by Beverly Bridger

The museum/site shop stands alongside admissions at the core of the earned income budget. A good shop can and should be a profit center for your business. The shop adheres to the same standards of excellence as the exhibits, tours and programs. It complements the mission. It allows patrons to take away with them a tangible item that continues to educate, provides a reminder of the experience gained at the museum or site, or in the form of a gift given, spreads the good word about you. It is not just nice stuff that someone will buy—or at least it shouldn’t be.

Let’s take an obvious example. You work at the Lily Museum. The mission of the Lily Museum is to promote the appreciation of lilies. Of course you carry books on lily history and culture, lily cultivation, lily cultivars, lily lore. Your museum is filled with lily prints. Your gifts have, guess what, lilies on them. Can’t you see the tee shirts, the totes, the coffee mugs? Your cookbooks feature lily recipes and using lilies as decorations. You sell lily perfume. Your patrons hear a softly penetrating recording of Hi Lily, Hi Lily, Hi Lo as they enter the shop. People come from miles around to buy your exclusive sugar candy shaped like lilies. Your gardens provide lilies to the shop for a special sale each autumn. Your postcards show the gardens in bloom?

That’s the theory in a nutshell (of course I meant to say lily pod, sorry.) But because the shop is very much about spending and making money, let’s get practical.

1. Know your budget and budget goals.

How much do you have to spend for purchases for the store? What are you expected to make?
An inexperienced buyer looks at a budget of $10,000 and trembles with fear that s/he may lose it through products that don’t sell. The experienced buyer knows that $10,000 can make $10,000.

Planning is essential. You must decide what percentage of your spending budget will go to the five categories of sales: clothing/apparel, gifts, books/prints/music, scented goods, and food. These five categories are basic to shops. You can easily divide gifts into "toys, jewelry, table top, etc." to suit your own record keeping needs, but you probably don’t have that many keys on your cash register. Take a look at the best way to ring in sales so that you can properly track and account for them. Consider purchasing a point of sale system.

Have a discussion with all involved to determine your accounting practices. Is your board expecting you to cover product costs OR product, salary, insurance, lights, ads, etc. Find out before they begin the audit.

Remember: good records of sales are essential to guide next year’s buying budget.

2. Review your mission.

Sit down and read your mission. From your mission extract your "theme/s" for the store. Make a list using the five categories. It will guide you through the slings and arrows of salesmen and buyers’ shows. If you have only lilies on your list, even a great salesman won’t be able to talk you into buying lilacs.

3. Acknowledge your clientele.

Tourists who visit museums and historic sites are pretty savvy people. They are often well traveled, well read, and well educated. Consider why they have chosen to visit you in the first place. Think about what they learn at your site and then consider what you can offer them that will remind them of what they have learned. Offer them quality selections.

4. Getting started.

You know your budget, your themes, your clientele. You have your list. Now what?
There are a couple of avenues for learning about buying. One is to join the Museum Store Association. They have a helpful periodical, a website and a Directory & Buyer’s Guide among their several member benefits. If you know exactly what you want, you can search for a supplier in the directory. Contact Membership Information/ 4100 E. Mississippi Avenue, Suite 800/ Denver, CO 80246-3055 or go to www.museumdistrict.com. The MSA directory lists member organizations. This brings us to the second avenue. Hunt for a mentor. The buyer from the big museum down the road is probably listed in the MSA directory and s/he may be willing to talk to you. Or the buyer for your own favorite gift shop may sit down with you. You can learn a lot over lunch.

There are also a couple of two-edged swords. One is the sales rep. Many reps can show you several lines at once. They generally carry a full spectrum of jewelry, cards, toys, etc. Say yes when they ask to call on you, but keep a tight grip on your list. Their job is to be persuasive.

The other is the show. Shows are held in places like the Javits Center that has literally miles of aisles under cover. Most show attendees go for days at a time in jogging suit attire. The selection is overwhelming. If you are new to the buying business, you should probably go with a mentor. The better place to start is a local gift show. Contact your Chamber to see what they have booked in your area. Or start even smaller at local craft fairs.

5. Use local artists. And, say so.

Haunt your local crafts shows, especially around Christmas. Go to churches, bazaars, charitable events and search for local artists who can produce wholesale goods. Some may even be able to work with you on exclusives for your store. (The local candle maker may have never tried lily-scented candles, but s/he might do it for your shop.) If you find local craftspeople and artists whose products are right for your store and you can carry their items, do it! Put a small, framed sign next to the items saying "Mrs. Smith who lives just four blocks from here made these."

Two things about consignment—give it 30 days (or some such defined time frame) and put the agreement in writing. Don’t let consignments hang around. Those savvy buyers we all are privileged to serve appreciate and buy unique arts/crafts. But also beware that artists do not produce assembly line goods on manufacturer’s time tables. By the way, if you go full tilt boogey into consignment, establish a review board to judge the products. Put your review policy in writing. This will save you many hours of painful negotiation with the trustee whose aunt crochets badly.

6. Maximize your unique selections.

Yes, "name drop" mugs, tee shirts, totes and other souvenir and gift items. You need to say "The Lily Museum" as often as possible. Use reproductions of your collection as often as you can. But beware of the costs of these. Expensive. You may want to account for the cost over the length of the item. (500 prints may last you several years). And speaking of that "Lily Museum" mug—would you use it? Make sure it is appealing.

If you are lucky enough to have a product (lilies from the gardens), promote it. Put it in a special wrapper with your name on it.

You may grow tired of lilies, but that’s why your visitor is there. I met the artist who said he had to talk Mt. Vernon into carrying jewelry items with cherries incorporated into the design. The staff had become bored with the idea of George Washington’s cherry tree, but the visitor from Upstate New York was expecting to find just that. If your site is famous for cherry mythology (lily lore), embrace it.

7. Analyze the location, location, location.

If visitors have to buy an admission ticket before they can get into your shop, change its location. You need to welcome the public for shopping whether or not they want to see your new exhibit.

Be sure that all museum or site promotional materials carry information about the shop: special items, hours open, accessibility, Christmas sales, etc. There are many statistics on the vital importance of shopping to the tourist. Your shop needs to be marketed and used as a reminder to those who have already seen the museum that they may just want to quickly stop by to resupply their cache of lily thank you notes, exclusive to your shop. Make it easy for them to get through the shop door.

Of course the web as changed everything. You may want to consider selling a few items over your site.

8. Look at your displays.

After location (x3) the most important is display, display, display. You probably need more light in your shop. You probably need more free standing shelves and tables that force a tight traffic pattern around and through the shop. You probably need to work on your item groupings (eg., all the pink lilies together, white over there.) A customer should not be able to see straight through the shop. Use tall vases of lilies that entice the patron forward and around into the back of the shop. Look at shops you enjoy yourself. How do they tempt you?

9. Think about Christmas.

Even summer-season shops should carry unique ornaments for Christmas. (Santa holding a lily? There may be a local artist who can make it for you.) A carefully selected half-dozen items can be grouped with mini-lights and greenery for display. Such a display also serves to brighten a "dead" corner or shelf.

You may want to be open for special shopping hours. Team up with other museums or get in on the local Chamber’s Christmas shopping promotions. If you are across the street from a church holding their annual, well-attended Christmas concert at 8PM, hold a special shopping event at 7PM. Offer cookies and punch.

10. When someone buys, say thank you.

Nothing in your shop can make up for a surly person at the register. Location, display, selection, unique ornaments, fragrant potpourri, soft music, cuddly toys, perfect souvenirs, refreshments, a sound budget, educational mission, clientele targeting, superior marketing, all count for naught next to nasty sales personnel. Smiling sells. Helpful service sells. When customers buy, remind them that buying from your shop supports your mission, helps you sustain quality programs, tours and exhibits, patronizes local artists, and recognizes the importance of the non-profit sector in our society. (Take that! Wal-Mart).

Take pride in your unique character, your quality selections, your smiling service and watch your profits grow. One of the surest ways to bring more visitors to your museum is to be able to carry the words "excellent shop open."

Beverly Bridger is Executive Director of Great Camp Sagamore, a National Historic Landmark. Information on Sagmore (and a nice selections of gifts) can be found at www.sagamore.org.

© 2003 UHA