About

overview

Who we are and how we serve our community

committees

The people who make it all happen

board of directors

Meet MSA leadership

contact us

Get in touch with us

staff

Your Museum Store Association contacts

donate

Ways to support our nonprofit organization

membership

Join or renew

How to join MSA or renew Membership

shoptalk

Our  online community platform

membership Directory

Members only access

chapters

Leadership at the local level

MSA MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

An opportunity for professionals with budget challenges to attend MSA FORWARD

RECOGNITION AWARDS

The 2024 MSA Recognition Award winners

MSA NEXT

Emerging industry professionals

BUYER'S CHOICE AWARDS

Recognizing creativity and innovation in retail products showcased at MSA FORWARD

JOB SOURCE

Your one-stop career resource center to find and prepare for your next opportunity

education

Educational Recordings

Searchable downloads of all educational
sessions for members and non-members

publications

Providing ideas and methods to help store operators and employees

msa forward

Past conferences with links to session recordings, awards, exhibitors, and more. 

resource library

Curated content library for our members

Upcoming Live Webinars

What is ON for live digital events

MSA Blog

Articles written by subject matter experts to inform and educate

Knowledge standards

The foundation of nonprofit retail

Events

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

The schedule of webinars and events with descriptions and links to registration pages

msa forward conference

Where to find information about MSA FORWARD Conference and Expo

market Events

MSA events at wholesale gift markets

museum store Sunday EVENT

Annual Museum Store Advocacy Day

MEMBERSHIP

Your Museum Store Association membership gives you the tools, education, and community to enhance your visitors’ experience. Nonprofit retail professionals across the nation turn to MSA to connect, learn and do business with like-minded professionals that understands the intricacies of museum stores.

Connect

MSA offers a community of nonprofit retail professionals who share the same goals, to have a thriving store that extends the visitor experience. With more than 1,200 members representing institutions and vendors, the MSA community is invaluable for seeking advice, building partnerships and connecting with the top product developers and vendors in the industry.

 

Here are Ways to Stay Connected to the MSA Community:
  • MSA Conference & Expo is the premiere opportunity for nonprofit retail professionals and vendors to have one-on-one meetings and discuss product strategies for the year.
  • The Shop Talk online community allows you to ask questions, seek advice and gain insights from your peers on best practices and lessons learned.
  • MSA Chapter involvement allow you to connect with local professionals through in person meetings, local excursions and collaborative projects.
  • MSA partners with regional and national markets to give institution and vendor members more opportunities to meet specifically about the retail needs of cultural institutions.

Learn

MSA is dedicated to your professional growth and career development. Learning experiences such as conference sessions, recorded webinars and Museum Store Magazine provide insights into intricacies in the nonprofit retail field.

MSA offers a broad selection of learning opportunities that meet your budget, schedule and learning preferences and interests. Learning programs and products are developed around the MSA Knowledge Standards, which provide a comprehensive summary of what today’s nonprofit retail professionals need to know in order to perform their work successfully and advocate for their in-house retail operation.

We Provide the Resources to Improve Your Skills, Increase Your Knowledge, and Share Data that is Key to Your Success
  • Recorded webinars provide current information on trends as well as new ways to do business as a nonprofit retailer.
  • Museum Store magazine, MSA’s biannual publication, is the leading source of ideas, interviews and information for store operators at nonprofit and cultural institutions.
  • MSA’s Annual Conference & Expo learning sessions and workshops focus on the trends and best practices that are top of mind for both buyers and vendors.
  • MSA’s bi-weekly blog dives deep into trending topics and initiatives that are a high priority for the MSA community.
  • MSA’s publications provide relevant data for benchmarking your success and key insights into topics such as tourism trends, increasing web traffic and public relations.

Do Business

MSA fosters a collaborative environment that allows buyers and vendors to become business partners in advancing the success and growth of institution stores. Introductions that started with MSA have blossomed into long partnerships. MSA created an environment that encourages buyer and vendors to think innovatively about their product selection.

We Bring Vendors and Buyers Together to Buy Products, Create New Offerings and Share Ideas

  • Through ShopTalk’s Product Pitch Friday, vendors can connect directly to buyers and provide product solutions for visitor engagement.
  • MSA participates in national and regional markets to provide buyers and vendors a dedicated space to connect on products specifically tailored for cultural institutions.
  • The Expo Hall at MSA FORWARD in conjunction with the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) features more than 200 vendor companies. Many use this opportunity to showcase new product lines and display successful collaborations with similar stores.
  • The MSA 2022 Retail Industry Report provides rich, actionable data that helps operators make decisions based on industry research.
  • FAIRE’s Museum Store Association featured collection makes finding MSA vendors easy for retail buyers.