ABSTRACT

The best museum stores attract passersby while complementing the museum's architecture and ambiance. Location will influence store design. Effective museum stores often become destinations of their own. All too often, museum administrators insist on employing an architect with extensive experience in museum design but none in retail design. One should include the request for proposal (RFP) information about the museum, the store's mission, your vision for the store, the merchandise plan, and a proposed timetable for planning, construction, and grand opening. Store design goes hand-in-hand with the merchandise. As we plan for fixtures and our store's visual merchandising, have paper and pencils handy to make sketches of how all the pieces will come together. Final construction documents are prepared only after the schematic plan and design development drawings have been approved, these documents provide contractors with the information they need to complete the work.