January 23, 2017 By Susan DeLand The customer’s experience is paramount in museum retail, which means putting together a team of employees that can ensure a positive outcome. There are many aspects to consider when forming a team—and one of them is the individual’s style of thinking. So, how should strategic thinking play into your […]
January 9, 2017 By Audrie Cuddy Ranon To hold the title of Museum Store Manager, we must be extremely flexible and skilled at wearing many hats. I don’t mean as a fashion statement, but, rather, as a metaphor to explain that it is a highly specialized position with lots of moving parts. And move we […]
December 19, 2016 By Cathy Nagle-Ervin This time of year always brings about reflections on the year that is just about to come to an end. (As I am writing this blog post, I actually am humming “Auld Lang Syne” in the back of my head!) Our company’s fiscal year has come to a close, […]
December 12, 2016 By Susan Tudor Every time we go to the grocery store or a restaurant or shop online, we are making financial and strategic decisions regarding our personal lives: Is this item really what I was looking for? Is this the right time to make this purchase or should I wait? Can I […]
December 5, 2016 By Dan Ayers-Price Shopability—I don’t even think it is a real word. Webster’s doesn’t know what to make of it. But, I dare say that we, as MSA retailers, fully understand what shopability is and the importance it plays in our lives (even if it is a made-up word). The term “shopability” […]
November 28, 2016 By Paul Griffiths Those of you who were at the MSA 2015 conference in Hartford, CT, and were lovely enough to attend my session, entitled, “A Museum Shop Fit for a King,” may remember me discussing various issues we had with our new shop at the Mary Rose Museum in England. Well, […]
November 21, 2016 By Jason Harbonic Outside the MSA Headquarters in Philadelphia, the leaves are changing colors, rakes are at the ready and jackets are pulled a little tighter on everyone’s midday walks. But it’s not just another fall here in Philadelphia, it’s the holiday season. With Thanksgiving only days away, it’s time to pause […]
November 14, 2016 By Phil Zuckerman One of MSA’s newest members is Alai Sayawed, the Store Manager at Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center (TAEC) in Luang Prabang, Laos. Last week, while I was in Laos, I had the privilege of visiting the museum, and spending some time with Alai and the museum staff to learn […]
November 7, 2016 By Bill Gessert In 1984, the International Customer Service Association (ICSA) spearheaded the first National Customer Service Week (NCSW). Since then, during the first full week in October, businesses and organizations nationally and internationally use this week as an opportunity to do something special for their customer service staffs. (Think celebrations with fun […]
October 31, 2016 By Kate Neumiller Schureman It doesn’t take much time on TripAdvisor to find the following review, “Great museum, horrible customer service!” I would guess that many of you might be thinking to yourself, “I am sure that is not part of a review for my museum,” or maybe, “That’s not about our […]
