The new store carries a broader range of merchandise, from hand-marbled silk scarves to child-size reproductions of Eames chairs. The Sixth Floor link is that most of the merchandise relates to the 1960s era or to presidential history, politics and Kennedy's legacy. "The focus of it was to interpret the museum in the context of the '60s and how that relates to today," explained Amy Gilchrist, retail manager. "So many of our visitors now weren't around in 1963." The '60s provides fertile ground for design motifs, and Gilchrist camped it up with owl, "love" and "peace" iconography as well as Volkswagen Beetles and other symbols of that era. She also commissioned vinyl bags and other goods printed with Kennedy quotations, such as "One person can make a difference, and everyone should try." You might wonder how $10 pleated scarves made from burqas by Afghan women fit into all this, or $8 grass-bead necklaces that support women's and children's health in Kenya. The link is the Peace Corps, which Kennedy established in 1961 to encourage mutual understanding among nations and a commitment to peace.
So many fair-trade companies were founded by Peace Corps volunteers, so it seems to be the way that movement has progressed
Sixth Floor Museum's expansion is aimed at luring more Dallas visitors
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, July 1, 2010
By HOLLY HABER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
The Sixth Floor Museum opens a new store and cafe today that is intended to attract more local residents to the site.
The museum is the most popular historic spot in Dallas, yet many people in the city have never even heard of it, much less visited. It examines the presidency, assassination and legacy of John F. Kennedy at the place where he was shot.
"I constantly meet people who don't know what it is," says Liza Denton, who joined the museum in January as director of public relations and advertising. Less than a third of the center's 325,000 annual visitors are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
[Click image for a larger version] AMY GUTIERREZ/Special Contributor
AMY GUTIERREZ/Special Contributor
The Sixth Floor Museum's store features Kennedy-related paraphernalia as well as iconic designs from that era.
"We want to shift from being a tourist destination to a local place that people come to many times," Denton says.
Bright with natural light and a loftlike decor, the new Museum Store and Cafe is at the corner of Elm and Houston streets, across from the museum. Its cafe is operated by La Duni, which will serve its signature coffee drinks, lemonades, cupcakes and other snacks.
The existing museum shop will remain open, specializing in printed materials and souvenirs.
The new store carries a broader range of merchandise, from hand-marbled silk scarves to child-size reproductions of Eames chairs. The Sixth Floor link is that most of the merchandise relates to the 1960s era or to presidential history, politics and Kennedy's legacy.
"The focus of it was to interpret the museum in the context of the '60s and how that relates to today," explained Amy Gilchrist, retail manager. "So many of our visitors now weren't around in 1963."
The '60s provides fertile ground for design motifs, and Gilchrist camped it up with owl, "love" and "peace" iconography as well as Volkswagen Beetles and other symbols of that era.
She also commissioned vinyl bags and other goods printed with Kennedy quotations, such as "One person can make a difference, and everyone should try."
You might wonder how $10 pleated scarves made from burqas by Afghan women fit into all this, or $8 grass-bead necklaces that support women's and children's health in Kenya. The link is the Peace Corps, which Kennedy established in 1961 to encourage mutual understanding among nations and a commitment to peace.
"So many fair-trade companies were founded by Peace Corps volunteers, so it seems to be the way that movement has progressed," observes Gilchrist.
The museum also wanted to make a statement about Dallas today, so Gilchrist brought in works by local artisans.
Sculptor Brad Oldham styled a $27 pewter cuff stamped with 12 Dallas icons, from Pegasus to a handbag symbolizing Neiman Marcus. He also made light fixtures cast from ceiling tiles from the 1901 building that houses the museum, and a Christmas ornament inscribed with a line Kennedy once wrote to a child promising Santa "will be making his rounds this Christmas."
CAC Mosaic Designs turned out elaborate plaques with natural quartz crystals, and Eye on the Sparrow twisted metal guitar strings from Dallas bands into bangle bracelets. Dixie Piece Goods takes '60s fabrics and weaves them into handbags.
Reproductions of Jacqueline Kennedy's jewelry have been consistent sellers in the original shop and will also be sold in the new store.
"The three-strand pearl choker is timeless," Gilchrist notes.
In addition, books and videos chronicle the legendary first couple and their influence.
"In our current store, souvenir items sell best, such as postcards, mugs, pencils and rulers," Gilchrist says. "In the new store, we expect a wider variety of Kennedy-inspired items to sell well, and hope the unique, changing selection of artisanal goods will keep customers coming back to see what's new."
The original store does about $1 million in annual sales, and the expansion could bring in another $1 million, Gilchrist says. Those proceeds plus ticket sales fund the museum, run by the nonprofit Dallas County Historical Foundation.
Established in 1989, the Sixth Floor Museum at 411 Elm St. was envisioned as temporary but proved too popular to close. Most exhibits are displayed on the sixth floor where the sniper's nest was found at windows overlooking Dealey Plaza.
Organizers hope the cafe, which will be open until 6 p.m. daily and offer free Wi-Fi, will become a mainstay for locals. The 50th anniversary of the shooting, in 2013, is expected to draw big crowds.
"The tourists keep coming, and people are living and working downtown more than in the past," Denton says.
Holly Haber is a Dallas-based freelance writer.
The Sixth Floor Museum
at Dealey Plaza
411 Elm St.
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday; noon to 6 p.m. Monday. 214-747-6660. jfk.org
Museum Store and Cafe
501 Elm St.
7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 214-747-6660. jfk.org
