Tis the season for holiday shopping. Still, Black Friday is chaotic and Cyber Monday can be a bit impersonal. Thankfully, there’s an alternative retail holiday this weekend that’s a win-win for everyone: Museum Store Sunday.
Museum Store Sunday first officially debuted in 2017, as a feel-good alternative for holiday shopping. The day’s roots actually began in Philadelphia at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
“Way back when to combat Cyber Monday, I started Museum Store Monday,” said Kristen Kreider, the Weitzman’s store curator and managing director of business operations. “We did that for a number of years, and it was very successful. It was mostly an online event, because typically the museum wasn’t even open on Monday.”
Kreider is part of the Museum Store Association, a national nonprofit that promotes retail operations within cultural institutions.
“Museums tend to have a lot of attendance all that entire weekend, because of people in town for holidays, and everybody’s having fun and entertaining friends and family,” Kreider said. “So it’s already kind of a natural time to just elaborate on what’s going on and just celebrate more.”
When the association caught wind of her idea, the day switched from Monday to Sunday (a day most museums are actually open) and institutions across the country began adopting it. According to the Museum Store Association, over 2,200 museum stores across the globe now participate in the holiday fun.
To celebrate Museum Store Sunday, the Weitzman will have a Hanukkah Makers Market with local artisans, as well as food and drink from 11 to 3 p.m.
Tia Bianchini, merchandise manager at the Barnes Foundation and Calder Gardens, hopes that shoppers will look at Museum Store Sunday as not just a shopping event but a way to engage with some of Philadelphia’s favorite local institutions.
“Being in a museum store just feels like a totally different environment, where you’re not there to fight someone for a cheap TV,” Bianchini said. “You are there to really learn and investigate and find something cool that you’ve never seen before, so I really love that Museum Store Sunday is also this rejection of Black Friday and just this expectation of quantity over quality.”
Meghan Coppola, senior manager of visitor services at the Mütter Museum, said that museum stores work hard to reflect the institutions they represent.
“Even if you choose something that doesn’t say Mütter Museum on it,” she said, “we want something that is so specifically us and unusual that it’s going to remind you of your visit here anytime that you interact with it.”
Curating the selection at the Mütter store allows her to “lean into things that are more unusual” or unique items “you’re not going to find everywhere else.” Some examples at her store include an ornament inspired by the museum’s wax eye display collection, or a “plague doctor” plush toy. She even mentioned a Mütter Museum perfume.
“It’s a very Patchouli forward fragrance,” she said. “It’s made by a local perfumery, and they make this fragranced oil. To me, it’s a very sort of deep patchouli, woodsy, dark, spicy kind of fragrance. So it’s good for winter.”
Julie Steiner, the senior director of admissions and retail operations at the Barnes Foundation highlighted different jewelry and accessories in the Barnes store. She said the stores are an extension of the museum spaces, and many items are inspired by the museum’s collection — impressionist and early modern paintings from Matisse to Modigliani — including custom socks and knit headbands.
“When you buy something in a museum store and you take it away, you’re holding on to that experience for years to come,” Steiner said. “I think that’s a really valuable additive on the products in a museum store compared to the same products in a commercial space.”
What’s more, shopping at a museum store often means not just supporting local institutions, but also local artisans.
“One of the key things about museum stores is that most of us are deeply embedded in the communities of the museum,” Steiner said. “A lot of the products come from local and regional vendors. So when you’re buying products from those vendors, you’re keeping money in the whole economy by supporting jewelry artists or other suppliers who are right in our Philadelphia community.”
Kreider herself often comes up with ideas for the products at the Weitzman’s store, like a viral T-shirt with the words “Tuchus Puchus” — a very Yiddish nod to the tush push. In addition, other items for sale include a banana menorah, AKA a “benora,” and Hanukkah books for children.
“There’s definitely a lot of whimsy and personality,” Kreider said.
Visitors do not need a ticket to a museum to visit its museum store (just ask the front desk).
The Mütter is offering 15% off all purchases in-store and online, and a 20% discount to members and College of Physicians fellows. Both the Barnes and Calder Gardens are offering 20% off if you mention Museum Store Sunday at checkout — online the discount is automatically applied. What’s more, shoppers who spend over $75 at the two museums will receive a custom tote bag.
The day is an important revenue booster.
“We have seen year-over-year continued growth and improvement for that particular day — some stores reporting a 50% increase year over year,” Steiner said.
Kreider believes Philadelphians understand the value of their local institutions and will continue to come out and support museums this Sunday.
“We rely on the public to keep us propped up,” she said. “You’re spending on Christmas and Hanukkah gifts anyway, why not buy them at a museum store and get great gifts and support a great institution at the same time? It’s kind of guilt-free shopping.”
The post Wondering where to get that perfect holiday gift? Museum Store Sunday — a Black Friday alternative — may be your answer appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY.
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