Join us in the enchanting realm of museum retail with the captivating Retail Corner podcast. In this episode, we’re honored to welcome Christine Kostyrka, the distinguished Director of Retail at the renowned Philadelphia Museum of Art, as our special guest. Tune in to uncover invaluable insights into the distinctive hurdles and prospects that set museum retail apart from its conventional counterpart.
About our Guest, Christine Kostyrka:
Christine Kostyrka graduated with a BFA in painting and art education from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. At the age of 23, she opened a Home Goods store without any real knowledge of retail. Her appreciation for the common ground between art and commerce and her love of design and handcrafting led to a 30+ year career overseeing buying and product development businesses for Home and Lifestyle at Martha Stewart, Crate and Barrel, and Urban Outfitters, where she helped launch several trends as DMM over Home, including the resurgence of turntables and vinyl. Christine’s areas of expertise include Product Development, Buying/Planning, Visual Merchandising, Marketing and EComm. In 2019, she joined the Philadelphia Museum of Art as Director of Retail, just as they were poised for a 90,000-square-foot expansion. Over the next four years, Christine led efforts to open four brand-new stores and several exhibition shops, and she relaunched the museum’s web store while overseeing product development and marketing. As she puts it “Our goal is to provide a shopping experience that is just as transportive, educational, and inspiring as the galleries and collection itself.” Though originally from New York, she has grown to love Philadelphia, especially its rich history in craft and manufacturing and thriving creative community. Through the retail relaunch at PMA, she helped to introduce and support the work of almost 100 local artisans in all stores, as well as partnering with local non-profits and artist collectives to source products. She has served for 15 years as a business advisor and board member for Fresh Artists, a Philadelphia-based non-profit whose mission is to provide art supplies and innovative arts programming to the nation’s poorest schools. Christine lives outside Philly with her daughter and four cats.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-kostyrka-7101a510
Company: https://store.philamuseum.org/
About Retail Corner Podcast:
Host: Carlos Diaz
Producer: Sachin Kumar Bhate
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