did not meet her high standards of friendly customer service.

theater for the two days of the train show. “I try to carry new and different items in there, she says. “I also have many of the products displayed so the kids and parents can try it out. And, although running computer lines and credit card terminals to the space was a challenge, nowadays, sales in the theater pop-up match same-day numbers in the regular shop.

So as of three years ago, Michelle now sets up a satellite shop in the M U S E U M S TO R E

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Mary Rose Museum

Key takeaway: Ensure the pop-up merchandise enhances, rather than impedes, your in-store sales.

Bonus pop-up: “The museum is the main attraction of our downtown area, and several times a year, there are festivals held in the streets right out front,” Michelle says. “I started setting up a tent and selling a small selection of items. I take a rolling train table out to the tent, which attracts kids and train lovers alike. My main goal was to make people aware that the museum has a gift shop that can be accessed anytime the museum is open without a charge. I have tried all kinds of marketing tools, like coupons, giveaways, etc. The best results are, if it is hot out, I can lure them in with free air conditioning!”

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The Traveling Museum Pop-Up When the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK, was scheduled for major renovations in 2015–2016, Head of Operations Paul Griffiths was tasked with maintaining brand awareness and reaching new audiences for the grand reopening.

The staff considered options, such as loaning exhibits to other institutions, but eventually landed on the idea of a pop-up museum that could go on tour.

people—they even made a small profit. And even now, with the renovated museum fully open, the pop-up museum and shop continue to make off-site appearances with impressive success.

“So we purchased a tent,” Paul says, “which was printed with the pattern of the Mary Rose Museum building and set off on tour, taking with us Mary Rose artifacts (both real and replicas), Tudor clothing, Tudor games, and fun activities (including have-ago archery).” A key aspect of the plan was for the experience to be as costneutral as possible. As such, the shop, which traveled along, was charged with covering the costs of the tour.

Paul says a major benefit was “meeting loads of new audiences and being able to just ‘pop up’ wherever.

We could really go and meet people we would not normally engage with and in surroundings you would not normally expect to find a museum.”

And yes, there were a few disasters: “Once the tent blew away overnight during a Christmas event and was recovered some distance away—the tent fabric was unharmed, but we had to buy a new frame,” Paul says. “On another occasion, half the tent was left behind at the museum and led to one of the team driving 170 miles, setting off at 4 am, to get it there in time for the opening of a Tudor Fayre.”

From July 2015 through June 2016, the Mary Rose visited 14 different sites, including medieval festivals, stately homes, castles, food events, and even a rock festival. They traveled up to 220 miles away from home, throughout the English countryside, and interacted with nearly 140,000

Key takeaway: Because of the size limitations—they were restricted to what would fit in the transit van— very careful editing of the retail stock was vital. Paul recommends thinking through every event separately to work out who the audience is and what they will be likely to buy.

The Fan Convention Pop-Up Seattle’s Geek Girl Con is a two-day conference that seeks to empower women and girls who are passionate about science, technology, comics, gaming, and more. The Museum of Flight (MOF) store set up a booth in the exhibit hall for its pop-up celebration of the science of space and air travel and included a special display of Kelly Jones’ Wraptillion Jewelry, a staple of the MOF shop both in-store and online. Jones herself made an appearance each day (heavily touted on social media) to answer questions and greet fans of her work.

“For the Museum of Flight, this was an opportunity to connect with a new group of enthusiasts and support an event that celebrates our shared value of supporting STEM and other forms of creative exploration,” says Mary Christensen, MOF’s retail general manager. “Space and astronomy are a big part of our current exhibits and educational programming, and the subject matter lends itself to creative expression in clothing, jewelry, toys, and many gift items that most people don’t associate with a ‘flight’ museum. We were also fairly unique within the exhibitor offerings at the event, so we were able to raise awareness of subjects like space travel and astrophysics with kids and families. The most striking part of the experience was the number of people who stopped to thank us for participating in the event.”

Kelly says that being part of the MOF booth set her work apart from the other jewelry artists exhibiting at the conference. “It also gave customers the experience of talking to a ‘geek girl’ artist who makes jewelry out of hardware,” Kelly says, “making a special connection to the work.” Kelly had custom artist cards printed with the Museum of Flight’s online store information, so potential customers

The Museum of Flight at Geek Girl Con

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Kelly Jones of Wraptillion

could follow up with additional purchases. “The Museum of Flight store is a key account for me,” she says, “so I was happy to support them in this way and help them expand their customer base.”

Mary admits that it was challenging to select product and establish inventory volume for an event that they hadn’t previously attended: “We packed far more product than we could put out, and thankfully, it was close to our main store so we could easily drop off the overstock and get it out of the way.” Still, the booth was a popular attraction. “I thought 100 [artist cards] would be plenty,” Kelly says, “but we handed almost all of them out. I also wish I’d looked into panel opportunities and more networking events—what a missed opportunity to send potential customers right to the booth.”

Kelly says the collaboration was well worth the time and energy expended.

“Although we sold jewelry at the event,” she says, “this is primarily a long-term strategy. I’ve also learned that, as an artist, I can help provide the kind of experience that customers expect from museum stores: the story behind the work, the connections to the mission, and something they can’t get anywhere else.”

Key takeaway: “Stepping outside of your comfort zone is so worthwhile,” Mary says. “Engaging with a new audience was very rewarding, and it really reinforced the idea that what we do builds the community and supports our museum’s mission in an important way.

The Networking Pop-Up Christine Spaulding, museum store manager for Dayton History in Ohio, set up shop—a 10-foot by 10-foot tented booth—for a fundraising event at another local museum, the Dayton Art Institute’s Oktoberfest weekend.

The space housed a pair of eight-foot tables, a (“much-needed”) chair, and a standing gridwall panel to display her selection of apparel, books, and some other locally made items.

Christine says the gridwall display was the most successful part of the shop as it raised items above tabletop level and added pops of color to an otherwise white tent. “I would hear people comment on an item before they would come over to look at it more closely,” she says. In addition, books sold well because no other vendors sold anything similar.

Similarity (or lack thereof) to other vendors is key. “In years past,” Christine says, “we have tried to take prints and posters with us to the event—which we did again this year— and they rarely move.” The event, she says, features places where attendees can buy prints and images from the artists themselves.

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Dayton History is a frequent participant in the weekend-long event, but this was Christine’s first time. “It was a dramatic learning curve to be sure,” she says. “In the future, I would want our displays to be more neat in appearance (for example, I didn’t have any tablecloths).” The experience also reiterated that you can’t necessarily predict what will interest people. “I thought—since it was an event for the art institute—that guests would be more interested in handmade items, maybe things that were more ‘crafty,’” she says, “but people absolutely loved our apparel—even the items that advertised a different museum than the one they were at!”

Key takeaway: Although pop-up shops are a great opportunity to increase sales just by being at a different location, they are also a great opportunity to network for your institution and its upcoming events.

“A vast majority of the people who walked by our shop asked us about

our museum and what was there rather than buying something,” Christine says, “or they would ask if there was a wider variety of items in our actual store.”

The Exhibition Exit Pop-Up “The Summer of Love Experience: Art, Fashion and Rock & Roll,” an exhibition that ran for 115 days from April to August 2017 at the de Young Museum in California, was punctuated by a themed pop-up shop that captured visitors directly as they exited the show.

Stuart Hata, director of retail operations for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, says, “The store was designed to be an integral part of the overall exhibition experience.”

Noted local graphic designer Martin Venezky was commissioned to design the store graphics in addition to those in the exhibition as well as the exhibition catalog. “The result was a consistent and integrated experience from a graphic design perspective,” Stuart says. “This aesthetic approach allowed for a comprehensive look and feel of the exhibition and tied the exhibition merchandising directly to the art on view.”

Many exclusive products were derived from objects in the exhibition, and Stuart says they sold very well and fulfilled the educational mission to tie artworks on view with the products sold to visitors. “One of the most successful items was a limited-edition, signed and numbered silkscreen poster created by legendary Summer of Love poster artist Stanley Mouse especially for our exhibition store,” he says. The poster retailed for $550, and they sold more than 150 posters along with more than 2,500 t-shirts featuring the same design.

(top and above) de Young Museum

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Columbia River Maritime Museum

Key takeaway: Blue calls the popup store the “best stock room ever” as they use it in peak times for extra merchandise that normally couldn’t fit on the floor, but that they may need to restock quickly.

The Event-Specific Pop-Up

The exit store was so successful, says Stuart, that during busy weekends, the store could get so crowded that visitors had a difficult time shopping.

“This was not a bad problem to have!” he adds.

Key takeaway: Pop-up exhibition stores greatly enhance the visitor experience of special, temporary exhibitions, says Stuart, and collaborating with the exhibition design, graphics, and publications departments to ensure an integrated look and feel greatly contributes to the overall success of the exhibition.

The Seasonal Pop-Up In addition to increased revenue, Blue Anderson of the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon has found a couple of other positives to creating a pop-up shop. She says they put a pop-up shop in the storeadjacent meeting rooms—timed to the opening of a new exhibition or 3-D movie for spring break weekend and closing around Labor Day—about 5 years ago in part to halt the problem of outside groups taking up parking spaces during the busy season.

Summer hires maintain the space and

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act as ushers for the movie theater.

There is no cash register system, and posted signs say, “please pay in the store.”

Blue cites as a big positive the ability to expand the merchandise selection, “items we wouldn’t have room for or wouldn’t normally carry,” with an annual theme. “For example, one year we had the Sea Rex 3-D, film and we did a dinosaur store, which we would normally not have here,” she says. “This last year was a ‘survivor’ store filled with all kind of prepper, hunting, and emergency items.”

Each pop-up allows Blue to stretch her creative wings, and she adds, the members look forward to seeing fresh, sometimes quirky, items that come in for each theme.

Although she says the stores have been successful, she believes sales might increase with a dedicated person manning the space. “Not everyone sees the sign, and I imagine we’ve had people walk out because they don’t know what to do about paying,” she says, adding, “Surprisingly, we’ve had very little theft from there, even without a full-time staff.”

As the director of retail operations at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, Adriana Regalado has been creating popup shops for the museum’s public programs initiative “Women, Arts and Social Change,” specifically the Fresh Talk Series, which expands the dialogue on what it means to be champions of women through the arts. Programs feature curated conversations with leading innovators and thought leaders from a range of disciplines discussing cause-driven topics that are relevant to diverse audiences today, and Adriana curates different kinds of pop-up shops to support whatever the conversation of the evening might be.

“For example, for a Fresh Talk that was focused on how makers can change the world, I brought in five local makers that I regularly work with. They each had a table in the great hall, and it was a great addition to the event,” she says. “For another talk that was focused on the ‘new superwoman of the universe,’ I bought comic books and merchandise related to the speakers and superwomen.”

Key takeaway: Adriana emphasizes the these pop-ups have been a really great partnership between departments that has encouraged other initiatives and partnerships between the departments in the museum.

The Inaugural Event Pop-Up Terry Kreider, of the Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, took advantage of the first-ever Ephrata Unexpected (an event raising funds for the public library in nearby Ephrata, PA) to pop up a smaller version of her museum store. And although attendance was not high—not unexpected for a new event—she says it went very well.

Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum

The time commitment was significant.

Terry says they spent two weeks mocking up the display in an unused room and planning the inventory.

Even with meticulous preparation, on the morning of the event, it took an hour to load and another hour to unload and set up displays— populating the displays took another 1.5 hours. Tear down was 1.5 hours of breakdown and packing, one hour to unload, and a few hours the next day to put everything away. When considering the payroll involved, she says they barely broke even.

Overall, she says, “We did better than my worst fear, but not as much as I had hoped; however, I believe we will see people from this event coming to the store in the future now that they know what we offer.” She adds, “It was good to bring the store to the public and remind them we exist or introduce them to what we do. We got a lot of great feedback; my favorite comment was, ‘I love the feel of this store!’ I worked hard to bring the heart and soul of our museum to the pop up shop.”

Key takeaway: “I’m glad I spent the amount of time I did mocking up the setup, including populating the stand with inventory,” Terry says, adding that she will do the same thing before the next one. She says simplification would be nice, but keeping the feel of the living history museum is more important.

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thank you As MSA celebrates the exciting and lucrative launch of Museum Store Sunday, we wanted to take a moment and express our gratitude to the sponsors that helped make it all happen.

Founding Sponsors AmericasMart Atlanta Museum Store Products, Inc. NY NOW Popcorn Custom Products Vielä Jewelry

Charter Sponsors 1000Museums powered by Art Authority Andoniadis Retail Services Applewood Books, Inc. Ari Lowenstein, Emergent Workshop Charter Art of Museums

Big Hairy Dog Boston Exclusives Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art David Howell and Company Dona Scarves Doyle & Associates Retail Consultants Found Image Press Gabriel Ofiesh Jewelry Galison/Mudpuppy Haggin Museum Ione Saroyan, MSA vice president 2017–18 Julie Steiner, MSA president 2017–18

Kamibashi Karine Sultan Lane Sanson MP Barcelona, Inc. Museum Masterworks, Inc. Museums.co Paul Stewart-Stand & Nik Castronova Schiffer Publishing Susan Tudor, MSA 2nd vice president 2017–18 The Barnes Foundation Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Winter Design Group

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The Florida Chapter meeting included a visit to the Lightner Museum’s exhibition “Dressing Downton, Changing Fashion Times”

chapter by chapter

Image David Graveen, Popcorn Custom Product

Over the course of the fall, MSA chapters met throughout the country. Here, they share their educational and experiential activities.

North Atlantic Chapter members at Applewood Books

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North Atlantic Chapter, Sept. 10–11 he North Atlantic Chapter meeting was hosted by the deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Among the highlights of the two-day meeting were excursions to Ellen Bragalone’s Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Liz Adrian’s Institute of Contemporary Art located on Boston’s waterfront. Longtime MSA supporters Phil Zuckerman and Sue Cabezas of Applewood Books hosted a networking event at their location in Carlisle, Massachusetts, at which Phil launched his Book Party van and showcased the ability to take mobile book binding and on-demand printing “on the road.” A chapter dinner was held at Concord’s historic Colonial Inn, which dates to 1716.

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The North Atlantic Chapter excursion to the ICA, Boston

Raymond McKenzie (Filoli, Woodside, California) and Maria Kwong at the Western Chapter’s Friday reception

Educational sessions included Laura Murphy’s Museum Store Sunday workshop, “Everything You Need to Know to Make the First MSS a Success in Your Store,” and at the end of Margo Pyne and Samantha Linnane’s session, attendees enjoyed a scavenger hunt, during which they scoured the beautiful deCordova Sculpture Park grounds for treasure—product development idea gold, that is!

— Thanks to Kate Botelho, Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island, North Atlantic Chapter President

Western Chapter, Oct. 13–15 The Western Chapter meeting was held in Los Angeles, hosted by Maria Kwong from the Japanese American National Museum; additional Western Chapter members shopping at the Los Angeles Library Foundation Store

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A donor contributed $5 million for the Huntington to build this new 5000-square-foot store; the Library’s store was part of a Western Chapter panel on store design.

arrangements were kindly made by Andrew Uchin from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. Maria and Andrew helped with everything from meals and transportation to putting together a great educational session on museum store design.

Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting attendees make mandalas and learn about art therapy.

Along with Andrew, store design panel participants, who shared insights and lessons, were Janice Bartczak of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association; Christine Romero of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles; Janet Crockett of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino; and Shelley Stephens of Stephens + Associates. Shelley moderated the discussion and shared project photos. Then, Frank Joens from the LA Mart opened the doors for meeting participants to shop.

The weather was spectacular, and over the course of three days, attendees visited six museums and examined the varying merchandise styles, relationship of stores to their institutions, and how product development was approached.

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Courtesy of Steve Santangelo, Popcorn Custom Products

Friday’s reception came thanks to Naghmeh Monadjemi at the Annenberg Space for Photography; the event included a docent-led tour of the current exhibition, which has a focus on Cuba.

Thanks are also due to the chapter officers: Vice President Diana Weintraub of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Secretary Jennifer Barnella of the Phoenix Art Museum also in Arizona.

— Thanks to Michael Silverman, Oakland Museum of California, Western Chapter President

Mid-Atlantic Chapter, Oct. 14–16 The Mid-Atlantic Chapter meeting took place in Princeton, New Jersey in midOctober, and included a guided tour of the Princeton University campus and the University Art Museum hosted

by Manager of Retail and Wholesale Operations Christine Hacker. Attendees created mandalas while learning the true meaning of art therapy in a session with Julia Anderson from

Courtesy of Steve Santangelo, Popcorn Custom Products

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter meeting included a sculpturefocused tour of the Princeton University grounds.

Sheppard Pratt Health System in Baltimore (organized by Chapter President Sheppard Pratt’s Patricia Toth). They also learned about millennials in “The Generation Shopper,” a session led by Chapter Secretary Aubrey Herr from Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum.

Special thanks to Patricia, Aubrey, and Chapter Vice President Colleen Higginbotham of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia.

— Thanks to Steve Santangelo, Popcorn Custom Products

Florida Chapter, Oct. 20–23 Thirty-two MSA members plus two nonmember attendees and vendors met in Jacksonville for the Florida Chapter Meeting October 20–23. The weekend began with a Friday night meet-and-greet at the oceanfront Marriott Sawgrass’ Cabana Beach.

On Saturday, guests carpooled to St. Augustine, where Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon discovered Florida on his search for the legendary Fountain of Youth. Attendees toured the Lightner Museum’s exhibition “Dressing Downton, Changing Fashion Times.” Lunch was at the Fountain Drinking from the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida

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Golf carts are the best way to tour the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

of Youth Archaeological Park—a tasting of mineral water from the fountain rejuvenated everyone. The afternoon included stops at the City of St. Augustine Visitor Center, historic St. George Street, the Oldest Wooden School House, the Pirate & Treasure Museum, the Colonial Quarter and then across the Bridge of Lions to experience the St. Augustine Alligator Zoological Park, followed by a tour and tasting at the St. Augustine Distillery.

Florida Chapter meeting attendees at the St. Augustine Alligator Zoological Park

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens hosted Sunday’s business meeting, a timely round-table discussion on disaster preparations and recovery, vendor presentations, and a docentled tour of the permanent collection, which included a peek at the hurricane-ravaged historic garden. Sunday afternoon, the group visited the CORK District in the historic Riverside area of Jacksonville, where local artists were available and working in their studios.

Looking Ahead The Pacific Northwest Chapter meeting is slated for Saturday, January 20, 2018, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. The meeting will coincide with Seattle Market Week. A sponsored networking dinner will be scheduled, thanks to the generosity of Original Source, and three $100 scholarships to help offset travel and lodging costs will be offered, courtesy of the David Howell Company. For more information, contact Ann Bronson, Chapter Vice President, at store@crmm.org.

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On Monday Luke Vaillancout presented a session titled “Millennial Shoppers, Social Media Advantages for Your Store & Link Partner Use.” The weekend concluded with attendees visiting the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass to experience the infamous 17th hole and stadium golf course.

— Thanks to Lisa Cronin, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida

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member stories from florida In the wake of Hurricane Irma, we checked in with members up and down the coast.

Key West: “A Really Tight Haircut” The building, a brick behemoth from 1891, took the storm like the champ she is.”

The courtyard of Fort East Martello in Key West, which normally floods a little in a rainstorm, held four feet of standing saltwater after Hurricane Irma.

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By Daniel Ayers-Price, Director of Retail Operations, Key West Art and Historical Society ne of the aspects of living in the Florida Keys is knowing that “the big one” will happen at some point. We all tend to be a very independent lot and are known as the Conch Republic for a reason. We even attempted to secede from the United States back in the 1980s and establish our own independent country, so this gives you an insight into our “don’t tell me what to do” attitude. It is fairly typical for locals not to evacuate for a storm, knowing that the mountains of Cuba are generally our savior.

Storms hitting the mountains break down, and we are protected from the brunt of the force. Since we are literally closer to Havana than Miami, you will always hear our residents speak fondly of our Cuban neighbors. Seasoned residents even carry on full conversations in Spanglish, and everyone understands what is being said.

Irma, however, was such a huge storm that a lot of people really took notice. It was eventually estimated that 70% of the residents did evacuate. I chose not to leave as my condo building is a category 5–rated building, and I’m on the fourth floor. We also thought that the storm was going through the straits between Key West and Cuba, not knowing (after losing radio) that it had turned and was heading straight for us. The eye hit between 10 and 12 miles north of Key West, and the devastation will take years to recover from. Between 160-mph wind and 10-foot tidal surges, there are entire neighborhoods that are simply no longer there.

Key West, on the other hand, certainly has no right to complain even though we received a really tight haircut and lost literally thousands of trees, including some seriously huge statement trees six feet in diameter. The building damage in Key West was mostly caused by tornadoes spun off from the storm itself. We fared better than the Middle Keys with our winds being in the 100- to 125-mph range and almost no storm surge.

Being the only senior director of our museums left on the island, it fell on my shoulders to ensure that all was OK after the storm. On Sunday afternoon, after the winds subsided, I ventured out to see what I would find.

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Driving toward our Lighthouse Museum reminded me of the television series Life Without People. The streets were not really even passable due to downed trees, sand banks, and storm water.

I even drove around two sailboats that were sitting in the middle of one street. A normal 10-minute drive to the Lighthouse took me almost 40 minutes, but I was able to get into the driveway. The lawn was not visible for all the downed trees and general plant debris, but it was a good sign that all the fencing was intact. Going into the store with no power, no phones, no cell service or Internet was incredibly sad, almost to the point of being creepy. The Lighthouse sits, for obvious reasons, on one of the highest points on the island. The store was pristine to my amazement. No water damage, no roof damage, and other than being 97° inside, it was fine. We ultimately did lose some books due to the high humidity and lack of air conditioning, but that was it. I was able to determine that the rest of the property buildings were in good shape but that roughly 50% of the gardens were simply gone along with all the signage for the property.

From there, I ventured on to our headquarters at the original federal building, the Custom House Museum of Art & History. The building, a brick behemoth from 1891, took the storm like the champ she is. Sitting right on the waterfront, I was amazed at the lack of damage. Not a single thing was out of place in the store or in any of the galleries. Digging deeper, I did realize that the air conditioning plant took a huge hit, and we lost a couple of downspout pipes and a piece of flashing; otherwise, the only major damage was losing 100% of our gardens. The generator was churning away until we ran out of diesel three days later.

My final stop was Fort East Martello, our Civil War Union fort, on the south side of the island. The inner courtyard floods slightly during a normal

The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum’s boardwalk just after the storm (left) and after a week of cleaning and repairs (right).

South Central: Major Wind Destruction The Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum is located in Clewiston, a small town on the southwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee and on the Big Cypress Seminole reservation. Although it didn’t bear the brunt of the storm, “hurricanes are a disaster that all of our staff prepares for well in advance,” says Retail Manager Rebecca Petrie. “With an unintentional ‘practice’ run for last year’s Hurricane Matthew, we were as ready as possible for Irma.”

The museum building sustained little to no damage, but Hurricane Irma felled trees and branches, and they were without power for at least 11 days. Generators kept the temperature controlled, working well enough to protect the artifacts, and all staff were asked to stay home from September 7 through 18, when they returned for cleanup and restoration of the galleries, store, and grounds.

They opened the museum store the following day. Although the museum itself remained closed, visitors did wander in to shop. “I was surprised by the number of people who seemed oblivious to the fact that we were only a week out from the storm!” Rebecca says. The museum reopened all galleries and half of the boardwalk on September 25 and was completely open on October 4.

Interestingly, since Irma, Rebecca says, visitation has increased 67.6% compared with the same time period in 2016, and retail sales are up more than 300%. “This is a retail trend that I hope will continue without additional storms,” she says. “I also hope that the other stories from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria are as happy, but I fear they are not.”

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The grounds of the Custom House Museum of Art & History in Key West suffered extensive damage.

rainstorm, so I was curious as to what I would find after Irma. Once I got inside the store and realized that it was OK, I went to check the courtyard only to find it about four feet deep in salt water. A huge gumbo limbo tree had crashed through a window, four additional windows were broken, exterior light fixtures gone, all the signage gone, the cupola roof gone, sculpture pieces overturned, water leaking into one of the gallery rooms, and the observation deck severely damaged. There was even a four-foot-long iguana, dazed and confused, wandering down one gallery hallway! We lost roughly half of our gardens there. It will take us a while to put the Fort back together, sadly.

Trees crashed through windows at Fort East Martello.

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I knew that my fellow staff members who evacuated would not be allowed to return for days or weeks and that I would be faced with being “the Dad,” as my boss said, for the foreseeable future.

I am so proud that my parents instilled a work ethic into me. It is so absolutely overwhelming to see the sheer devastation that it becomes hard to focus on any one thing—monumentally overwhelming. Just being able to start working, knowing that you are the one to get it done, is a credit to my folks. Seeing neighbors helping neighbors along with people offering up their food and water without hesitation were all things that remind me of our city motto “One Human Family.” When we finally had a landline phone somewhat restored, I spent two hours calling evacuated staff members to let them know that all was okay. Just seeing how everyone pitched in to help each other really took the edge off the task of cleaning up. Two weeks in and I counted 17 cuts, scrapes, and bruises on my legs and arms from hauling debris—along with having a big gash in my head from tangling with other debris. At that point, I realized that it was OK to just let go and cry it out. Who knew it was possible to run a chainsaw and cry like a baby at the same time! It really helped, and I now understand what folks with PTSD must go through.

The Cummer Museum’s historic gardens will be years in recovery.

Getting all three museums back up and running was our first priority after damage assessment. The outpouring of concern from our wonderful MSA Vendor Members and from my fellow colleagues has been overwhelming. I received dozens of messages, most that I couldn’t even see until services were restored, asking about us, offering help, realizing that shipments should be held for a while, extending terms and even offering their homes if we needed to leave. I don’t have the words to begin to give my thanks for the kindness extended.

Key West will always be a draw for visitors. We will have a month or two of being lean, but then all will return to normal. When I mentioned to our executive director that our chapter meeting was going forward but that we might not be able, financially, for me to go, his response was “Oh, you are going!” I am also grateful for the internal support that I am given on a daily basis and for the support of MSA. I realize that everyone isn’t as lucky.

We are already in the process of tweaking our storm plan for the society. Changes need to be made to our generator system, our stormwater drains, how the art archives are secured, and to our landscaping plan.

Even simple things like having water to flush the toilet and cleaning out the staff fridge are things not to be overlooked. The staff were all excellent in making sure we knew where each other was, and when we had basic phones back, we all checked in with each other regularly. I even now have a secret MacGyver bag of tools set aside just for emergencies like this.

With each storm, it seems a new lesson is learned. Let’s just hope there is no reason to learn any new lessons anytime soon.

North to Jacksonville: Devastated Gardens Susan Tudor, manager of visitor services and store buyer for the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville, says that the building and the Cummer Shop, which sit 10 feet above the river, were not affected by Hurricane Irma other than the loss of business for nearly a week.

The destruction occurred in the estate museum’s three historic gardens, which were cultivated in the early part of the 1900s and are located directly on the St. John’s River. “It is heartbreaking to say the least,” Susan says. During the storm surge, the river is estimated to have risen four feet and caused flooding that lasted up to 24 hours. “The salinity of the water devastated all the living matter,” she adds. “The gardens have been closed since the flooding and will remain so indefinitely.”

The impact on the institution will continue well into the future. “We hold special events, including weddings, concerts, tours, and general admission visits in the gardens,” Susan says. “It literally represents half of the Cummer Museum’s collection. The indirect impact is yet to be determined.”

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advertorial

Art & Architecture A new series by Department 56

by Melinda Seegers

When iconic American architecture of the 20th Century is discussed, the name Frank Lloyd Wright always come to mind. In a deliberate attempt to create a style that was organic and uniquely American, Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Prairie Style” is easy to distinguish. Department 56 is proud to partner with the Frank Lyoyd Wright Foundation to introduce several homes that truly reflect the vision and style of this iconic architect.

The artists at Department 56® have been designing little lighted houses in porcelain and ceramic for over 40 years and are constantly inspired by stunning examples of real architecture both here in the United States and abroad. They look at current architecture and photos of buildings that no longer exist. The new “Art in Architecture” series features a number of iconic architectural landmarks and the series was also inspired by several memorable paintings by well-known American painters.

One of the first well-known structures tackled by in-house Village artist, Tom Bates, was the Chrysler Building in New York City. Designed by architect William Van Alen in a classic art-deco style, the building featured a number of automotive inspired designs as an homage to the motor city giant for whom it was named. At a cost of $20 million, the building was opened to the public in 1930. “This was always a piece I thought would be perfect for our Christmas in the City series,” remarked Bates. “It is recognizable, has interesting characteristics and would be tall enough to stand out in any Village display.” He was delighted when opportunity came and the Village piece, made of porcelain and lighted on both the exterior and interior, became a reality.

Inspired by a 1942 painting by American artist, Edward Hopper, “Nighthawks” proved to be an interesting challenge to Department 56 artists who had to create the exterior of a building when Hopper concentrated his efforts on the interior view of the diner. Meant as an insight into urban American culture of the time, Hopper choose to look at what was going on inside rather than the architecture of the diner itself. Extensive research was done to insure that the building reflected what Hopper focused on.

Another classic American painting aptly titled “American Gothic” by artist, Grant Wood, is an image instantly recognized by almost everyone. Wood was an unknown painter living with his mother and sister in an apartment over a funeral home at the time, but this snapshot of Midwestern American life thrust him into the national spotlight. Wood, originally from Iowa won a bronze medal and cash prize of $300.00 for the painting at an annual exhibition at the Chicago Institute of Art in 1930. Tom Bates was also the artist who designed this piece, told us that “because the painting is so well known, it was important to be absolutely true to the original.” And because the stoic couple in the forefront of the painting were an integral part of the story, another Department 56 artist, Tate Yotter, who specializes in figure drawing, drew the figurine that is part of the set. “The couple, surprisingly, is not a couple. The farmer was a local dentist and the woman was his sister.”

What makes these, and other pieces so popular, is that they appeal to our dedicated Village collectors, to those who love architecture and to those who enjoy having a piece of Americana, and perhaps iconic buildings from places they live or places they have visited. Department 56, the leader and gold standard in lighted collectible Villages and fine giftware, is part of the Enesco family of brands and is located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

vendor story: MP Barcelona The American branch of this Spanish company is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the United States.

Even 10 years ago … MP Barcelona … understood what an important market the museum store world would be for them.”

m

P Barcelona, Inc., is the New York offshoot of Barcelona-based Ming Productions, which has been developing products that grace the shelves of museum stores throughout Europe for more than 20 years. Ming Productions’ little sister company established itself in the United States in 2007 to bring the company’s extensive knowledge and expertise to the nonprofit retail market throughout North and South America.

Even 10 years ago, the people behind MP Barcelona, including Sales Director Tina Rohatsch, understood what an important market the museum store world would be for them. “Our very first goal of setting up business back then was becoming a member of the Museum Store Association,” Tina says, adding that the MSA community is “our niche market” and as proud members, they have not missed a Conference and Expo since then.

The MP Barcelona catalog contains products that are sourced from all over the world, including high-quality stationery—pens, pencils, erasers, and a wide variety of notebooks, sketchbooks, and journals—and accessories, such as backpacks, key chains, umbrellas, and much, much more. Each is fun and functional, and most can be printed with custom graphics, such as logos and exhibition images. MP Barcelona’s focus blends aesthetically pleasing design and originality with form, fit, and function; the products are beautiful and usable.

Tina cites her tight-knit, dedicated team as another reason for the success of the company and the symbiotic relationship with its many museum store clients around the country and the world. “I am very lucky and happy to be working with MP Barcelona,” she says. “I love my job, especially when working on exhibitions and core collections for products with artists that I love and admire.” Tina is an artist—a painter—herself, so one of the perks of her job is discovering new artists, she says, “that are not new artists, but new to me!”

In addition, being a part of MSA has been a highlight. “I put a high value on the work relationships and friendships that have come from my job and the MSA community,” she says.

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Donor Story:

Joe Langman, Self-Described Sales Therapist, Schiffer Books MSA says “Thank you” to a devoted supporter and valued member.

S

chiffer Books’ Joe Langman comes from an art history and fine arts background. He has worked in book sales and book publishing since 1982, and he has been with Schiffer Books since 1991. For many years, the Museum Store Association has been a key connection for Schiffer Books. The company has more than 6,000 active titles in print, and many of the books have direct connections to MSA and its member institutions. “We publish books on art, architecture, decorative arts and antiques, crafts, and military and aviation history,” he says. “We also publish children’s books and book on mind, body, and spirit.”

When it came to the decision to make a donation to MSA, Joe says, “All of us at Schiffer Books believe that the MSA is a very important part of our business plan. We value our partnerships with our museum stores and want to continue to work with museums to produce beautiful books that will sell in museum shops for years.”

Joe considers MSA to be an organization worthy of support, he says, because “ We value the relationships and want to support MSA the best way we can.”

Support the Museum Store Association at museumstoreassociation.org/donate

“MSA is one of my and Schiffer Books’ favorite organizations.”

— Joe Langman

Buyer’s Guide

Buyer’s Guide A selection of products ideal for museum stores of all varieties.

Found Image Press High-quality paper and gift products printed on demand from an extensive vintage image archive covering every topic, place, holiday, and occasion.

Let us help you design a collection specifically for your store. Custom product development program available with quick turnaround times and low minimums. Made in the USA! Found Image Press foundimage.com (800) 927-3722 See ad on page 9

EDC Publishing In this exciting book, Usborne Pop-Up Christmas, you’ll find pop-up snowflakes, a snowman that Santa’s elves have built, the elves’ workshop, Santa on his sleigh flying over a town, and a magnificent pop-up tree with lots of presents on Christmas morning.

EDC Publishing (800) 475-4522

edcpub.com See ad on page 25

Lucuma Designs Department 56 Department 56 introduces the new “Art in Architecture” series. It features a number of iconic architectural landmarks along with several pieces inspired by memorable paintings by well-known American painters. Each lighted piece is exquisitely designed, cast with special attention to the details, and hand-painted.

Department 56 (651) 964-4092

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department56.com See ads on pages 3, 36

Our new collection of painted ceramic animal ornaments comes straight from the hands of our talented Peruvian artists.

Inspired by the fun good-luck charms of the Andes, the bright colors will make you smile.

Lucuma Designs (877) 858-2862

lucuma.com

Buyer’s Guide

Maruca Design Maruca bags are renowned for their custom textiles and lightweight function. All textiles are designed in house and woven in U.S. mills. Each bag is crafted in Boulder, Colorado. Spring/Summer 2018 is now available. Contact us for a wholesale catalog.

Maruca Design (800) 344-2595

marucadesign.com See ad on page 9

American Heritage® Chocolate An authentic, historic line that celebrates chocolate’s role in the lives of Americans in the 1700s. All natural, with no preservatives, American Heritage® Chocolate is mildly spicy and slightly sweet, containing 63% cacao. American Heritage® Chocolate is made by Mars Chocolate North America.

American Heritage® Chocolate (800) 800-7046

americanheritagechocolate.com See ad on the back cover

ad index Solmate Socks Holiday socks for the whole family!

Last year, customers were delighted with the introduction of the red and green mistletoe socks. With the new humbug socks for kids and babies, you can now dress the whole family in coordinating Christmas socks.

Baby sets come as two pairs + one spare; kids sets come as one pair + one spare.

American Heritage Chocolate........ BC

Solmate Socks (802) 765-4177

Messe Frankfurt..............................31

socklady.com See ad on page 24

Department 56............................3, 36 Design Masters.................................5 EDC Publishing................................25 Évocateur.........................................39 Found Image Press............................9 Maruca Design..................................9 Nativa.................................................7 Popcorn Custom Products............. IFC Solmate Socks.................................24 Thames & Hudson...........................37 Timber Green Woods.......................20 Wild Attire..........................................5 Workman Publishing........................35

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