Guest blog entry by Museum Store manager Terry Kreider
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| New displays are being created at the Landis Valley Museum Store |
January and February are traditionally slow months in the
store and we are taking advantage of the reduced traffic to do a major over
haul of the first floor. The main reasons
for the changes are to make space on the first floor for all our handcrafted
merchandise currently displayed on the second floor (assuring our best
merchandise is accessible to all our visitors) and to improve the Museum Book
Store sales area.
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| The museum store's new book nook |
First project was to move the register counter toward the
front door by 4 feet. This also required
moving the electric and running computer wires under the floor. This small shift made the back corner open to
our customers; previously they had to ask permission to see items displayed behind
the register.
The most involved job is the Museum Book Store. More display shelves are being added and book
cases being rearranged to create an open area with more light. We moved the stage from the middle of the
store to the back corner of the book area to create a place to spotlight our
children’s books as well as space for book signings and presentations.
Several displays are being transported from the second floor
to the first. Blacksmith Mike Reinard,
who built the blacksmith display, is relocating it from the back corner of the second
floor. Framed artwork display pallets
will also be moved.
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| Blacksmith-created pieces front and center |
I am thankful to carpenter Mike Wagner and Kyle Hake from
our maintenance staff. They took my
ideas and made them work. Thank you to
the winter store staff, Kenney Brunning and Liz Miller, who with volunteers
Brad Potts and Lin Forney have contributed ideas, constructive feedback and
hard work! We have been having fun trying to figure out what displays will work
where. There’s been a lot of trial and
error! A final thank you goes to Site
Administrator Jim Lewers for green lighting the project and providing feedback
and support.
The most enjoyable part of all this for me is communicating
with many local artists and working to bring our customers the highest quality
handmade items to fill the Museum Store when the renovations are done!
The goal is to have everything completed and stocked for Charter Day (Sunday, March 13). Feel free to stop in, watch our progress, and shop from all the new merchandise we are getting in on a daily basis!
