A Work of Light

A Work of Light
Since its founding 135 years ago, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) has acquired an enormous permanent collection and hosted numerous blockbuster exhibits.

Last year's total retail sales in-store, mail order, wholesale and e-commerce reached $80 million, accounting for 31 percent of the museum's total revenue and support funds, an increase of 10 percent from 2003.

"Actually, the Museum was in the merchandising business before there was a building where the original art works could be displayed," says James Spaeth, MMA's controller of merchandising.

"In fact, the founders of the Museum published a catalog to sell reproductions before the Museum was formally opened to visitors."

Funds raised from these sales were used to commission the first museum building in 1870.