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I need a list of the largest grossing non-profit museum stores in the USA? That is specifically retail stores within a museum (not the Metropolitan Museum that has multiple stores)?
Hello! Thanks for requesting a list of the largest grossing non-profit museum stores in the USA.
Below you will find a list of 10 US museums with high annual revenues derived specifically from inventory sales (excluding such income sources as contributions, grants, program services, events, investments, etc.), as well as examples of products sold in each store.
BACKGROUND
Railey Macey, a museum stores retail marketing consultant, estimates that a "store at a science or natural history museum can make $500 to $750 per square foot (per year)", while an "Art Museum gift store may make as much as $750 to $2000 per square foot (averaging $6 to $20 per visitor)".
According to Tamara Chapman (Museum Store Association), "there is little empiric national data on museum stores as a group, in part because the culture of museums is conservative and therefore reticent about discussing money matters."
METHODOLOGY
I have tried various strategies to find an existing list of museum stores with highest sales revenues, including statistics databases, Museum Store Association magazine issues, industry reports (available only on a paid-for or membership basis), media coverage of the topic, etc.
Having not found any pre-compiled list or a database that would allow filtering results based on the particular criteria of museum store sales revenue, I employed the following strategy to provide the most accurate answer to this request, that could be compiled based on publicly available information:
I have used the GuideStar, the largest database providing information on non-profit organizations from USA.
In the search field I entered the term "museum", as museum stores are not separate legal entities, the revenue being reported for the entire organisation.
Next, I tried to determine which museums have the biggest annual revenues (since there was no way to sort them specifically by retail sales revenue).
As there was no possibility to order the results from highest to lowest revenue, I used the narrowing option, selecting organizations that have a total income of over $170,000,000, which yielded a total of 40 results.
From this list of results I excluded universities and other institutions with low income from sales, as well as institution without any data regarding revenue sources. I also excluded the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Art and Design and MOMA, as requested.
For each institution I checked the report, where I found the latest (2013-2015) available IRS 990 Forms, filled in by the organization.
In each IRS report I looked for a breakdown of revenue sources, and selected the "Net income (or loss) from sales of inventory" category as the data to include as the museum's store annual sales. Based on this date I selected the top 10 museums, and arranged them in descending order, according to their retail shop revenue (inventory sales).
The strong part of this strategy is that the data is highly accurate, being acquired from a highly reliable source. The main limitation of the strategy is the fact that a high total income of a museum doesn't necessarily correlate with a high income from the museum's store. However, this is the best strategy I could come up with to compile the requested list. An indirect indicator of the fact that at least several of the museum stores included in the list are highest grossing in US is the Museum Store Association's statement that annual net sales of member stores are as high as $8.2 million.
LARGEST GROSSING NON-PROFIT MUSEUM STORES IN THE USA
Net income from sales:
$36,825,951
The Smithsonian Institution has by far the largest gross revenue from sales. However, this data is not very accurate, as the institution comprises a total of 19 museums, so it could not be viewed as a single museum retail store.
The Smithsonian online store comprises the following categories:
✓Jewelry (including such collections as Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Grace, Asian Art Inspired, and more)
✓Clothing & Accessories (including Laurel Burch™ collection, hand-made artisan items, Smithsonian themed items, etc.)
✓Home Décor (Murano Glass Aquarium, Gemstone Globe Paperweights, Four Seasons Waterglobes, etc.)
✓ Books & Media (the best selling books include such titles as "Experiencing America: A Smithsonian Tour Through American History DVD + Free Guidebook", "Kimono: The Art and Evolution of Japanese Fashion", "The National Museum of African American History & Culture: A Souvenir Book", "Smithsonian Dinosaur!", and more)
✓ Toys (such as puzzles, astronaut suits for children, dinosaur night lamps, etc.)
✓ Seasonal
Net income from sales:
$7,157,994
AIC Museum Shop includes the following categories:
✓ Apparel & Accessories (scarves, umbrellas, totes, ties)
✓ Books (Art Institute, Artist-Related)
✓ Home Furnishings (lamps, vases, decorative glass, sculpture, throws)
✓ Jewelry (bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pins)
✓ Stationery (note cubes, holiday cards, journals)
✓ Wall Art (framed art work, wall décor, canvases)
Net income from sales:
$6,968,661
The shop contains exhibit collections (items inspired by museum exhibitions), such as:
✓ Dino store
✓ Gems & Minerals
✓ Science
✓ Space
✓ Theodore Roosevelt, etc.
Items include:
- books
- clothing & accessories
- home decor
- jewelry
- posters & art
- toys & games
- souvenirs
Net income from sales:
$4,116,860
NGA product categories include:
✓ Exhibitions (items range from catalogs to jewelry and gifts, printed materials such as posters and stationery, all created from the Gallery’s special exhibitions as well as permanent collections)
✓ Books & Media (products developed from Gallery resources, on such topics as art, architecture, photography, and gardens)
✓ Stationery (note card sets, calendars and postcard books, based on Gallery collections)
✓ Jewelry
✓ Prints (prints on canvas, posters, matted prints, high quality reproductions, etc.)
✓ Apparel (items with images and patterns from Edgar Degas, Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Roy Lichtenstein, etc.)
✓ For the Home (sculpture reproduction, wall hangings, tableware, linens, etc.)
✓ Accessories (key chains, umbrellas, handbags, totes, jewelry and eyeglass cases, wallets, and more)
✓ Art Materials (art kits and supplies, sketchbooks, paper, paints, pastels)
✓ Kids (crafts, activity kits, games, puzzles, plush animals, etc.)
Net income from sales:
$ 2,828,334
Among the items listed as bestsellers are:
- puzzles
- mugs & coasters
- note card boxes
- jewelry
- posters
- books
The items include Boston & New England inspired gifts, past and current exhibition gifts, MFA exclusive gifts, MFA logo items, etc.
Net income from sales:
$ 2,144,452
Museum store categories include:
✓ Living & Dining
✓ Workspace
✓ Jewelry & Accessories
✓ Books
✓ Kids
✓ Gift Ideas
✓ SFMOMA Products
✓ Custom Prints
Several products are exclusive to SFMOMA, such as Architectural Jewelry - Collections inspired by SFMOMA expanded building.
The best-selling gifts include:
1. On Color Mug - $12.00
2. Impossible I-1 Camera - $299.00
3. Buckminster Light - $349.00
4. Giraffa Lamp: Copper - $269.00
5. Set of 5 Bowls - $345.00
6. I. Ronni Kappos: Small Discs Necklace - $190.00
7. Roger Sock Doll - $20.00
Net income from sales:
$1,502,785
The Winterthur Museum store offers gifts, garden accessories, plants, home furnishings, jewelry, and seasonal decor.
The museum also has a bookstore offering a broad selection of books on various topics, such as furniture, decorative arts, gardens, textiles, ceramics, and, of course, Winterthur. The bookstore also contains stationery items, mementos, and children's products.
Net income from sales:
$1,052,955
The main product categories in the DIA shop are:
✓ Jewelry & Apparel
✓ Books & Media
✓ Home & Decor
✓ Stationery & Desk
✓ DIA Kids
✓ Gift Center
✓ Exhibitions
The main items in the exhibitions category include products related to past, as well as current exhibitions (Bitter|Sweet: Coffee, Tea & Chocolate, Detroit After Dark, The Edible Monument), such as books, catalogues, edibles, jewelry, decor items, and more.
Net income from sales:
$847,743
PEM shop includes three main categories:
✓ Clothing & Accessories
✓ Exhibition Related
✓ Books & Media
Additional categories include:
✓ Home & Gift
✓ Jewelry
✓ Kids
✓ Prints & Stationary
Current exhibitions related products include Childe Hassam products (such as scarfs, lamps, jewelry and books) and Lunar Attraction products (such as mugs, socks, posters, puzzles, and more).
Net income from sales:
$771,188
The organization comprises four separate museums:
Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center and The Andy Warhol Museum.
The shops offer unique items, such as Astronaut ice cream, Marilyn Monroe perfume, Jackie O snooze masks, Tiffany lamps, as well as various high-tech gadgets, models, art books, cookbooks, games, science kits, posters, telescopes and jewelry. The gifts range from small souvenir gifts to high-end gifts.
Since the request specifies that the list should focus on retail stores within a museum (not organizations with multiple stores), I excluded the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation from the main list, as its retail activity is not limited to museum store, comprising over 40 shops, with an annual revenue specifically from sales of $11,450,245.
CONCLUSION
I provided a list of 10 USA museum stores with high annual revenue specifically from inventory sales (excluding such income sources as contributions, grants, program services, events, investments, etc.), compiled on the basis of their IRS reported information (Form 990).
For each museum store I specified the main product categories, including examples of products sold.
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