Last week saw the official opening of the refurbished reception and shop at Big Pit National Coal Museum. Following a six month redevelopment project, the museum’s oldest building, the original pit Fitting Shop, has been sensitively transformed to reflect the visitor experience, stories and collections at Big Pit.
The new shop is the realisation of a new retail strategy at Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales) which aims to reflect the collections and USPs of each of the group’s seven museums within its retail spaces.
We chatted to Group Retail Manager, Catherine Pinkerton about the new retail concept and how it has been brought to life at Big Pit National Coal Museum.
“Having joined Amgueddfa Cymru around three years ago as Group Retail Manager, I have been keen to ensure that our shops reflect each of our museum’s uniqueness, whilst improving consistency. Last summer I began working on a new retail concept with Matthew Henderson, Freelancer and Trustee of the Association for Cultural Enterprises. The concept aims to ensure our shops are inspired by the visitor experience at each museum and considers every element, from shop design and product development, to visual merchandising and staff ownership, right down to the detail of how to price each item and represent our brand.
“Since October 2024 we have been working with internal and external stakeholders to roll out our retail concept at our first museum – Big Pit National Coal Museum. Big Pit was a working coal mine from 1880 to 1980 and is a treasure trove of stories, collections and history. As a team we have transformed the reception space and museum shop, and every single element has been thought about to bring the project to life with real consistency.
(Picture by Nick Morrish)
“An immersive soundscape has been created by sound designer and artist Guy Veale, celebrating the site’s natural and cultural history. It features a wide variety of industrial sounds – some lost to time, some that still endure – harmonically grounded by a warm base layer of voices from the Blaenavon Male Voice Choir. If you visit, you will hear echoes of what you’ve seen, heard or learned on site and the soundscape has been designed in tribute to the community spirit, graft and determination that originally forged the wider industrial landscape – and now carries its memory forward with pride.
“Supported by Anya Kirkby, Freelancer we have created over 200 new bespoke products, all inspired by the visitor experience, stories and collection at Big Pit. The product ranges serve our visitors in the same way a traditional exhibition would, each telling a different story, such as ranges based around the miner’s strike, canteen exhibit and miner’s banners. Local and national artists, photographers, makers and suppliers have contributed to the new ranges, including many Associate Members of Cultural Enterprises.
(Picture by Nick Morrish)
(Picture by Nick Morrish)
“Rafters and curved shop fixtures have been installed alongside Welsh miner’s lamps to reflect the underground tour, an iconic part of the visitor experience at the museum. Arantxa Garcia, Shop Designer and Visual Merchandiser worked closely with ARJ CRE8 to create the stunning new reception counter and shop, which looks amazing. Original items such as pressure clocks, tools and equipment have been used as part of the displays, and my absolute favourites are the coal drams, which have been carefully restored to be used as part of the shop displays.
(Picture by Nick Morrish)
(Picture by Nick Morrish)
“Finally – and probably only something that fellow retailers can relate to – I love the attention to detail in the space. Our internal team have had such involvement and ownership in the project so even the way we price items is now consistent – we’ve learnt that the consistency is in the detail!
“We’ve already seen a spend per head increase of 39% and have had fantastic feedback from stakeholders across Amgueddfa Cymru and beyond, including those with a non-commercial focus.
“There are so many hidden gems and stories for visitors to explore within the space, such as the immersive soundscape, beautiful products inspired by the collections, and new hand painted signage. We’re so pleased to be officially opening the redevelopment for visitors to enjoy.
“So that’s one museum down, six more to go…! Do pop in if you’re in the area and see the transformation for yourself – we’d love you to visit.”
(Picture by Nick Morrish)
The project was funded from Capital Grant in Aid from the Welsh Government, and as well as improving the visitor experience, will allow Amgueddfa Cymru to continue to fundraise from visitor income including from donations and the museum shop.
Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales) is a charity, and a family of seven national museums and one collections centre located across Wales. Each museum is incredibly unique; their stories, collections and people each play a part in helping to tell Wales’s story.
Many thanks for sharing! It was an incredible project to lead!