Museum Store Visitors and Net Sales Growing

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The average museum retail store attracts more than 85,000 visitors and boasts net sales of more than $200,000 annually according to findings in the 2009 Museum Store Association Retail Industry Report.

Denver, CO, September 22, 2009 (PressReleasePoint) -- The average museum retail store attracts more than 85,000 visitors and boasts net sales of more than $200,000 annually according to findings in the 2009 Museum Store Association Retail Industry Report. Median visitor and net sales values are each up 16.5% since the previous study was conducted in 2006.

“Museum store managers need to know where they stand compared to their peers – today more than ever,” emphasized MSA President Meta Devine. “As a leader in the specialty retail industry, MSA believes it is critically important to identify benchmarks and share the strategies successful stores are using.”

The 140-page report is based on more than 400 completed surveys and identifies key financial, operations and staffing benchmarks. Statistics include average inventory, visitors per square foot, gross margin and employee salaries. To account for the variations in museum store revenues, the report includes hundreds of supplemental charts that break out the data by museum type (i.e. history, art, science) and into five gross sales categories.

For the first time, the Report also explores best practices in areas such as sales growth, marketing and merchandising. For example, stores reporting sales increases are significantly more likely to focus on inventory controls than those reporting sales declines. Similar correlations are examined between sales / profitability and other factors, such as store hours, recency of store renovations, sales goals, changes in the number of vendors used and the number of items for sale.

The 2009 MSA Retail Industry Report is now available and retails for $249 for MSA members ($349 for non-members). To order, go to http://www.museumstoreassociation.org/pubs/09MRIR.cfm or call (303) 504-9223.

The 2009 MSA Retail Industry Report was brought to you in part by the following industry supporters: Champion Level – Andoniadis Retail Services, and Supporter Level – New York International Gift Fair and PartnerShip.
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