The Man Behind the Best Museum Shop in Washington

The National Building Museum Shop is cited by 1000 Places To See Before You Die as the best museum shop in the country. It features architectural, classical, and modern design-inspired gifts, building kits, toys, housewares, jewelry, and books. We sat down with Shop manager Michael Higdon and asked how he selects the Shop’s inventory and keeps the accolades coming.

National Building Museum Online (NBM Online): Michael, can you tell us a little about your background? What attracted you to retail?

Michael Higdon: Retail is in my blood. My grandfather was a watchmaker and jeweler who owned his own chain of stores. Throughout high school and college I worked in retail. Although for a brief period of time I decided to go in a different direction professionally, I came back to retailing when I moved to the Washington area. After spending 12 years in traditional retail and the hotel gift shop business I came to museum retailing. I worked for the Parks and History Association running the bookstore concessions at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Ford’s Theater, and 13 other sites in the area. I actually had an office in the Lincoln Memorial which is not something many people can say! I left the Parks and History Association for the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, running the Society’s concession in the U.S. Capitol and, prior to coming to the National Building Museum, I was Assistant Director of Merchandising at Hillwood Museum Estate and Gardens. 

Museum Shop manager Michael Higdon.

Photo by Museum Staff

NBM Online: When did you begin working at the National Building Museum?

Higdon: Working at the National Building Museum was something I always wanted to do. I fell in love with the store many years prior to coming to work here. It was, to me, the coolest store in D.C. and one of the few stores that had a focus on design with a flair for the unusual. I started just before the holiday season six years ago.

NBM Online: The National Buildings Museum mission says it strives to “advance the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives.” In what ways does the Museum Shop work towards that goal?

Higdon: Karim Rashid recently said that if you look around the world we live in, humans are bound to a relationship with inanimate things: our favorite chair, our favorite piece of jewelry, our mobile phone, our automobile, etc. And that’s a beautiful thing. Good design can shift and change human behavior and create new social conditions. Design has evolved based on a plethora of complex criteria: human experience; social, global, economic, and political issues; physical and mental interaction; form, vision, and a rigorous understanding of contemporary culture. The combination of all of these components has come to shape our interiors, inform our aesthetic, our physical culture, and our human experiences.

This is the world we build for ourselves not only through architecture but also through the objects that influence our everyday lives. The Museum Shop has been a place where people can experience how the world of architecture and design has merged to influence everyday life.

NBM Online: The Museum Shop always has such an amazing selection of items! Can you walk us through a bit of the process for selecting products?

Higdon: The selection of products is really a collective combination of efforts but sometimes you just know something is a right fit for the store. For example, pens in the shape of a screwdriver, hammer, or wrench are an obvious fit. Other times it is not so clear and that is when you have to listen to what the customers are telling you through the products they buy and the types of things they are ask for when visiting the Museum. Another huge influence on our product selection is the Museum Shop staff and volunteers. We have an amazing team with a wide array of skills, talents, and diverse backgrounds. They are in tune with many different areas of interest which align well with the desires of our visitors and customers. In the end, it comes down to having a good understanding of what people want, and our team excels at defining those areas of interest through the relationships they build with our customers.

NBM Online: Do you attend product shows to get ideas for the shop? If so, what have been some of your favorite shows?

Higdon: Ideas come from a lot of different places and the tradeshow circuit certainly plays a significant role. It is hard to choose a favorite because they are all so important in many different ways. The most fun shows are those geared to the toy industry. And the best of these is the Toyfair in Nuremburg, Germany. I also enjoy attending shows that feature American artisans because you find some really unique and creative products by some very talented individuals. There are gift and decorative accessories shows that feature a broad collection of products and attending these types of shows is essential to finding ideas for the shop. I like to try to add new shows that I have never been to as well. This past year I attended the National Hardware Show which was terrific. I found one of my favorite items called the Perfect Sandwich at this show.

NBM Online: The Museum hosts a number of lectures, often with book signings, each month. How is the Museum Shop involved in those events?

Higdon: Book signings, lectures, and other events in the Museum are a collaborative effort that involves a lot of individuals inside and outside of the Museum. Once a decision has been made about a particular topic the Museum Shop becomes responsible for procuring books related to the subject matter. When the opportunity is available for book signings, the Shop arranges with the publishers to acquire the books and participates in coordinating with programs staff on the logistics for the signing.

NBM Online: Of course, the holiday shopping season is right around the corner. Will the Museum Shop be doing anything special for the holidays?

I think the most special time of the year in the Museum Shop is during our annual Member Shopping days during the holiday season. For the past five years we have celebrated the season by giving our members an additional 10% discount on their purchase in the Shop and its online version. As in years past we have added a lot of new items to our offerings. The staff works throughout the year planning the product assortment that will be available. This is the time of year when it all seems to come together and the shop becomes full of excitement. Throughout the year customers tell the staff in the Shop that a friend, family member, or co-worker gave them a gift from the National Building Museum and how much they liked it or how much fun it is. This makes this job so unique and rewarding for all the shop staff.

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