Storyeum Bankrupt
Posted in Best Of, Commentary on August 28th, 2006 by Sacha PeterLet me just say I am absolutely SHOCKED, just SHOCKED at this news. Storyeum is financially insolvent!
I remember when they opened that they had a free viewing day for residents of the city (or it was deeply discounted, I can’t remember) and although I didn’t go, everybody that I talked to said that while it was interesting in some places, they wouldn’t pay $xx that it would otherwise cost to get into.
Although Gastown is the most touristy district in Vancouver (and shockingly close to the downtown eastside gallery of homeless people), placing a museum right in the middle of this is a horrible location. The first reason is because it’s a pain in the ass to get to if you’re not already staying downtown. The second reason is because the lease rate of such a location must be costing them a fortune. Finally, museums are not the type of venue where people walking down the street spontaneously say to themselves “Hey, I think I’ll waste the rest of the afternoon looking at this”, which is unfortunately what the operators wanted people to think.
I think the final comment in the article, is particularly amusing:
The new cash is most needed for marketing to attract more customers.
Even if you spent ten million strictly on marketing, it won’t be solving their fundamental issues.
One should ask themselves why Science World or the UBC Museum of Anthropology are successful before blowing a massive amount of capital in a downtown museum project. It’s too bad Storyeum isn’t publicly traded since I would have been curious to see exactly how much cash they spent into the project.
Have you actually seen it? Do you know what you’re talking about? It’s not a “museum” – it’s a theatrical experience and is amazing and innovative. Why not check it out before you criticize?
Whether it’s a museum or a “theatrical experience”, the point is that it’s financially insolvent for a reason that was quite predictable.
I’m sure the people involved in the operation have all the heart and soul required to pull it off, just not much business acumen.
don’t be so silly. the location is not really an issue here. If people go out to the Museum of Anthropology way out at UBC, then downtown is a walk in the park. Since it is a tourist attraction aimed at the tourist trade including the cruise ships (dock only blocks away) the natural selection for a venue is in the city itself where most of the tourist trade will be. The art gallery would have high rental costs as well yet it is not bankrupt!, and Storyeum would have a wider appeal as it is an entertainment attraction. The issue comes to the pricing for tickets which was too high (despite the fact that the costs involved are high), and that the message about what the attraction was was not clearly conveyed, which is shown right here on this page by yourself who condemns this venture without knowing anything about it not even having bothered to see it! By the way, the start up Costs of Storyeum were somewhere around $22million dollars, and it was set up by the same group as runs “the tunnels of Moosejaw” which is a success.
Joe,
Have you ever been out on a cruise? The LAST thing you want to do is get cooped up in some indoor contraption since that’s what you do when you’re on the cruise ship. This is doubly so if you have 8 hours between when the ship docks and when it leaves port.
I completely disagree with your analysis – location is a huge problem of Storyeum. Another problem is thinking that it would get a high quantity of walk-in tourist trade.
It’s easy to look back in retrospect and think it was destined to be doomed, but the moment I read about it in the newspapers I knew the target market was just simply incorrect.
I can just imagine the executives of Storyeum looking at Bodyworlds and wondering how the heck some display of a bunch of plastic bodies can draw such huge crowds when Storyeum had a much more “animated” offering.
If I ever go to Moose Jaw I will look out for the tunnels exhibit you mentioned, however.
I though it was neat…
i went with my class when they opened it and it was awesome. yeah it is not really a spontaneous sort of activity but good for school groups or sports teams etc.