Put it up front, by all means, in order to spur sales, but be careful to
ensure that visitors must enter the museum in order to access the shop.
I heard a rumor that one museum's shop had a separate street access that
was open after regular museum hours, and the museum's non-profit status
was severely threatened because the shop had not been incorporated
separately as a for-profit organization. (may have just been a rumor,
tho) This goes for restaurants too, if they aren't separately
incorporated as for-profits.
Julia Moore
Indianapolis Art Center