IN regards to Museum Shops in Retail locations:

The Art Institute of Chicago has three stores in Chicago area malls.  One
store is located only a couple miles away from the Art Institute itself.  The
other two are located in suburban malls around Chicago.  I don't have any
information about how well they do in sales, but I'm sure they do quite
well, since they are open year round and the locations are in the better
malls in the area.

Just some information from a Chicagoan.

Suzanne Kleisch
Museum Studies Grad Student
Duquesne University