Bringing A Bit Of Retailing Wisdom To The Arts

How is it that American art museums are flourishing, even as orchestras, theatres, and so many other arts institutions find themselves desperate for cash and running annual deficits? The answer may be as simple as an increased focus on the customer. “Art museums have learned the lessons of successful retailers in that they allow people to visit at all times of day, including evenings and weekends, not at a prearranged time. And a visitor can go at his or her own pace in a museum, looking, reading, thinking and enjoying. Plus, a concert, dance, performance or film is often included in the price of admission.”