Original work - museum stores as venues for marketing

Entrepreneur, March, 1996 by Cynthia E. Griffin

On exhibit: Museum stores

EVEN FOR THOSE who can't draw a straight line, museums are teeming with entrepreneurial opportunities.

"Museum stores sell just about anything you can imagine, and any vendor with a unique product is a good candidate," says Beverly Barsook, executive director of the Museum Store Association (MSA), which has 1,000 vendor members. Money magazine pegged the industry at more than $500 million in 1991 (the most recent figures available).

Museum stores range from art-oriented shops like the Guggenheim's to the Houston Zoo's retail outlet. And depending on the store, up to 40 percent of merchandise is replaced annually.

"We sell anything related to exotic animals and nature, but all the products must reflect the zoo's mission statement and collection," says Houston Zoo's Cliff Harrison.

Harrison also stresses that museum stores are not looking for the ordinary. Just ask Marci Shrager, who with her partner, Mara Mehlman, successfully targeted art museums with their Urban Playground T-shirts, aprons and totebags. "The T-shirt print looks like hand-painted art in vibrant colors," says the Los Angeles entrepreneur.

Visit museums to figure out what products might sell, says Guggenheim buyer Laura French. If you can't make the trip, check out The Official Museum Direc- tory (R.R. Bowker). Available in most libraries, it features 7,500 museums and indicates what they sell.

You can reach museum store buyers by sending them your catalog or exhibiting at a trade show. Gift shows in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Dallas, as well as those held by the MSA, are some of the major ones to consider.

Once you get the order, offering a continuous selection of new products ensures your relationship will be as timeless as the works in the museum's collection.

RELATED ARTICLE: Show Guide

If selling to museum stores fits into your marketing plans, here are a few resources to consider:

In addition to the Museum Store Association, several other trade groups pro- vide opportunities to rent mailing lists, advertise in their publications or exhibit at shows, meetings or conferences. Check out The American Zoo and Aquarium Association, (301) 907-7777; The American Association of Museums, (202) 289-1818; The Association of Railway Museums Inc., (818) 814-1438; the Association of Youth Museums, (202) 466-4144, which also publishes and sells a detailed membership directory to nonmembers; and the African American Museums Association, (513) 376-4611.

Monthly listings of gift shows held throughout the country can be found in The Crafts Report, (800) 777-7098; Giftware News, (609) 227-0798; and Gifts and Decorative Accessories, (212) 689-4411.

Check the front of The Official Museum Directory for a listing of other specialized museum associations.

RELATED ARTICLE: Read All About It

What are business owners reading these days? The top 10 business books at press time (based on net sales) were:

1. The Road Ahead, by Bill Gates (Penguin Books, $29.95)

2. Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin (Penguin Books, $11.95)

3. Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide: How We Beat the Stock Market and How You Can, Too, by the Beardstown Ladies Investment Club (Hyperion, $19.95)

4. The 1996 What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles (Ingram, $14.95)

5. The Warren Buffett Way, by Robert C. Hagstrom (John Wiley & Sons, $14.95)

6. Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, by Roger Lowenstein (Random House, $27.50)

7. Finding a Way to Win, by Bill Parcells and Jeff Coplon (Doubleday & Co., $23.95)

8. J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 1996, by J.K. Lasser (Macmillan, $14.95)

9. Winnie the Pooh on Problem Solving, by Roger Allen and Steve Allen (Penguin Books, $17.95)

10. Make It So: Leadership Lessons From Star Trek the Next Generation, by Wess Roberts and Bill Ross (Pocket Books, $22)