museums&MORE Summer 2010

10 Ways to be a Shoppertainer

By Anne Obarski, Special to Party & Paper Retailer Just look around your own town and you will see advertisements for wine tasting, food sampling, free merchandise, free lessons, VIP shopping hours, g... more

Artist Spotlight: Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence mixes his pleasure with business, creating paintings of the things he loves most By Abby HeugelManaging Editor When Stephen Lawrence starts a wildlife watercolor, he always begins wit... more

Deep Sea Sales

Atmosphere and unique selection help Virginia Aquarium gift shops seal the retail deal By Abby Heugel, Managing Editor What makes someone purchase a gift in the Water's Edge Gift Shop at the Virginia ... more

Editor’s Letter: It Starts at the Top

By Abby Heugel, Managing Editor I'm slowly becoming a convert to the principle that you can't motivate people to do things, you can only demotivate them. The primary job of the manager is not to empow... more

Healthy Sales

Beaumont Hospital gift shops garner healthy sales with a variety of products By Abby Heugel, Managing Editor In a hospital gift shop, one might assume that the most popular items are Get Well cards an... more

Professor of Profit

Pennypickle's Workshop is scientific evidence that learning can be fun—and profitable By Abby Heugel, Managing Editor When you enter Professor Phineas T. Pennypickle's Workshop at The Temecula Child... more

Store Room–Summer 2010

Our column is devoted to what works and what doesn't — for our readers, from our readersQ. "At our gift shop we have very successfully filled the youth niche of souvenirs, but we often struggle with... more

Toy Story

Learning can be fun—and profitable—if you play your cards right By Abby Heugel, Managing Editor Before the electronic age of computers and gaming, kids had to rely on (gasp) their imagination for ... more