museums&MORE Spring 2019
Museum Store Association, AmericasMart partnership continues to bear fruit

(Sponsored) As the Museum Collective at AmericasMart — and the partnership with the Museum Store Association (MSA) — continues to evolve, buyers can be confident that they will be able to not only network and learn but also find all of their store’s needs in one location in a great city.

To find out more about the partnership and its evolution, we sat down with a few vendors in the category.

Batucada caters primarily to art museum stores but also crosses into botanical garden stores; their jewelry is designed to look like it is part of a woman’s body, almost like a tattoo, but catered to mature women who may not have had an opportunity to get a tattoo at a younger age. “Our ethos is making a woman’s body a canvas. It’s a sophisticated way to express body as canvas,” said Katerina Quintero, sales and business development at Batucada.

The curves, allusions to flora and fauna and clean lines of Batucada accentuate the delicate curvature of a woman’s body, and as a piece of wearable art, their jewelry is perfect for art museum stores. As such, Batucada is thrilled to continue being part of the Museum Collection at AmericasMart.

“AmericasMart is by far the frontrunner in the category. They recognize this category of retail as distinct and unique and quite apart from the traditional retail,” Quintero said. “The length that AmericasMart has gone to put together a collection that fulfills the museum store category’s needs makes it an absolute must-attend for any museum store buyer.”

Origin Jewelry is a returning exhibitor. Their designs are ethically made wearable art. They stopped coming to AmericasMart several years ago when they didn’t see the buyers they were seeking, but when the Museum Collective opened up a new opportunity for MSA members to exhibit and see the right buyers, Origin Jewelry returned. “I was not disappointed,” said Debra Reiff of Origin Jewelry. “I was quite pleased to see many past customers that came and sought out my new collection, in addition to new buyers, curious to see what this new section has to offer.” She attributes the buzz to strong efforts made by AmericasMart to attract the right vendors and buyers alike.

Popcorn Custom Products may seem like a vendor that caters to art museums with their art prints, but with their customized mugs, posters and other gifts, any museum store buyer can find the specific items their store needs. They excel at color and print accuracy, artist rights and being able to cater to both the low minimums a smaller shop needs as well as the larger scale orders of a major museum’s store.

Steve Santangelo, sales manager of Popcorn Custom Products, said they’ve continued to be part of the Museum Collective at AmericasMart because their partnership with the MSA has delighted buyers. “I fully expect the Museum Collective will be a one-stop-shop for museum shopping,” he said. “Any conscientious buyer should look first to the MSA vendors.”

Museum store buyers are equally as impressed. “Had a great Atlanta Market! Thank you, AmericasMart, for being such a supporter of the Museum Store Association,” said Molly Harty of Minnetrista Cultural Center.

Brooks Starling from the Columbus Museum, visited The Museum Collective in 2018, and said, “We had a successful trip to Mart last week! We’re looking forward to The Museum Collective this summer.”

The success of the partnership between MSA and AmericasMart is evident. With a new space for the curated collective of sellers to offer exactly what museum store buyers are looking for, AmericasMart’s Museum Collective is fast becoming a leader in the category.

AmericasMart was recently honored by MSA for the first ever Advocacy Award for their accomplishments with Museum Store Sunday and The Museum Collective at the MSA Forward show in March in San Diego. They are thrilled to continue their partnership with the MSA and look forward to years of collaboration to benefit museum store buyers.

The Museum Collective is now located in Building 3, floor 2 on the same floor as Museum Gifts, Global Designs, Handmade, Made in America and more! To learn more, visit www.americasmart.com/msa.

The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market^®

Showrooms: July 9 – 15

Temporaries: July 10 – 14

Learn more at AmericasMart.com/July.