An interactive online experience

By Megan Smalley

Not all “I Love Lucy” fans are able to make the journey to Jamestown, New York, to see the Lucy Desi Museum. To give these fans a taste of what the museum and store have to offer, the Lucy Desi Museum invites fans to take a virtual tour of the Lucy Desi Museum Shop.

Similar to virtual tours of properties offered by real estate agents, the feature showcases the variety of displays and assortment of products throughout the store. Visitors can click their way through the long wall of “I Love Lucy”-themed T-shirts and display tables stocked with souvenir mugs, glasses and tumblers. Toward the cash wrap, the store has an “I Love Lucy”-themed penny press.

Although online store visitors can’t use the penny press, much of the merchandise displayed on the tour can be purchased from the online shop.

Kate Rinko, retail supervisor at the Lucy Desi Museum Shop, says the museum released the virtual walkthrough feature two to three years ago.

“Some of our guests and customers will call us to let us know they might never actually make it to the museum,” says Rinko. “We wanted to give them the experience of at least being able to walk through the gift shop and get that experience without coming. It just adds a different level to our shop that other online shops might not have.”