Museum shops cash in with sales reaching a record £100m a year
LONDON. April 8. KAZINFORM Tink about a museum shop and the image that springs to mind is unlikely to be inspiring. An unavoidable obstacle, blocking the exit, stuffed with an assortment of overpriced teapots, wearisome books and a collection of plastic rulers, pencils adorned with tassels and cheap notepads masquerading as special mementoes.
But thanks to a combination of the financial crisis, government cuts and the changing landscape of Britain's high street, museum and gallery shops are turning into thriving commercial hubs, generating sales of £100m last year, according to theguardian.co.uk
As cuts have hit arts funding hard, the answer for many museums has been to raise their retail game - by moving upmarket. At the Victoria & Albert Museum, for example, a vast array of David Bowie paraphernalia is on sale, linked to the new exhibition. How about a limited edition of Terry O'Neill's famous Bowie and rearing dog publicity shot for the Diamond Dogs album, signed by the photographer, for £4,800? Or a print of the Ziggy Stardust album cover for £2,250? Too much?
At the other end of the price scale is a guitar pick, with an image of Bowie as Aladdin Sane on one side and the pattern from one of his 1970s jumpsuits on the other for a mere 75p.
John Stachiewicz, chairman of the Association for Cultural Enterprises, said: "Cuts in the cultural sector have been deep since the recession hit and institutions have quite simply had to rise to the challenge. One of the ways we have witnessed the sector doing this is by creating unique and relevant products to sell to visitors."
Some of the more creative items appear to have been thought up in several eureka moments. St Paul's Cathedral harvested some of the rubble from recent refurbishments and set it into cufflinks. For £210 owners can now decorate their shirt cuffs with marble from the starburst under its famous dome.
Over at the National Theatre shop, the success of Warhorse - turned into a film directed by Steven Spielberg - led to the offer of a £2,500 half-size replica of the geese puppets used in the stage show, created by the puppeteers who made the originals.
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