At its peak, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts shops catalog generated $3.5 million a year. “In this age of the museum mall, cultural institutions have come to increasingly rely on income from exhibit-related products. The MFA’s gift magazine is designed to compete with the Pottery Barn, L. L. Bean, and Sundance catalogs. MFA officials say the museum’s stores continue to do well, but the catalog has struggled.” In 2001 the museum’s retail enterprises were spun off into a private company…and lost $2.9 million in its first year. So the museum is canceling this spring’s catalog.