A.
Cash
Each cash drawer is activated during daily opening procedures
and is counted using the point-of-sale. Any discrepancies must be reported
immediately to the MMS administrator.
Each cash drawer is reconciled during daily closing
procedures and is counted using the point-of-sale. Any discrepancies must be
reported immediately to the MMS administrator.
B.
Checks
Checks are accepted with a valid photo ID.
All checks must be made payable to the Mississippi
Museum Store, legibly written, properly signed, currently dated, and
bear a verifiable address and phone number.
Counter checks, third-party checks, starter checks,
non-personalized checks, money orders, and foreign checks are NOT
accepted.
Checks are endorsed upon receipt with the MMS "FOR DEPOSIT
ONLY- stamp.
Checks are to be listed by name and amount on the deposit
slip and must be accounted for on the daily reconciliation sheet.
Any returned checks are handled by the MDAH finance
office.
C.
Credit
Cards
All credit card sales are processed electronically, and each
sale must be approved by the respective credit card company.
If a signature is required on the receipt, phone sales should
be marked with "paid via telephon" on the signature line. The customer copy
must be mailed to the customer along with the merchandise.
All in-store credit card Merchant Copy receipts must be
signed by the customer, placed in the cash drawer, and submitted to the MDAH
finance department. The Customer Copy receipts must be given to the
customer.
D.
Gift
Cards
The MMS Store 1 is the only location where gift cards may be
purchased and redeemed. MMS gift cards must be purchased in the amount of $5 or
more. The MMS is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged cards.
Gift cards are non-refundable, may not be redeemed for cash,
and cannot be purchased using any kind of discount or coupon.
There is no expiration for gift cards.
E.
Returns/Exchanges
a.
All merchandise returns or exchanges
must be written within thirty (30) days of purchase.
b. All merchandise returns or exchanges must
be accompanied by the original receipt with the merchandise in original
condition.
c. For auditing
purposes, all refund and exchange receipts are to be kept with the daily
reconciliation records. Refund receipts should be initialed by the store staff
member who processed the transaction as well as the MMS
administrator.
d. All credit card
refunds will be credited back to the card that originated the
purchase.
e. Cash refunds are
limited to $100. Refunds in excess of this amount must be approved by the MMS
administrator, site administrator, and/or Museum Division director. The finance
department can issue a check refund, if needed, or the refund amount can be
credited to a MMS gift card.
f. If
the original purchase was made via personal check, a check refund or store gift
card will be issued after the original check has cleared the bank.
g. Clearance and sale items are
non-refundable and may not be exchanged for other merchandise.
F.
Merchandise Selection and
Standards
All merchandise sold in the MMS is:
a. Compatible with the mission of MDAH and
MMS;
b. Relevant to Mississippi
history;
c. Of exceptional
craftsmanship and quality production and presentation;
d. Visually appealing and quality
packaged;
e. Reasonably priced with
an acceptable margin of profit;
f.
Kept in minimal inventory except for items with established purchase
minimums;
g. Marketable with a
demonstrated marketability.
Vendors, authors and publishers may submit requests to sell
their materials at the Mississippi Museum Store using an online application.
Submission of an application does not confirm acceptance. All submissions are
subject to review by the Mississippi Museum Store committee. Additionally,
published works must meet the following criteria:
a. The book has an ISBN number and/or bar
code.
b. The book is professionally
printed, designed, and bound.
c.
The content directly relates to the history and culture of
Mississippi.
d. The content fits
the mission and vision of the Mississippi Museum Store.
Merchandise or works created by current volunteers, donors,
or MDAH staff members will NOT be considered, except in the case of
publications sold through a professional publisher/distributer.
G.
Merchandise Categories
MMS Merchandise categories include-but are not limited to-the
following:
a. Artisan Crafts-handmade
items of exceptional quality and originality that represent and are created by
Mississippi artisans (baskets, pottery, wood items, reproductions, art,
etc.),
b. Books and publications
about Mississippi prehistory, history, and/or culture,
c. Gourmet-Mississippi-made snacks, candies,
nuts, jams, jellies, preserves, honey, and other high-quality gift food
items,
d. Jewelry-handmade
Mississippi items, Mississippi-themed items, and authentically sourced Native
American items,
e. Kids
Items-historical and fiction books, games and puzzles, plush toys (such as
teddy bears),etc.,
f.
Souvenir-high-quality souvenirs related to MDAH programming and to Mississippi
historic sites or memorable reminders of the museum experience. Items may
include coasters, keychains, magnets, mugs, paperweights, letter openers,
pencils, pens, etc.,
g. Paper
Products-historic and Mississippi-themed maps, notecards, postcards,
stationary, prints, and reproduction items,
h. Textiles-logoed and non-logoed merchandise
items made of fabric which represent the department sites. Items may include
t-shirts, bags, potholders, quilts, etc.,
i. Temporary Exhibits & Seasonal
Products-holiday and seasonal merchandise and items relevant to temporary
exhibits,
j. Body
Care-Mississippi-made lotions, soaps, face wash, bath bombs, etc.,
k. Windsor Ruins-merchandise directly related
to Windsor Ruins; proceeds benefit the stabilization and maintenance of Windsor
Ruins,
l. Fine Art-original,
creative visual art that demonstrates great skill and accomplishments and is
appreciated for its imaginative, aesthetic, or intellectual content. Items may
include sculptures, paintings, etc.,
m. Two Mississippi Museums
Memberships-includes membership for sale off-site.
H.
Item Identification
Each item shall be assigned an individual inventory number
and bar code. When deemed appropriate or necessary, MDAH will create artist
identification cards for artisan-crafted MMS merchandise-all such merchandise
will be placed by coordinating artist plaques and cards. Artist identification
cards will be provided to the customer at the time of purchase. Each item will
be labeled with a price tag when possible.
I.
Unsolicited Merchandise
a. All unsolicited merchandise must be
officially submitted with the required documentation.
b.
NO unsolicited merchandise
will be accepted or evaluated by the store committee until the required
submission procedure is complete.
c. MMS reserves the right to refuse any
unsolicited merchandise-there are no guarantees that unsolicited merchandise
will be accepted for sale in the MMS.
d. All unsolicited merchandise owners will be
notified to pick up their goods within thirty (30) days or it will be
considered abandoned and may be disposed of at the discretion of the Store
Committee. The store is not responsible for unsolicited merchandise.
J.
Inventory
An inventory of all physical merchandise must be conducted on
an annual basis during the last week of June and all counts must be completed
by the last business day of June. A copy of each store's inventory report must
be submitted to the MMS administrator, Museum Division director, and MDAH
finance department by July 15 of each year. The following rules will be
observed:
a. Each store shall close
for the annual inventory
b. No
sales are to be made during inventory.
c. Each store must utilize the point-of-sale
inventory physical count procedures to formally create, count, and enter the
inventory physical count results.
d. All merchandise is to be physically
counted, verified, and recorded on inventory forms generated by the current
point-of-sale (POS) system. This physical count should be compared to the POS
inventory for each site.
e. In the
case of any discrepancies between the physical count and the POS inventory
reports, the inventory will be recounted. If the count continues to reflect a
discrepancy, each item in question should be investigated for cause of
anomalies.
f. An annual inventory
report explaining any discrepancies and adjustments should be included with the
physical inventory report.
g. Any
adjustments to the inventory will be made only by the MMS administrator
after the inventory physical count is completed and posted in the
POS system.
K.
Purchases
The MMS purchases merchandise on a direct-buy basis and pays
via invoicing methods. There are instances in which purchases using the store
procurement credit card are necessary. These purchases must be made by the
cardholder ONLY. All purchases are to be reviewed and submitted to the Museum
Division director.
Procurement card purchases must be made in compliance with
all state and MDAH financial regulations.
Retail markup shall be consistent with suggested retail
pricing.
All purchasing must have the approval of the MMS
administrator. Any custom items should be approved by the Store Committee
before the order is placed.
L.
Consignment
The MMS administrator may recommend to the Store Committee
certain items be accepted for consignment-only at the Two Mississippi Museums
store location. These items may include pieces of art that exceed the normal
price range of items carried in the store. There may be no more than three
artists accepted on consignment at one time. Consignors must be
Mississippians.
The artist receives 60% of the retail cost and MMS receives
40%. Consignment items may be discounted a maximum 10%. The consignment cycle
will last for a period of three months unless a longer period is approved by
the Store Committee. Consignors are responsible for retrieving unsold
merchandise. MDAH Finance Department will make all payments to
consignors.
M.
Discounts
MMS may offer discounts in the following categories:
a. Clearance-Inventory that has not sold
according to the Store Committee's projected expectations shall be sold on
clearance. The MMS administrator may place this merchandise on clearance with a
minimum discount of 20%. If clearance items have not sold within thirty (30)
days, the MMS administrator may either reduce the price further or process for
disposal using the Merchandise Disposal form. Clearance merchandise is
non-refundable and cannot be exchanged.
b. Promotions-Merchandise may be discounted
for promotional purposes at the MMS administrator and/or Store Committee's
discretion. Store sites must submit promotion requests at least thirty days in
advance for the Store Committee to review and provide a
determination.
c. Damaged
Inventory-Damaged merchandise in resalable condition shall be reduced in price
for a "quick sale Damaged merchandise that is sold is non-refundable and may
not be exchanged. After thirty (30) days, any remaining merchandise may be
disposed of at the Store Committee's discretion. Criteria for merchandise
disposal includes items that are broken, damaged, out-of-date, no longer fits
mission, excessive amount of inventory with significantly diminished customer
demand deemed inappropriate, or unsolicited.
d. Wholesale-Wholesale discounts are for
resale purposes only. Any group or organization requesting a discount for the
purchase of specific merchandise in large quantities must gain prior approval
by the MMS administrator and/or Store Committee. The following scale is used:
|
Quantity
|
Discount
|
|
1-9
|
15%
|
|
10-19
|
18%
|
|
20-39
|
20%
|
|
40+
|
25%
|
e.
MDAH related-Purchases for MDAH use, such as books for the library or special
programming, will be at cost and must be purchased with a purchase requisition.
The MDAH finance department will transfer the funds accordingly.
f. The following discounts apply to regular
priced merchandise only:
20%-MDAH staff,
15%-MDAH Board of Trustees, the Foundation for Mississippi
History Board of Directors, the Eudora Welty Foundation Board of Directors, and
MDAH volunteers,
10%-Two Mississippi Museums members, Mississippi Historical
Society members, and other groups deemed appropriate by the MDAH
director.
N.
Donations
The store is prohibited by law to donate to charitable or
civic organizations as store merchandise is state property. Overstocked items
may be removed from inventory and sold at no cost to other retailers or
transferred at no cost to other state agencies, museums, or libraries. The
Mississippi Museum Store Financial Operations Committee (MDAH director, MDAH
finance department director, Museum Division director, and MMS administrator)
must approve any items donated from the store.
Items donated to MMS in resalable condition may be accepted
with approval by the Store Committee. A Merchandise Donation form should be
completed showing the names and address of the donor, quantity, and description
of items donated and signatures of the donor and receiver.
O.
In Store Use Only
Occasionally, special items may be ordered for in-store use
only. The MMS administrator may purchase the necessary items by purchase order
method or with a state procurement card and mark such items as "Display
Only.
