Maybe I did you an injustice.  As I continue to read my mail, I am not sure
if you wrote the message I am referring to or if you are just quoting it.
If it is the latter, I apologize...

george

=============

>I think the IRS has something to say about the location of gift shops as
>well.  If it appears a primary purpose of a facility is to sell gifts, the
>IRS could question its 501(3)c status.  For this reason alone, some
>outstanding museum gift shops have been located off to the side -- making
>certain that they are seen as separate from the main business of the
>museum, and ensuring that no one needs to buy a ticket to do their
>shopping.  One of America's most distinguished institutions (Colonial
>Williamsburg) got all sorts of expensive legal advice on this point before
>building its DeWitt Wallace Gallery building a decade or so ago.
>
>
>
>>PLease read my message carefully.  I didn't advocate locating shops in
>>"out of the way" places, I merely advocated that they be "off to the
>>side" instead of forcing all exhibit visitors to walk through a gift shop.
>>There is a big difference there. Also, the issue I raised was not fear
>>of "embarrassing someone", but rather one of trying to make the museum a
>>more inclusive, welcoming place for people of all incomes...including
>>those who cannot afford the merchandise in the gift shops.  While I am not
>>denying the business necessities of museums in an era of shrinking
>>funding, to me, we also need to be sensitive and attentive to the broader,
>>more economically diverse audiences museums are currently trying to
>>embrace.
>
>George Bauer ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
>: This is one of the most ridiculous reasons I have ever heard for deciding
>: where to locate a gift shop!  Do businesses put themselves in
>: out-of-the=-way places because somebody might be embarrassed if it were
>out
>: in front???
>
>: george
>
>