I was manager/buyer for a university museum shop for several years as part
of my curatorial duties.  As such, I made a great effort to relate shop
merchandise to our exhibits and to the mission of our museum (natural
history/anthropology), not only to avoid unrelated business income (UBIT)
problems, but also to further educate our visitors.  We avoided selling
merchandise that was readily available from retailers in the community, but
tried rather to offer unique items such as handmade ethnic crafts,
archeological reproductions (clearly marked), specialty books, minerals,
etc.  Most museums consider it unethical to sell artifacts (even
deaccessioned ones, which are better placed in an educational collection,
donated to schools or other museums), and we extended that to include
'endangered' items from the natural world such as butterfly mounts, some
sea shells, etc. Seizing every opportunity to educate, we tried to buy from
vendors who provided accurate background info about their product for the
customer on hang-tags or hand-outs and/or who donated a portion of their
profits to an environmental, wildlife, or humanitarian charity.  I found
the Museum Store Association directory an excellent source of dependable
vendors.   I made certain that my staff (primarily undergraduate students)
knew something about the merchandise so they could answer customer's
questions intelligently and many of them taught themselves more on their
own time.  The shop was considered an educational resource by teachers in
the community (to whom we gave a small discount and provided special orders
at times for their classrooms).  We intentionally kept our prices
reasonable so that university students and school children could afford
many items.  Our profits were turned back into the museum to provide funds
specifically for educational programs and to employ students.   Although,
as part of a university, we were perhaps more cognizant of the educational
potential of our shop, I believe that education should be the goal of all
museum shops. Because we can't compete with the prices many retailers can
provide, setting museum shops apart from the rest of the retail world is
also a smart move economically.  Customers will come to us despite higher
prices if the merchandise offers them something extra for their money-and
education does sell well.

Dr. Joanne Kluessendorf
Department of Geology, University of Illinois
1301 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801
(217)367-5916; fax (217)244-4996; e-mail: [log in to unmask]