I have been going to museums to see special exhibits since elementary
school. The majority of them had a mini gift shop at the end of the exhibit
with exhibit related items (catalog, postcards, mugs, scarves, etc.),
particularly the art museums (e.g., Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC;
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Los Angeles County Musuem of Art). In
most cases it was located at the exit, but off to the side. Thus easy to
by-pass if I was not interested, but also easy to look at if I liked the
exhibit and wanted to purchase some items without having to find the
main gift shop or deal with the crowds there. As long as you do not
force the museum goers to wind their way through the merchandise, I
see nothing wrong with having a mini gift shop at the end of the special
exhibit (I think that the regular exhibit merchandise should only be found
in the main gift store, however).

                                                Angela Putney
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