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When Marie Selby Botanical Gardens shifted its business model to a living museum, with changing exhibitions tied to plant collections, one obvious goal was to draw in more visitors — repeats and first-timers.
The strategy, so far, is working: Officials with Sarasota-based Selby report that “Selby's Secret Garden,” which ran from mid-October through Thanksgiving weekend, provided a big boost in attendance, retail and membership sales in the normally quieter fall season. Admissions revenue rose 20% year over year, Selby reports, while retail shop revenue increased 35% and membership revenue jumped 53%. And revenues for food service at the Selby House Cafe by Michael's On East doubled over last year.
The Secret Garden exhibition featured a living plant display that drew from Victorian greenhouses, along with an installation of the rare botanical books, prints and preserved plants that are part of Selby Gardens' research collection. Selby Gardens President and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki, in an interview with the Business Observer earlier this year, said the museum must create happenings to give people a reason to come — or come back. It's a strategy many other nonprofit cultural centers are undertaking nationwide.
“The magnitude of what growth like this means for this organization is beyond exciting,” Rominiecki says in a statement. “By giving visitors a unique experience to connect with the natural world we're also able to let more people know about the international scientific work of Selby Gardens.”
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