I have recently returned from our annual summer holiday with the usual array of duty-free items, a dog-eared guidebook and pile of dirty laundry. I can't help feeling that I wanted to bring home more.
We were visiting Rome, the eternal city. Here we found tourists flocking to see the delights of museum collections and exhibits, and few went home disappointed. Outside the main draws, street vendors were doing a roaring trade in clay models of Michelangelo's David and plastic Pantheons.
So why, when I wanted to buy something to remind me of my enjoyable museum visits, were books (that were too heavy to carry home and cheaper to buy online), boring postcards and ubiquitous bendy pencils the best that the museum shops could offer?
Walking through the museums' neighbouring streets, I found some delights of a different kind - those offered by retailers. The Gucci and Prada shops of Rome offer consumer goods as icons. Handbags are set on plinths, scarves are framed and the clothes are pristinely arranged. They are all handled with care by highly educated and informed curators, sorry, assistants.
Why do cultural organisations, not just in Rome, but the world over, find it hard to extend their inspiration and energy to their retail outlets? I suspect a key part of the problem is investment in time and money.
The focus for just about all museums is on developing a good curatorial strategy that will bring in funding and grants. Unfortunately, this tends to mean that not enough time or energy is spent on the business strategy, including the retail side.
From the outside, retailing looks easy, but that is because as consumers we are all expert shoppers - the reverse is not necessarily true. Good retailing requires experience, skill and attention to detail.
Take the Blackwell's bookshop that has a fitting new home inside the Wellcome Collection. Blackwell's will be not hedging its bets on a few passing visitors. It will be actively monitoring which books are selling well and changing its displays accordingly on a regular, if not weekly basis, to keep it looking fresh and bringing in the sales.
A great retail outlet has the ability to support the aims of a museum, not just by providing income, but also by providing products that extend the experience of the visit for a much longer time period.
The museums created by Mercedes Benz at Brooklands in the UK and Stuttgart in Germany exemplify this. The cars are beautifully displayed in imaginative surroundings. The attraction to the visitor is seeing the cars and dreaming about owning one. And then they buy a key ring to keep the memory alive.
So come on - here I am, desperate to buy souvenirs from your museum shops, just like millions of other tourists all over world. I simply want to experience a little bit of the inspiration that draws us so readily to your exhibitions in your shops.
Kate Bull is a director of retail consultancy, Ctwb
We were visiting Rome, the eternal city. Here we found tourists flocking to see the delights of museum collections and exhibits, and few went home disappointed. Outside the main draws, street vendors were doing a roaring trade in clay models of Michelangelo's David and plastic Pantheons.
So why, when I wanted to buy something to remind me of my enjoyable museum visits, were books (that were too heavy to carry home and cheaper to buy online), boring postcards and ubiquitous bendy pencils the best that the museum shops could offer?
Walking through the museums' neighbouring streets, I found some delights of a different kind - those offered by retailers. The Gucci and Prada shops of Rome offer consumer goods as icons. Handbags are set on plinths, scarves are framed and the clothes are pristinely arranged. They are all handled with care by highly educated and informed curators, sorry, assistants.
Why do cultural organisations, not just in Rome, but the world over, find it hard to extend their inspiration and energy to their retail outlets? I suspect a key part of the problem is investment in time and money.
The focus for just about all museums is on developing a good curatorial strategy that will bring in funding and grants. Unfortunately, this tends to mean that not enough time or energy is spent on the business strategy, including the retail side.
From the outside, retailing looks easy, but that is because as consumers we are all expert shoppers - the reverse is not necessarily true. Good retailing requires experience, skill and attention to detail.
Take the Blackwell's bookshop that has a fitting new home inside the Wellcome Collection. Blackwell's will be not hedging its bets on a few passing visitors. It will be actively monitoring which books are selling well and changing its displays accordingly on a regular, if not weekly basis, to keep it looking fresh and bringing in the sales.
A great retail outlet has the ability to support the aims of a museum, not just by providing income, but also by providing products that extend the experience of the visit for a much longer time period.
The museums created by Mercedes Benz at Brooklands in the UK and Stuttgart in Germany exemplify this. The cars are beautifully displayed in imaginative surroundings. The attraction to the visitor is seeing the cars and dreaming about owning one. And then they buy a key ring to keep the memory alive.
So come on - here I am, desperate to buy souvenirs from your museum shops, just like millions of other tourists all over world. I simply want to experience a little bit of the inspiration that draws us so readily to your exhibitions in your shops.
Kate Bull is a director of retail consultancy, Ctwb
