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Metropolitan Museum of Art - Case Study Essay example

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Executive Summary

The New York Metropolitan Museum of the Art is a non-profit institution with an established history as a behemoth of the artistic world. It was founded and maintains today the mission of “establishing and maintaining in the city of New York a museum and library of art, of encouraging and developing, the study of the fine arts, and the application of arts to manufacturing and practical life, of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects, and, to that end, of furnishing popular instruction.” Although the museum has run a deficit in the past two years, faces the prospect of rising operating expenses and lacks consistent strategy in its initiatives, it has strong fundamentals which include a membership base of …show more content…

Hours of Operation – The museum’s hours are as follows: Sunday, Tuesday-Thursday: 9:30 am to 5:15 pm; Friday, Saturday: 9:30 am to 8:45 pm; Monday: Closed. Evening hours were added recently to boost attendance figures. Average weekday attendance is 2,500, while attendance on weekend evenings averages between 3,500 and 5,000.

Target Demographic – Survey results have shown that 48% of visitors to the Met are New York City residents, while 52% were tourists. The typical museum visitor is also age 38, female with a baccalaureate education and a professional job. The primary reason for visiting was special exhibition (51% visited for this reason) while the number of visits within one year averages at one to three. Also, 15.5% of museum visitors are members.

Auxiliary Operations – In the past five years, revenue from auxiliary operations has averaged over 50% of total revenues and expenses. The museum’s auxiliary operations include retail shops both on site and in the Cloisters, as well at ten remote locations across the United States. The stores are successfully bringing in revenue (although less than was forecast), selling more products than any other museum shops, both through in-store and mail catalogue sales (which were up 4% this past year). It also operates a restaurant, cafeteria, and bar; the museum has received approval to replace the old restaurant and cafeteria with a new

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