Museum Store Summer 2015

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Museum Store A PUBLICATION OF THE MUSEUM STORE ASSOCIATION

THE EMV CHANGEOVER: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW

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UNDER THE RADAR: USEFUL IDEAS THAT MAY NOT HAVE OCCURRED TO YOU

SUMMER 2015

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MERCHANDISING VS. DISPLAY: GOOD DESIGN PRACTICES

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Summer 2015 | Volume 43 | Issue 2

FEATURES

32 Merchandising vs. Display

If merchandising is the housekeeping, display is the icing on the cake— how to maximize them both.

by Lyn M. Falk

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Mary Rose Museum: Redefining Our Standards After this museum’s splashy grand opening in 2013, sales dipped, which prompted a new focus on standards.

by Paul Griffiths

MANAGING EDITOR

Dana R. Butler dbutler@museumstoreassociation.org

MUSEUM STORE ASSOCIATION 3773 E. Cherry Creek North Dr., Suite 755 Denver, CO 80209 Phone (303) 504-9223 Fax (303) 504-9585 info@museumstoreassociation.org museumstoreassociation.org

SKIES AMERICA PUBLISHING COMPANY ART DIRECTOR

Michelle Fandrey GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jolene Johnson

ARTICLES & MORE

EDITOR

Samantha Edington

6 Letter from the Board President 8 Letter from the Executive Director 10 EMV: What You Need to Know What do the new credit card regulations mean for your business?

MUSEUM STORE MAGAZINE ADVERTISING

Mary Petillo (503) 726-4984 maryp@museumstoreassociation.org Diana Grossarth (503) 726-4986 dgrossarth@museumstoreassociation.org

by Jan Woodworth PRODUCTION MANAGER

13 Museum Store Association: 2014 Year in Review MSA has endured some challenges. Now, we look ahead to sunnier days and thriving in the new year.

14 Best Practices: Below-the-Radar Approaches MSA members offer five hot tips for imminently implementable practices that can help your store run more smoothly.

by Andrew Andoniadis

18 Bad Online Reviews: What to Do When Your Store’s Been Hit Statements made on the Internet live forever, so what do you do when a customer—rightly or wrongly—has blasted your business?

by Joe Dysart

42 Member Story Working with the Dennos Museum Center opened up the world of the Inuit people and their culture for one MSA member.

by Terry Tarnow

45 Community Updates 46 Ad Index

BUYER’S GUIDE 20 Holiday Gifts Planning ahead for the holiday season is key to ensuring a high-quality and varied selection of gift items when the end of the year rolls around.

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Cindy Pike CIRCULATION

John Mendez Museum Store magazine (ISSN 1040-6999) is published 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, 3773 E. Cherry Creek North Dr., Suite 755, Denver, CO 80209-3804 © 2015 Museum Store Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, no part of this magazine may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Museum Store Association. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Museum Store Association. Printed in the USA. On the cover: The museum store at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, UK.

FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT

standards, best practices, and YOU! n so many committee and planning meetings, we often hear about “best practices.” All businesses and organizations strive for these because they need some measure by which to gauge their own abilities to perform tasks and accomplish goals.

A number of years ago, I was privileged to work with a splendid group of colleagues from MSA to help craft the Knowledge Standards that we now use as the basis for our educational and professional training programs. Through many meetings, many edits, and much wordsmithing and research, we produced these standards and best practices for the field of nonprofit retail professionals in which we operate. Although not intended as a “document for all time,” we attempted to codify the important knowledge for those working in our specialized field to act as a guidepost for a high standard of proficiency in our businesses.

Once created, these Knowledge Standards became the basis for conference programming, publications, and webinars. Now, they form the basis for MSA’s terrific new certificate program to receive your professional designation of NRP (Nonprofit Retail Professional). Earning this designation will let your institution—and the wider world!—know that you have sought the highest level of knowledge in your profession. The eight Knowledge Standards represent the eight components toward earning the NRP designation and thus provide you that all-important framework for the standards and best practices so vital to future success in the businesses that you oversee—and in your career path!

As with any professional field, the standards and practices are adjusted over time to meet the changing needs and circumstances of the field. Our own Knowledge Standards will be reviewed by professionals within MSA to embrace those current and future trends that can be identified.

I think we all begin to notice these shifting needs—whether by networking with colleagues, reading and responding to Shop Talk, or reading compelling articles in this very magazine. The sharing of knowledge leads to the creation and sharing of best practices, which will lead to a more successful YOU!

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David Duddy MSA Board President

MSA Board of Directors PRESIDENT David A. Duddy deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum Lincoln, MA

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT Stuart Hata de Young and Legion of Honor/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco San Francisco, CA

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Julie Steiner The Barnes Foundation Philadelphia, PA

SECRETARY Michael Higdon National Building Museum Washington, DC

TREASURER Alice McAuliffe The Walters Art Museum Baltimore, MD

D I R E C T O R AT L A R G E Betsey Poole Fallingwater/Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Mill Run, PA

D I R E C T O R AT L A R G E Ione Saroyan New-York Historical Society New York, NY

VENDOR MEMBER ADVISOR David Graveen Popcorn Movie Poster Company Glastonbury, CT

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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

leading means i can’t complain t’s easy to come up with all the reasons why something isn’t working the way we want it to. I have a list of challenges in our daily work at MSA—everything from the long-lingering effects of the economic recession to how hard “info overload” makes it to effectively share useful information with MSA’s members and stakeholders.

Recently, I was visiting with several colleagues, and we were discussing the issues many associations face. After several minutes of exchanging war stories, one individual quietly made a statement that I took to heart: “Leading means I can’t complain.”

This statement rang so true that I have made it my crusade to stop whining!

A few years ago, the Museum Store Association, along with a team of wise and dedicated volunteers, sat down to develop a set of guidelines to give store operators the insight to master the business of nonprofit retailing. The MSA Knowledge Standards are guidelines to help operators continuously improve the way they operate and be successful. But to effectively implement and execute these standards in MSA member (and not-yet-member) institutions requires one special ingredient: Leadership. Staff, colleagues, senior management, and the customer don’t know the MSA Knowledge Standards, but they do witness the outcome.

The Knowledge Standards clearly outline what “good” looks like. Creating a vision for a nonprofit store isn’t difficult, and as retail managers, you have the right arrows in your quivers to achieve it.

• There’s power in managing the last impression. Often it’s the retail store that helps visitors and patrons understand the institution’s mission and carry the brand out the door.

• There’s something lyrical when the bean counters see a profit center versus a cost center. Retail managers deal in dollars and cents, and those dollars and cents contribute to the sustainability of an institution.

• MSA members have a community with great ideas and savvy solutions to help each other when challenges arise and generously cheer their success.

I have vowed to be a leader for MSA. That means I will stop whining. We face a new “economic normal” in which belts have been tightened and closer scrutiny is paid to where dollars are spent by members, institutions, and funding sources. Yep, the time I spend complaining will be better used to define the problems, issues, and needs of everyone involved. I will think innovatively. I will look for ways and ideas that haven’t yet been tried.

Some museum senior management don’t understand what goes on in the retail operations. And it’s hard to get the finance folks to shake loose funds for the store and its personnel. Or sometimes colleagues in MSA member institutions don’t understand the real value the store provides to the institution and the community. With these and the other challenges you face, how is it possible to achieve your vision? I have decided to lead, and if I do that, I won’t have time to whine. Who’s with me?

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Jama Rice Executive Director/CEO

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MSA Staff EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO Jama Rice, MBA, CAE

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Patrick Mulcahy

MEETINGS & CONFER ENCE MANA GER Jennifer Anderson

S Y S T E M S A D M I N I S T R AT O R Adriana Herald

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EMV: what you need to know

BY JAN WOODWORTH The Deadline: On October 1, 2015, the U.S. payments landscape will undergo a fundamental shift. EMV (Europay/MasterCard/Visa) will become a reality for anyone involved in the process of accepting credit and debit cards. Merchants must be in compliance with the global specifications, which are mandated and maintained by an entity known as EMVCo (for more, go to www.emvco.com/best_practices.aspx).

Fraud losses for brick-andmortar retailers dropped an impressive 60% in the UK after adopting EMV technology.

Why Are We Doing This? This technology creates universal, worldwide standards; it makes traveling and doing business overseas easier; and it increases security for both consumers and businesses. The United States reported $11 billion in credit card fraud in 2013, nearly half of the world’s credit card fraud. Fraud losses for brick-and-mortar retailers dropped an impressive 60% in the UK after adopting EMV technology.

The Technology: EMV cards contain a microprocessor that transmits, stores, and protects cardholder data. Unlike a standard magnetic card, EMV cards create a unique transaction code every time they are used. Each code is only used once, making fraud less likely to occur.

EMV technology can be processed several ways: For a contactless transaction, individuals with NFC (near field communication)–enabled cards can tap or wave the card in front of a NFC-enabled POS device and provide either a PIN or signature. With chip and PIN, the card is inserted into a POS device that keeps the card until a PIN number is provided. This is the most common worldwide. Most likely to be implemented in the United States is the chip and signature transaction. Instead of a PIN, this process requires a signature. If a transaction is under a specific floor limit, neither PIN nor signature may be required in a chip only transaction.

Boaz Yunior Wibowo/Dreamstime.com

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Liability: For retailers, the shift in liability is likely the most significant component of EMV. As of October 2015, when a fraudulent transaction occurs, financial liability for any resulting losses will fall on whichever part of the chain (merchant–processor–card issuer) is responsible for the EMV transaction not occurring. If it occurs because a consumer card is only enabled with a mag-stripe, the card issuer may be liable. But that liability can shift if the consumer is enabled with an EMV chip (contact or contactless) and the merchant doesn’t have the necessary equipment to process the transaction. Card-issuing banks are responsible for ensuring the cardholder has an EMV-enabled credit card; failure to do so can result in the card issuer being held responsible for fraud. In addition, EMV brings in new data elements that need to be passed from the merchant to the card issuers, so processors must update their networks to be able to accept and pass on that information. You, the merchant, are responsible for having an EMV-compliant and EMVcapable terminal and for working with your processor to ensure this happens.

Get Prepared: If your store or museum is not EMV ready, now is the time to begin developing and implementing your EMV plan. As a retailer, your first order of business should be to engage your credit and debit card payment processor as well as your POS provider in developing a detailed, time-sensitive EMV road map. But know that this isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. Communicate your needs and preferences. Working backward from October, create a time line that includes the steps you must take to be in compliance. And don’t forget to factor in time for training. The countdown is on.

MYTH BUSTING “EMV isn’t going to happen.”

“There’s an easy out.”

FALSE. There have been new technologies that were expected to transform the industry, which never gained much traction. However, statistics signal a different outcome for EMV. According to the Aite Group research firm, 86% of financial institutions plan to issue EMV debit cards, and by the end of 2015, 70% of credit cards in the United States will be EMV-enabled.

“Only larger merchants need to utilize EMV-compliant technology.”

FALSE. Once larger merchants make the shift, perpetrators of card fraud will, instead, pick on the smaller guys, unless they, too, have made the change.

Consumers will quickly begin to require EMV.

FALSE. Some merchants believe that by paying an annual fee they will be exempt from liability. In truth, by not upgrading to EMV-compliant equipment, they will incur increased liability for data breaches and charge-backs.

“Technology upgrades are too expensive.”

FALSE. By most estimates, the cost of EMV migration ranges from $500 to $1000 for terminal upgrades. The financial consequences of maintaining non-EMV-compliant POS technology is almost guaranteed to outweigh the price of upgrading.

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museum store association: 2014 year in review “The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost

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hroughout its 60-year existence, the Museum Store Association has successfully provided learning and unmatched networking opportunities for its members. As with most businesses, institutions, and associations, MSA faced strong headwinds during the recent recession. MSA made the tough decisions needed to regain its footing and is now a leaner and more nimble organization. In 2014, the association also had to contend with outdated policies as well as previous poorly informed decisions that weighed heavily on the organization and required steps be taken to correct course. Regardless of the source, these were unavoidable demands that had been placed on the finances of MSA during 2014. Today, as we look forward, with the guidance of the MSA board of directors and execution by the operations team, the future of the organization is on much better footing, and we look with excitement to 2015 and beyond.

...we are focused on providing our members with ever-improving tools and resources to help them with their continued success.”

MSA recognizes it has a responsibility and also a strong desire, to be as transparent as possible to its members and stakeholders. The association continues to gain new members each month and is seeing an increase in the number of renewing members. With the continued recovery of the national economy alongside redoubled efforts of MSA to improve processes and enhance member offerings, we anticipate continued membership growth throughout 2015.

In April 2015, MSA held a successful conference and expo in Hartford, Connecticut. The expo showcased vendors that displayed hundreds of distinctive items that attracted buyers in search of unique products to enhance their store’s offerings. The feedback gathered during MSA’s experience in Hartford will be used as we stage the 2016 conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Thomas Pajot/Dreamstime.com

For 2015, the goal of MSA’s board of directors and staff is to support members through enhancing the credibility of the nonprofit retailing profession. Work to help strengthen the influence nonprofit retail professionals can have throughout their institutions goes on. MSA will also continue its efforts to increase awareness of its member professionals’ significant contributions to the mission and sustainability of their institutions.

MSA still has much work to do, and we are focused on providing our members with ever-improving tools and resources to help them with their continued success. What we learned in 2014, the solutions put in place, and the valuable feedback we’ve received have put MSA on the right course as we rebuild and grow an association of which we all can be proud.

If you would like to view the 2014 Museum Store Association Annual Report visit www.museumstoreassociation.org.

MUSEUM STORE

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best practices: below-the-radar approaches

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BY ANDREW ANDONIADIS

When something works well, ask what can be added, enhanced, or increased.”

very museum store manager understands and subscribes to a number of general and nonprofit-specific retail best practices, from buying mission-related products to keeping good data. However, these don’t necessarily cover all contingencies. Here, three MSA members and I raise some lesser-acknowledged best practices that sometimes fly below the radar yet can have significant impact.

Benchmarking Publications

by Greg McKay, Associate Director of Retail Operations, Denver Art Museum Estimating accurate numbers for exhibition catalog sales is a challenge that many of us have. One of the difficulties is that not all exhibitions are the same. Coming up with a onesize-fits-all base quantity or percentage does not address the variety of factors that impact catalog sales. How can we become more effective and precise in our estimates—which are sometimes needed years in advance of an exhibition—using data to mitigate the KoolAid–infused emotional opinions of the vested parties that may have contributed to the publication? When we underestimate, we lose sales. On the other hand, overestimating can lead to a stockroom full of leftovers that take up valuable real estate, still need to be dealt with, and have caused needless financial expense to the institutions we serve.

At the Denver Art Museum, we have found data indicates there are at least three different publication types for our institution. As a result, we are creating a benchmark program based on (a) beacon exhibitions (ticketed), (b) general-admission exhibitions, and (c) collection publications. From these categories, we analyzed a number of factors from exhibitions going back to 2006, including retail price versus cost, total sales, rate of sales, attendance numbers, conversion rate, and whether the publication sold is hardcover or softcover or both. Conducting this analysis has been eye-opening, especially for publications oriented toward collections and general-admission exhibitions, which have generated considerably less in sales than beacon exhibitions. Of course, each institution is going to be different, but by doing this benchmarking exercise, it allows the data to speak for itself, without emotion, which can help shape the decisions of future publication quantity estimates.

Store Exit Interview

by Andrew Andoniadis Andres Rodriguez/Dreamstime.com A friendly exit survey can tell you a lot about how customers perceive your store.

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When it comes to getting guest reactions to various aspects of a museum visit, in my experience, subtle, proactive probing for negatives has significant value. Conducting an exit survey of visitors who leave the store without making a purchase can determine if there are consistent negative reactions to any aspect of the retail experience.

Station a nicely dressed staff member or volunteer at the exit with a name tag and a clipboard and direct him or her to reach out to people who have not bought anything (identified by the lack of a bag) by politely asking, “Did you find what you were looking for?” or a similar open-ended question. The answer(s) may provide clues as to what can be improved. The surveyor should not push back on any response but may lead a respondent back into the store if there is a specific product that might meet the visitor’s needs. Individual responses may be relatively insignificant, but trends can be illustrative and actionable.

Do More of What Works

School Bag Program

by Miriam Works, Works Consulting

by Becky Wildman, Store Manager, Ohio Statehouse

Retail managers spend so much time trying to fix problems. So my favorite retail best practice may feel counterintuitive, but it invariably has good results: Do more of what works.

A very successful program for us has been our school bag program.

We mail a packet of information to each booked school group to encourage them to come into the store and/or order souvenir bags on the day of their visit. We offer bags priced at $1, $2, $3, $4, or $5 or a custom bag created from a list of items we provide. (We back tax from the standard bags so the teacher doesn’t have to deal with change.) Each group must preorder and can order one or two different bags. We send a reminder postcard to all the groups two weeks later (very important). All bags must be paid for and picked up at one time on the day of the visit; each child cannot come in and pay for his own bag. Volunteers usually put the bags together for us, and they can include pencils, postcards, paper bookmarks, an Ohio flag, a candy buckeye, a wooden nickel, or a pen to name a few selections. We sell thousands each year.

When an aspect of your store is successful, there’s a tendency to let that area putter along, paying more attention to problem areas.

But that very human tendency leaves potential untapped. When something works well, ask what can be added, enhanced, or increased. Many stores use this approach as it relates to customer service; stores identify valuable customers and reward them with special incentives. Use this logic throughout your entire store.

Examples include identifying a merchandise department that outsells the others. Focus on improved signage, more staff education in that area, and more products to choose from. Or say one sales associate greets regulars by name. Pay attention to the associate’s method, reward him or her for going the extra mile, and ask that person to teach others. Perhaps you notice that sold products are replaced immediately on one shift, yet other shifts have holes in their displays. Find out how the reliable replacers are doing it. Recognize them and ask them to share their practices.

Andrew Andoniadis is the principal at Andoniadis Retail Services, a consulting firm that has specialized in revenue-generating strategies for museum stores for 21 years. He can be reached at (503) 629-9279, Andrew@MuseumStoreConsult.com, or www.MuseumStoreConsult.com.

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bad online reviews: what to do when your store’s been hit

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BY JOE DYSART

If people see only positive reviews,

lthough negative online reviews can sometimes be completely unsubstantiated, museum stores must face a hard truth: the Internet never forgets. Essentially, without a detailed strategy in place for dealing with negative reviews, a thumbs-down from a consumer— or a series of consumers—can stay on the web forever.

“It used to be word-of-mouth marketing from trusted friends and neighbors solely influenced a business’s ability to grow,” says Jerry Bures of Ascend Marketing Solutions. “Now, more and more, consumers are trusting online reviews from perfect strangers as much as personal recommendations from people they know, especially among younger consumers.”

they may think the reviews are being laundered.

Sue Meyer, director of merchandising at The Art Institute of Chicago, says, “Online reviews have been beneficial in generating incremental income for our museum shop website. On occasion, we deploy emails to our subscriber list that highlight customer testimonials of five star–rated products. We track their results and have frequently noted that these best-loved products continue to be best sellers the more they are marketed.”

Indeed, according to a BrightLocal (www.brightlocal.com) study, 88% of consumers surveyed said they read reviews to size up a local business. Moreover, 67% of those relying on surveys said they read up to six reviews to fully assess a business. “The significance of these stats is that it sets a benchmark for the number of positive reviews that they need,” says Myles Anderson, BrightLocal’s CEO. “With 85% of consumers reading 10 or less reviews, then we need to ensure that we have at least 10 reviews to satisfy them but, more importantly, that the most recent 10 reviews are all positive.”

Of course, the easiest way to head off a bad-mouthing is to solve the problem before it happens. Generally, consumers contact a museum store with a grievance before resorting to a flaming rant online, and one of the easiest ways to put out your antennae for this is to send an auto-generated email after each purchase, asking how the store did and implicitly volunteering to solve any misunderstandings. Solve the problem at this juncture, experts say, and you’ll be dealing with customers who do not feel they are past the point of resolution and are not eyeing their keyboard with fantasies of vengeance.

Of course, some bad reviews will still slip through—threatening to permanently damage your online reputation. At this point, experts recommend the following best practices:

©iStock.com/Pashalgnatov

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Claim free accounts to manage your reputation on the review services: Most of the major online review services, including Yelp (www.yelp.com), offer free accounts to museum stores and other businesses, which they can use to monitor positive and negative reviews that appear and respond accordingly.

Keep cool: Although it’s tempting to lambast a negative reviewer—especially if the review is unsubstantiated—resist the temptation and work to restore your reputation only after your emotions are in check. Luther Lowe, VP of public policy at Yelp, says, “When someone is using a public forum like Yelp to attack something you’re pouring your heart and soul into, a very natural response is to get emotional. Don’t. The last thing you want to do is overreact to someone online.”

Stay completely positive, if possible: Generally, the best solution is a private, offline response, one that offers a concrete solution and essentially turns a negative customer into a positive one. And if your store is in the wrong, own it and make authentic amends. “On Yelp, a business owner can respond privately or publicly,” Lowe says. “We recommend starting with a private, diplomatic response.”

Go public if you must: Unfortunately, there may be some complaints that are irresolvable via back channels, and you’ll have to go public with a response.

Take care to come off as a consummate professional truly looking to satisfy customers. Says Kathleen Fealy of KF Multimedia & Web (www.kfmultimedia. com), “The office should respond to the review in a professional manner, acknowledging the issue and stating what they are doing to correct the situation.”

we would never take down negative reviews.” Bures says, “Negative reviews add credibility when a business can show it has satisfactorily rectified an occasional but unfortunate customer experience to the satisfaction of that customer. It’s never about perfection. It’s about sincerely apologizing and fairly compensating for an honest mistake or inconvenience.”

Counter-balance negative reviews with your own online reviews domain: There will probably be instances when you’ll deal with a customer who cannot be pleased.

The next best thing is to maintain your own online review domain, and there are a number of service providers with turnkey solutions, such as Zuberance (www. zuberance.com), that will enable this.

Secure positive reviews from happy customers: Sometimes, all it takes

is a request to a pleased customer to see a glowing review pop up on your website. When you have a really positive experience with a customer, ask them to write a brief testimonial. You can create a specific page on your website and link it to your Google Maps page.

Solicit reviews from the keyboardchallenged: Customer Lobby (www. customerlobby.com), an online reviews provider, includes a service that calls your customers, solicits their feedback, and transcribes the reviews to text for easy posting. It also syndicates these reviews across the web, including Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Google, and Yelp.

Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.

Voice: (646) 233-4089. Email: joe@joedysart. com. Web: http://www.joedysart.com.

Adds Lowe, “You shouldn’t view the public comment feature as an opportunity to nitpick at slight inaccuracies within a review. Instead, it’s a chance to demonstrate to would-be customers that you’re on top of your customer service.”

Don’t be defensive: “Getting your side of the story out isn’t as important as demonstrating you can keep your cool when problems arise and that you care about customer feedback,” Lowe says.

See the value of negative reviews: Some marketers believe negative reviews add authenticity. The reason: If people see only positive reviews, they may think the reviews are being laundered. Plus, negative reviews offer a museum store an opportunity to show that the store is determined to uphold a quality standard.

Says Jane Bramberg, store manager of deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, based in Lincoln, Massachusetts, “We always want to hear only the honest feedback from our audience. If a negative review helps to make the visitor’s experience, next time around, a better one, we are all for it! With this in mind, MUSEUM STORE

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Holiday Gifts “...museum stores are the perfect middle ground between education and sheer extravagance.”

RETAIL PLANNING involves being sure you have what you need when you need it.

“Planning ahead for the holiday season is essential,” says Lori Lieske of Solmate Socks.

“Relying on last-minute buying and quick turnarounds from manufacturers is a very expensive inventory model—not to mention extremely stressful.” Donna McCafferty of The Tea Can Company agrees: “As the holiday season picks up, suppliers become busier, and lead times may increase.” For proprietary items, she adds, “You’ll want to build extra time into your ordering schedule to allow for the design process.” Says Jean Latz Griffin of CyberINK, “Letting vendors know what you plan to buy will ensure that the vendor has enough of the product. It also gives buyers a chance to change direction if a vendor has stopped selling an old standby.”

And you have to tell your story effectively. Gail Broadright, Director of Mars Properties for Mars Chocolate North America, suggests three key ways: “Display early. Display in high-traffic locations. Create eye-catching displays,” she says, adding that these practices can increase basket ring by more than 20%. “The holidays are a wonderful opportunity to showcase custom, special exhibit, and/or new collectible gift items,” says Julie Rousseau of ScreenCraft Gifts.

So why go to all this trouble? “Many shoppers who are seeking a thoughtful, inspiring gift may not think to go to a museum store even though the offerings certainly fit the bill for customers looking for art or wonder in everyday objects,” says Dileep Bhattacharya, managing director of De Novo Analytics. Yet, “customers can find meaningful and inspiring gifts that will provide more pleasure than ordinary gifts that lose their zest as soon as the next package is opened,” says Angie Whitney of Shiny Creations.

“Museums are the repository of societies: of art, science, culture, and of elements that celebrate the wonder of nature,” says Liz Ross of CoolSnowGlobes. “It is the mandate of a museum to hold up the finest examples of these categories.” Gary Zuercher of Marcorp Editions extolls the virtues of great books as gifts. “They are never the wrong style, color, or size,” he says. “And if it is attractive, like a coffee table book, it can be proudly displayed.”

“People go to museums to rediscover the heritage of human discovery and exploration, from art, paleontology, and world history to natural history and the frontiers of science,” says Bhattacharya. “Museum stores extend this spirit of openness and exploration.”

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MUSEUM STORE

“I think museum stores are the best gift stores there are,” says Ditto Nowakoski, creator of CanCan. “You will always find products that inspire and educate. You will always find the highest quality aesthetic in a museum store, yet museums and their shops are open to anyone from any background and thus are among the most socially beneficial of businesses. Museum stores are the perfect middle ground between education and sheer extravagance.”

“For the connoisseur of the unique,” says Julie C. Harris of Historical Folk Toys, “there is no better place to shop than a museum store!”

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Buyer’s Guide

Kamibashi Kamibashi’s string dolls make great gifts for all ages, all year round. We like to say that there’s one for everyone you know! Choose from our 180+ stock characters (many of whom were created with museum stores in mind) or send us a new idea that would be perfect for you. We love to hear your suggestions; that’s how Moe the Woolly Mammoth came back from extinction!

Kamibashi (828) 683-7994

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The Unemployed Philosophers Guild

Shiny Creations The Galileo thermometer and barometer combinations serve as both decorative and educational gifts and provide an activity for parents and children or siblings to take part in together. Each 17-inch-high thermometer can be used to measure temperature by noting the rising and falling floating balls while the liquid in the tube reacts to changes in barometric pressure.

Color packaging as shown.

Shiny Creations (844) 754-3291

A crash course in the world’s greatest art since the beginning of time, beginning with the cave paintings of Lascaux through Da Vinci, Degas, and Picasso and going all the way up to Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol. The bottom of the mug has detailed information on each of the works of art. Holds 16 oz.

Dishwasher and microwave safe.

The Unemployed Philosophers Guild philosophersguild.com (800) 255-8371 See ad on page 47

shinycreations.com See ad on page 31

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 Made by Mars Chocolate North America americanheritagechocolate.com (800) 800-7046 See ad on page 48

Heart the Moment

De Novo Analytics

Heart the Moment mailable, wearable Christmas crowns work as gifts as well as greeting cards. Each package includes a vintage-themed paper crown with a onesize-fits-all elastic band, a card for writing your personal message, and an envelope.

Available in 27 designs with themes including birthday, love, Mom, Dad, and others. 100% made in USA with suggested retail of $6.99.

De Novo Puzzles are construction models that foster creativity, spatial intelligence, and self-confidence. De Novo Puzzles extend the art of origami to three-dimensional space while providing a new platform to explore colorful shapes and spatial relationships.

Played individually or in groups, the puzzles encourage players to plan and implement creative strategies as they build structures with astounding beauty and dynamics.

Heart the Moment (562) 343-1011

De Novo Analytics (609) 462-7387

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heartthemoment.com See ad on page 25

MUSEUM STORE

denovopuzzles.com See ad on page 5

Hand silk-screened apparel and totes with the likeness of artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Renoir, and more.

A quality piece for the competitive retail market.

See website for exciting new designs

free shipping with a free art tote included with the order.

Use promo code: MSASU15

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Buyer’s Guide

J. Davis Studio

SM

The innerSpirit rattles by J. Davis Studio are a NICHE Award Winner and a rural American craft since 1987. The story card reads, “American Indians used rattles to ensure blessings upon their crops. Use your rattle to help rattle some rain into your life, some rain out of your life, to rattle your worries away, or (if you insist) just to keep your papers from blowing astray.”

J. Davis Studio (432) 837-3812

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JHJ Design

DesignMasters Associates Available in a variety of designs, these exquisite blown glass ornaments by DesignMasters feature your favorite full-color custom image.

Choose from the red ball (pictured), blue ball, or vintage design with antique finish. Each ornament comes with a hanging cord and is safe-packaged.

JHJ is looking to work with museums and art galleries to spread fine art and culture in the hottest trending apparel sector right now: Hosiery! A new, patented knitting process; a higher capture rate in the essence of an artwork; and comfortable wear translates into a great memorabilia or gift for museum visitors. Join us in the art of wearing socks!

DesignMasters Associates designmasters.com (757) 566-8500 See ad on page 17

JHJ Design (416) 720-8191

jhjinternational.com See ad on page 34

JMR Sculptures Jay Rotberg’s work has found its way into shops, galleries, and museums around the country.

Rotberg’s bonded resin sculptures are finished in a verdigris patina. His metal pieces are cast in zinc and finished with a pewter patina. With simplicity and quiet dignity, Rotberg’s creations capture comfort, depict abandon and joy, convey compassion and understanding, and inspire strength and hope.

JMR Sculptures (336) 389-0333

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ScreenCraft Gifts

Davin and Kesler

At ScreenCraft, we make custom gifts.

Your art, your quotes, your photos on our complete product line. Celebrate your museum, location, or exhibit with our complete line of custom marble gifts!

Coasters, magnets, ornaments, trivets, and clocks all make beautiful keepsakes of a visit as well as lovely home decor additions for your patrons. Handcrafted in the USA.

American designed, American made men’s gift items—cuff links, tie bars, money clips, business card cases, pill boxes—have been beautifully handcrafted in our Rhode Island studio for more than 30 years. Other top sellers from Davin & Kesler include earrings, letter openers, and magnifying glasses. Join the other 35 museum stores who are successfully selling Davin & Kesler.

ScreenCraft Gifts ScreenCraftTileworks.com (401) 427-2813 See ad on page 27

Davin & Kesler (401) 295-7515

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MUSEUM STORE

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Buyer’s Guide

SM

EcoSmart Designs

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EcoSmart offers museum-quality designs, all mounted on beautiful and informative backer cards, creating perfect gifts. Thousands of wonderful designs are available in a large variety of thematic categories, such as animals, zodiac, and ancient amulets.

Beautiful hardwood displays are available to showcase merchandise. Our products are very competitively priced and always handcrafted in the USA using our trademarked SafePewter metal.

EcoSmart Designs (888) 884-7090

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The Tea Can Company

Galison/Mudpuppy

The Tea Can Company offers unique gifts sure to please the senses. Our all-natural silk sachets contain loose tea hand-blended in the USA; each brews 2–3 cups or one small pot of tea. Choose from any of our 40 decadent flavors. Our specialty products can be packaged in our many house designs, or let us customize something special for your museum or exhibit.

Mudpuppy’s Keith Haring wooden magnetic shapes are fun for kids and adults. Colorful magnets of Haring’s iconic artwork turn your refrigerator into a Pop Art exhibition. Packaged in a collectible milk carton box, each set comes with 35 magnets made with 80% recycled wood and full magnetic backing. Magnetic pieces contain 80% recycled wood. Packaging contains 85% recycled paper. Printed with nontoxic inks.

Ages 3 and up.

The Tea Can Company theteacancompany.com (215) 766-2746 See ad on page 39

The Boeing Store

Galison/Mudpuppy (800) 670-7441

Available only from the Boeing Store, the deluxe edition of Higher: 100 Years of Boeing contains nearly 300 pages of inside stories and rare photographs detailing the history of the companies that make up today’s Boeing—including Douglas, Hughes, McDonnell, North American Aviation, and more—and how they transformed the world in which we live. Preorder now; expected publication date is August 4.

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MUSEUM STORE

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MUSEUM STORE

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Buyer’s Guide

Tuttle Publishing The Perfect Cube: It’s a puzzle and a game, art and design. It’s a product that delivers a unique statement to reinforce your visitors’ experiences and make them want to return for more. It’s educational and inspirational, customizable and collectible. It’s tactile, mechanical, and structurally mysterious—a new way to connect with people who are curious.

With the Japanese Origami Kit for Beginners, learn to create 20 of the most famous traditional Japanese origami models, all designed with the amateur paper crafter in mind. The kit includes a how-to DVD, a fullcolor book, and 72 beautifully designed origami folding papers. With Mind-Blowing Modular Origami, using basic geometry concepts and simple paper-folding techniques, folders can turn multiple flat pieces of paper into a dynamic three-dimensional model by deftly fitting the pieces together.

Boulding Blocks (720) 599-3298

Tuttle Publishing tuttlepublishing.com (800) 526-2778 See ad on page 7

Boulding Blocks

bouldingblocks.com See ad on page 43

Historical Folk Toys The Mini Cross-Stitch Sampler kit from Historical Folk Toys is a perfect gift for customers of historical homes and history museums, especially those that feature needlework and/or cross-stitch in their collection. A sampler was an important part of every colonial girl’s education!

The kit, designed by owner Julie C. Harris, includes 6-inch x 6-inch 11-count Aida cloth, tapestry needle, embroidery floss, color graph, history and instructions. Frame not included.

Historical Folk Toys (800) 871-1984

SM

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Daedalus Books For 35 years, Daedalus Books has been selling bargain history, visual arts, science and nature, and children’s books (to name just a few subjects)—as well as sidelines— to leading museums and independent bookstores. The Lost Journal: Dinosaur Hunter: Fossil Finders Dino Hunting Kit has a list price of $17.95, retails for $3.98, and your cost is $1.99. Creepy Critters: A Pop-up Book of Creatures that Jump, Crawl, and Fly has a list price of $15.95, retails for $6.98, and your cost is $3.49.

Daedalus Books (800) 333-5489

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MUSEUM STORE

CoolSnowGlobes Fresh yet familiar, CoolSnowGlobes represents the ultimate in concept, design, and quality snow globes. Our collection includes more than 40 designs tailored to suit a wide range of museums. For your special events and exhibitions, we also offer custom designs.

Created exclusively for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, our Glass House globe won a 2015 Buyer’s Choice award.

CoolSnowGlobes coolsnowglobes.com (888) 673-5809 See ad on page 3

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29

Buyer’s Guide

CanCan A book-shaped box containing 21 sheets of precut EVA shapes with 90 pieces in all. The 40-page booklet shows you how to assemble your castle, and suggests battle scenes for your two armies.

CanCan is a puzzle-building game using multicolored tiles on a black velvet game board. The tiles are designed to link seamlessly with color, creating an interwoven final design, different every time. It’s a family game, teaching tool, and solo meditation activity rolled into one beautiful package. It’s art in a box! All ages, 5+.

EDC Publishing edcpub.com (800) 475-4522 See ad on page 23

CanCan (206) 354-8819

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Popcorn Movie Poster Company Popcorn’s premium glassware features a wraparound imprint area perfect for printing art work. Popcorn’s “ARTpints” blend beer and culture like no other product we’ve seen.

“ARTshots” are trending as a rapidly growing segment in museums’ souvenir programs.

Designed and made in the USA. Price points range from $3.50 to $7.50.

Popcorn Movie Poster Company popcornposters.com (800) 660-1060 See ad on page 35

Tesoros Trading Company

Marcorp Editions

Tesoros Trading Company proudly offers carefully sourced folk art and handmade products from 25 countries. We have extensive Day of the Dead and Frida Kahlo–related items, including paper mache, cards, jewelry, and t-shirts. Please visit us at NY Now, the Los Angeles Gift Show, and the Las Vegas Mart.

Kirkus Reviews says this about The Glow of Paris, “A superb pictorial evocation of the City of Light, full of dazzling images and intriguing lore.” The book was awarded a gold medal by the Independent Publishers Book Awards for 2015. It features 84 blackand-white nighttime photographs of the 35 Parisian bridges along with a rich history of the bridges that spans more than 2000 years.

Tesoros Trading Company tesoros.com (512) 479-8341 See ad on page 36

Marcorp Editions marcorp-editions.com (800) 266-5564 See ad on page 46

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MUSEUM STORE

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31

Merchandising vs. Display BEST PRACTICES IMPACT HOW YOUR CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE YOUR STORE

by Lyn M. Falk

W

e’ve all been to stores in which we’re taken in by the beauty of the interior and tantalized by engaging displays and well-merchandised fixtures.

There are many variables that factor into creating these effective and beautiful interiors. And good design doesn’t stop with the finishes, fixtures, signage, and lighting.

Merchandising In simple terms, merchandising is good housekeeping. It’s presenting your products on fixtures in an organized fashion, the goal of which is to help customers quickly see and interpret the merchandise and then be influenced to purchase something.

After a store has been designed, it needs to stay well maintained, and that means fixtures need to be merchandised properly (organized, fully stocked) and displays changed frequently. Fixtures have to support and not distract from the products they hold, and displays must be strategically placed throughout the store to entice customers from point A to point B to point C. The displays need to keep customers inspired and engaged while shopping. Without these “maintenance” pieces in place, a beautifully designed store can start to look confusing with no rhyme or reason to the way fixtures are merchandised and displays are created— or it can be just plain boring. It’s important to keep the icing on the cake looking fabulous—all the time.

It is important to understand that in the United States consumers tend to read merchandise from left to right and top to bottom. This, combined with the elements and principles of design (right), are your basic tools for stocking fixtures and merchandising walls in a cohesive manner. By grouping merchandise on a fixture or wall according to size, style, color, and type, you can create a visual presentation that is easy to interpret.

The eyes are drawn to items that are alike (repeating shape, size, color).

This is why filling a fixture to the point of critical mass is important. These full fixtures attract attention and say a lot about your inventory and merchandising capabilities. Empty shelves detract from the shopping experience and reflect poorly on the retailer.

So this is all fine and good if you’re great at visual merchandising. Some people are born with the knack for it, and some can’t build a pyramid display for the life of them. It’s okay if you don’t have this innate talent. Learning some basic merchandising tools—and practice—will help you develop these latent skills.

A basic rule is to place smaller items at the top of the fixture and graduate down in size so the largest (and heaviest) items are at the bottom. Seems like an obvious tip, but when it isn’t followed, it makes for an awkward display. It proves we resonate with the principles of design when they are used appropriately.

But before we discuss the basics, it’s important to understand there is a difference between “merchandising” and “display.”

Another basic rule is to rotate your merchandise periodically.

Placing products in different locations can add

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MUSEUM STORE

new life to old merchandise. Bringing a product from the back of the store to the front or from a side shelf to an endcap can mean new life for the product.

Finally, it’s important to make sure the fixture is bathed in ambient light (all sides) and has professionally printed signage either above or on the fixture. Signs that identify product lines, products and benefits, and promotional items should

ple s Ele ments & Pgrin n ci of De si elements • Point • Line • Shape • Size • Color • Texture • Form • Weight • Illumination

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Displays

©iStock.com/agustavop It’s important to keep fixtures fully stocked to the point of critical mass.

be descriptive (using as few words as possible) and consistent in design with other signage in the store. It’s all about communicating your message quickly.

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MUSEUM STORE

Displays, on the other hand, are wellcoordinated focal points that are strategically placed throughout your store, changed regularly, and often incorporate props. Positioned properly, your customers’ feet will follow their eyes, and before they know it, they will have shopped your entire store. If you can get customers to engage in the display (pick products up, try them on, sample them), you can increase sales up to 25%.

The most successful displays have good composition. This means they utilize the elements and principles of design to bring products together in an attractive way, one that helps the viewer quickly make sense of it. The most effective principles of design include contrast, repetition, movement, symmetry, proportion, and

dominance. For example, placing nine colorful pinwheels (the same shape and style but in different sizes) beneath a ceiling fan causes the pinwheels to rotate. Movement attracts attention.

Soldiering the pinwheels also exhibits the principle of repetition, making for a strong visual statement.

Stacking products into the shape of a pyramid for 360° viewing is a quick way to get a product line to stand out from its surroundings. Hanging a large object, such as an umbrella, over a display will attract attention from a distance. Hanging something upside down gets customers to look twice and often triggers a smile if not a chuckle.

A common and effective display rule of thumb is to group items in odd numbers, that is, three, five, or seven. The visual

Egor Tetiushev/Dreamstime.com Creating a pyramid with merchandise allows it to stand out.

rhythm of odd-numbered objects lined up is more visually pleasing.

Displays should be illuminated three times brighter than their surrounding ambient light to attract attention. A simple sign can be incorporated if the display needs to tie in with a promotion or museum exhibition.

When planning your displays, be sure to determine a theme—seasonal, reflective of a museum exhibition, lifestyle-oriented, linked to a community event, humorous.

Themes coordinate your artistic efforts, and themes that evoke a positive emotion are often followed by a purchase.

Don’t forget the importance of price points. Consumers need elbow room when shopping for high-end products.

This means providing more negative space around the product, so sometimes a single item can take center stage. The lower the price point, the more the volume of products in the display can increase.

And when selecting props to accompany a display, be sure to use quality consistent with the price point.

Finally, here are some questions you can ask to rate the effectiveness of your display. Is it simple? Does it incorporate a theme? Does it incorporate interesting and relevant props? Does it have good composition? Does it attract and hold attention long enough to get a customer engaged? Does it tell a story (quickly)?

Does it stimulate interest in the product line? Does it create desire for the product?

Does it move the customer to buy?

If you’re still not sure you can take on the role of visual merchandising and you don’t have an employee with either the knack or desire to learn, then reach out to your local college or tech school. There are often students looking to build a portfolio of

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MUSEUM STORE

ing Pla n ning& Blau dysget for Disp Get Organized

1.

CanCan

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is an all-ages puzzle-building game using multicolored tiles on a black velvet game board.

CanCan is all about

C O L O R.

Start around October by creating a 12-month, January through December, calendar for displays.

2. Note all major events

for which you need to plan display changes: holidays, seasons, traveling exhibitions, special events, sales, and promotions. Note when displays will go up and when they will come down.

3.

Determine the display areas in your store: windows, focal points, mannequins, pedestals, showcases.

Determine how often each one will get changed and which ones will tie into major events.

It’s a family game, picture-making activity and teaching tool rolled into one beautiful package. One to four players.

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4. Determine product lines to be featured.

5. DeďŹ ne a budget for each major display change.

6. Schedule staff members (or

7. Evaluate the success of

the display and make notes for future display planning sessions.

PWIrTHoDdAEuDAcLUtS

WE BUY & SELL

students) to • design displays • create/ďŹ nd props • create signage • install displays • illuminate displays • take down displays

Move your

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MARY ROSE MUSEUM:

redefining our standards After a splashy opening, a drop in numbers required a reevaluation and return to one museum’s best practices.

BY PAUL GRIFFITHS HEAD OF OPERATIONS, MARY ROSE MUSEUM want to start by taking you back to last summer. After the initial euphoria of the opening of our new £35m ($54.5m) museum in May 2013 (Museum Store, Winter 2014) had started to die down and visitor numbers became manageable, we needed to switch focus to the more day-to-day operations and ensure

I

Visitors are welcomed both via signage and personally by the staff upon entrance to the museum.

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MUSEUM STORE

we were improving our previously neglected key performance indicators, such as spend per head and guidebook sale strike rates.

As with all things at the Mary Rose, from the original dives to the raising and then the building of the new museum, what happened next was all about teamwork. I called a meeting of all my managers from across departments, including retail, visitor services, events, and education, to develop our offering and share ideas on how to improve sales and our visitor’s experience of the museum and store—there was plenty of coffee and plenty of biscuits. Nothing was off limits from the discussion, and within a week, we had a paper ready for the board to show our new strategy for retail at the Mary Rose.

One of our clear issues was that sales of our souvenir guidebooks had dropped dramatically in mid2014. Coming from our meeting was an understanding of some potential reasons for the decrease in sales and a resultant plan to reconfigure our “visitor welcome.” At the opening of the museum, we were on a timed ticket system, and we were concentrating on getting our visitors into the museum as close to their scheduled time as possible. This meant they were being corralled into the entrance via a snake layout—both welcome and sales were carried out along the queue as we were experiencing up to 120 visitors every half hour. With the introduction of the free-flow system, this failed to be effective and became confusing for

visitors. Our new solution is to pulse our visitors into the museum, which allows us time to interact with every visitor. The new layout allows visitors a welcome conversation with a member of the team on arrival making use of the previously redundant central desk and thus creating a confident and clearly defined space. (Tickets are purchased at a visitor center at the entrance to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, so there is no transaction at the museum.)

Once the layout issue was resolved, we were able to introduce a standard of what we expected all our staff to say to guests on arrival, giving them a warm welcome and promoting the sale of our guidebooks. Every visitor now receives a personal welcome—with a smile—from a member of our front of house (FOH) staff and is offered a guidebook. Meet-and-greet staff are trained to engage with the visitors and be ready to offer the following as appropriate to the guest: leaflets for foreign visitors, trails for families with children, MP3 players with a museum tour or large-print textbooks for each gallery for the visually impaired, the loan of small stools for extra seating.

We went live with this new layout on August 1, 2014, and in that month, guidebook sales increased by 50%— and visitors got a much smoother and engaging welcome.

Following our initial customer service training that occurred preopening, the training plans were to continue with customer service refreshers for the staff. Last year’s discussion with my team led to the decision to look

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The entire staff at the Mary Rose is wellversed in the store’s stock of artifact replicas. As such, when a visitor expresses interest in an item in the galleries, if a replica is sold in the store, a staff member can recommend it.

for fresher ideas around customer service and to include an element of essential sales training; something that is often overlooked in the museum world. In early autumn, myself and one of my FOH managers, James, attended a course titled “Customer Service: Selling Skills” arranged by the Association for Cultural Enterprises (ACE, the UK’s MSA) and delivered by a nonprofit retail consulting company called Retail Matters (www. retailmatters.co.uk).

The course was amazing and gave so many useful pointers and clear ideas for improving our team. On return, we immediately set out dates to relay this information to the staff. Over the months that followed, all of our FOH staff and our museum volunteers attended half-day sessions with James and I covering selling skills and what we expect from our teams to drive sales while continuing to deliver exemplary service.

Little ideas, such as making sure that if customers have two or more items in their hand they are given a basket to make their experience easier (but also enabling them to pick up more items), have now become standard practice, boosting sales and ensuring customers feel well looked after when shopping in our store. It also brought focus to the need to engage with customers

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MUSEUM STORE

and explain to them the features and benefits of items. We looked at the role that staff and volunteers play in promoting sales while visitors are in the museum; for example, if a guest is looking at an artifact, a replica of which we sell, the team member can mention this while talking to them in the galleries.

our clothing. The online shop is now more customer-friendly, making it easier to navigate by condensing the drop-down menus, promptly updating the site by removing products that have been discontinued and putting on special offers. New products or special offers are also pushed by our digital marketing manager via twitter.

We all know that product knowledge is essential for our shop staff; as such we also looked at how we could improve the knowledge of our team.

To do this, we have developed short sessions in the shop with Alison, my retail manager, each one covering a different product range. In addition, during our monthly full staff and volunteer meetings (we have more than 100 volunteers at the Mary Rose), there is a section of the agenda devoted to retail, which gives Alison a chance to run through new products (and old favorites) and discuss their key features and benefits. This has been especially relevant when looking at our new replicas and also new books on offer.

There were a number of other changes to the layout of the shop, for example, adding a “pay here” sign to help visitors locate the tills and also reviewing stock, but the factors detailed herein were key to seeing a great turnaround in our fortunes. The strategy going forward will be to ensure that we continue to innovate and utilize the skills and knowledge of the whole team and to maintain levels of communication to ensure that selling remains a key part of what we do.

Another area for improvement we looked at was our e-commerce operations. Although we have had an online shop for many years, it lacked love and attention as its maintenance had fallen between a number of staff members. Through the excellent work of our digital marketing manager, we developed the “Digital Content Club” to utilize the skills of our younger ITsavvy staff. From this club, one of the team members, Will (who started with us as a weekend volunteer) has taken the online shop as his “champion area” and has revitalized the site.

Will started by reviewing other museum shops and other online retailers to examine and borrow some of their best practices, and then he fed this into our online shop, adding text and lots more images featuring other members of the team as models for

A change as simple as adding “Pay Here” signs made a difference in the Mary Rose store’s sales.

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MEMBER STORY

the dennos museum center: why i love my job For one MSA member, a passion for Inuit art and a taste for adventure travel are combined with intriguing professional challenges.

BY TERRY TARNOW

As a result of my trips to the North and my connections with Inuit collectors and artists, my love for Inuit art has led to an addiction to collecting.”

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wenty-four years ago, I was offered the opportunity to become the store manager and buyer for the new Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) in Traverse City, Michigan. I had just left my job as executive director of the Traverse City Arts Council and had planned to take time off to work on my fiber arts. Yet, museum stores had always been among my favorite places to shop, so without any hesitation, I

gladly took the job.

The Dennos Museum Center was built to house NMC’s growing collection of Canadian Inuit art. Fortunately, rather than just designing a small building to house the collection, the college decided to build a first-class museum. We have five galleries, a central sculpture court, a conference room, a small theater, a state-of-the-art auditorium, and, of course, my 500-square-foot museum store.

The story of how the Inuit collection came to the college involves the NMC librarian being in the right place at the right time (I’d be happy to send anyone who is interested a copy of our Inuit brochure). When I started my new job, I knew nothing about Inuit art but quickly grew to love the beautiful carvings and prints. I began to read about the art, artists, and culture of the North, and in the third year on the job, I took my first trip to Toronto to buy carvings for the store.

That first trip, funded by the Canadian Government, had me visiting two showrooms and relying on the vendors to steer me in the right direction. Now, each spring, I travel to Toronto and have increased my visit to five showrooms. About 10 years ago, we opened the Toronto trip to collectors. I now take up to 20 collectors with me, who come from all over the country, which has greatly increased our revenues. My store sells around $90,000 each year in Inuit art.

In 1997, the education director and I decided that, in order to understand the Inuit people and their art, we should take a trip to Baffin Island, located in the Eastern Arctic above the Hudson Straits—the area from which most of our collection originates. Five of us from Traverse City traveled in early April to the cold and snowy North where the wind chill was often 60° below zero. We visited four communities: Iqaluit, Cape Dorset, Pangnirtung, and Igloolik, which is above the Arctic Circle. We visited schools, met artists, ate local food, traveled on dog sleds and snowmobiles, saw the beautiful Northern Lights, and fell in love with the Arctic.

The author (on left) with Inuit carver Annie Ainalik on Cape Dorset in 2004. Ms. Ainalik was excited to learn her work was available in the Dennos Museum Center Store.

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Since that first trip, I have returned to the Arctic five more times. In 1999, I took another winter trip in early April to celebrate Nunavut becoming a new Inuit territory. In 2004, the Dennos became a partner with Adventure Canada Tours, and I have since helped promote their tours and traveled to the North in August and September 2004, 2005, and 2009 on a small ship visiting Greenland and Baffin Island. The tours allow us to meet artists and hike the land. We stopped in three villages in Greenland and four on Baffin Island. Each day, we left the ship and traveled to shore on zodiacs. In 2002, I was invited by the Canadian government to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories and the Great North Arts Festival. I had an opportunity to meet many artists and be part of a presentation of selling Inuit art in galleries and museum stores.

MEMBER STORY

In addition to meeting many artists and experiencing Inuit culture, I have seen polar bears, walruses, musk ox, whales, and many birds. I have picked wild berries, walked through early snowstorms, and photographed the beautiful tiny wildowers that have adapted to life in the North. My husband traveled with me during one of our

Our summer Annual Sale of Inuit Art started at the college and now continues in the museum.

trips on which we experienced a different part of the North; we were attacked by giant mosquitoes, experienced 24 hours of daylight, and dipped our toes in the Arctic Ocean.

As a result of my trips to the North and my connections with Inuit collectors and artists, my love for Inuit art has led to an

More Inuit art on display at the Dennos Museum Center store.

MUSEUM STORE

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addiction to collecting; over the years, I have acquired 30 carvings, four prints, many pieces of jewelry, and a number of textiles!

To add to my wonderful connection to Inuit art, I am fortunate that at the Dennos we change exhibitions up to four times a year. Like so many of my colleagues, I am constantly challenged to find merchandise for our outstanding exhibits. The executive director of the museum, Eugene Jenneman, has wonderful connections and has never shied away from searching for great exhibits.

Throughout my career at the Dennos, hosting eight to 10 exhibitions each year for the past 24 years has allowed me to search for merchandise and fall in love over and over with wonderful exhibitions. As we head into our 25th year in 2016, I look forward to an exciting year of wonderful exhibitions and lots of celebrations.

The author (at right) with Kenojuak (left front), probably the most well known of the Inuit artists, and her granddaughter in Cape Dorset in 2009. She passed away in January 2013. The author is wearing a shirt with the artist’s print “The Enchanted Owl.”

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COMMUNITY UPDATES

updates from the MSA community Alison Adams has been promoted to retail manager at the Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth, UK. Stacy Bloodworth is now garden shop manager at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in California.

Peri Danton, manager of retail operations for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California, is retiring. Raymond McKenzie, MSA Western Chapter president, will be acting manager of retail operations.

Melody Caban is now interim museum store manager/buyer at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.

Stefanie Levinson is now with the American Folk Art Museum in New York, New York.

Megan Cartwright is now director of retail at Eastern National in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.

Constance (Connie) A. McCulloch has retired as retail manager at the White House Historical Association in Washington, DC.

Phyllis Criddle is now director of retail operations at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams.

Barbara Olson has retired from the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas.

Sally Struever is now director of store and brand administration at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine.

Daniel Thiem is now with the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn Heights.

Jennifer J. Wood is now with the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

Correction: Stephanie Sager from the Harpers Ferry Historical Association is store operations manager. Debbie Piscitelli is still executive director.

Send community updates and any other items for consideration to dbutler@ museumstoreassociation.com.

MUSEUM STORE

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