The Spy Store is a fun final stop for guests visiting the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. Visitors can peruse merchandise that incorporates fun wordplay and code-cracking espionage themes that are tied to displays and exhibits seen throughout the museum.
This past summer, guests started to linger in the Spy Store a little longer — the destination retailer incorporated a Mission Impossible motorcycle and James Bond Parahawk replica in the store, which provided picture-worthy moments for visitors browsing the store. With the success of those two pieces, the store decided to debut a new exhibit in the store to keep interest and education opportunities going.
Craig Sorvillo, a Spy Store retail buyer, says the store added a permanent display case with authentic espionage artifacts from the museum’s extensive artifact collection in July. The new display case is housed near the store’s book section. Sorvillo notes that all the artifacts displayed help complete the story guests experience throughout the museum.
“Guests experience certain stories as they go through the museum about spies, code breaking and more,” he explains. “They get all these themes as they go throughout the museum. As they reach the store, we want them to have those stories in mind and be reminded of them. So as they look at the new artifact display, they may be inspired to grab a book to keep reading up on that story or find a product that reminds them of it.”
Sorvillo says the display was simple to set up. The retail team carved out part of a wall near the book section to place the glass case along with lighting for the artifacts. Description cards were placed outside the glass to provide guests with details about the artifacts inside.
“We gave up a little wall space that was used to merchandise posters for the new display case, but those products were easily moved to another part of the store,” he shares. “No critical product had to be moved and no major construction. Our exhibit team is really good at this kind of thing, and they came down to help us lay everything out to make sure we maximized the space and displayed the artifacts well. It was a seamless process once we decided what we were doing, and we even built the display case internally.”
Sorvillo adds that he and his team were very intentional when selecting artifacts to place in the new display case. Some items chosen for the display include a Minox C Camera, a fountain pen camera replica issued by the CIA, encoders, a KGB concealment device and more.
“The one artifact, a camera pen, for example, is a product we typically carry in our store,” he says.
The new experiential elements in the museum have helped to keep guests lingering longer and engaging with museum store staff members about the artifacts on display. Sorvillo says he has noticed that almost every customer who walks in the store takes time to explore the new display case and Mission Impossible motorcycle.
“They’re all carefully looking at the case, the descriptions and some even ask store associates questions,” he says. “The museum store is the last thing people see before they leave. With an exhibit in the store, guests now get one more bit of history before they leave. Hopefully they will also be interested in taking home a book or product with them, too.”
