November 2025, Cornflower hit the the road – bringing together museum and cultural retail professionals for a series of free, inspiring, practical, and interactive regional events. Our roadshows were an opportunity to combine learning from industry leaders, sharing experiences with peers, and exploring exciting new possibilities for bespoke product development – all tailored to help make your shop a destination in its own right.
Wednesday 12th November we were in Salford where we were delighted to host our event at The Lowry. The day started off with The Lowry’s Commercial & Operations Director, Tony Smith, opening with some great insights into the retail year, highlighting how Lyndsey Tickle and her team bring exhibition products to life in their super shops.
Following this we had an exclusive pre-recorded seminar from Melody Caban, a former Vice President of the Museum Store Association in the USA, as well as a leading museum retail consultant in The States. Melody explained the experience of museum retail in the USA and looked at the key trends for museum retailers in the USA, but relevant wherever they are.
This led to an insightful panel session led by our Creative Manager, Hannah Rowden. Alongside Hannah on the panel, we had Kate Mellor from Chester Zoo, Kasia Lawrence from Chatsworth House, and Liza Leonard from Bolton Museums, who all shared their thoughts and experience on product development innovation. This was something many of our attendees found useful, with a particularly interesting exchange of views on sustainable products and museum retail. A good number of questions from the audience as well developed the discussion further.
Drawing on Cornflower’s 26 years of experience in cultural retail, CEO of Cornflower, Simon Nutbrown, gave a little background to Cornflower, our history and ethos. He also shared some practical insights on product development, the concept of “vistorsplaining” as a force for good, and the use of bespoke products to help drive non-retail revenue.
Then, after a delicious lunch from The Lowry events team, our Sales Manager Carolyn Taylor outlined the product development process, before attendees had the opportunity to discuss their projects with the Cornflower team. This was an opportunity to see the variety of products we can supply, several of these being new to our range such as our candles, diffusers and layered FSC® wooden products.
"What a lovely day we had at the Cornflower Roadshow! The Manchester Museum and the Whitworth found the day both informative and enjoyable. It was wonderful to meet new people from the industry and catch up with some of the venues we already know.
We thought the schedule and the speakers were both interesting and inspiring. It was great to hear more about Cornflower.
We really enjoyed seeing the huge amount of product samples that were on display so we could understand the breadth of product Cornflower can develop. We have come away inspired with lots of product development ideas for the year ahead!"
Emma Gittins
Head of Retail and Product Development for the Manchester Museum and the Whitworth
Wednesday 19th November we were in London where we had our event at the ARC Centre in Islington, and excellent community centre providing a superb space for us to hold the roadshow. The day started off with Royal Ballet & Opera’s Head of Retail Matthew Hunt highlighting his experience in retail this year, showing us what has been successful within the Royal Ballet & Opera, and some fascinating before and after slides showing work on their online shop.
We loved hearing from Melody Caban again, who gave us a fresh look at museum retail and USA trends.
Following this, we had a fantastic panel session, and many thanks to Kate Vandor from Sir John Soane’s Museum, Matt Roland-Whipps from the National Theatre, Kirstin Jee from the Wellcome Trust and Orla Cullen from the British Library for sharing their insights, thoughts and experiences in the panel led by Hannah. Again, the session concluded with some super questions from the audience.
Simon Nutbrown again spoke on our 26 years of experience in cultural retail, sharing more practical insights on product development and exclusive merchandise.
After lunch, delegates had a chance to discuss product development with the Cornflower team after hearing from Carolyn about the product development process.
“I was delighted to be invited to the recent Cornflower Roadshow in London. Hearing about the company background and future development plans was insightful.
I was particularly interested to see how our industry colleagues worked in close partnership with Cornflower to develop lucrative merchandise that their customers clearly responded to. Speaking with my peers in the industry, and especially seeing the vast array of product availability, has inspired my team.
We look forward to increasing our collaboration with Cornflower, confident that we will be producing unique, sustainable, profitable, and desirable gifts and merchandise that our customers will cherish.”
Orla Cullen
E-Commerce Manager, Merchandiser, Wholesale Manager at the British Library
“The Cornflower Roadshow was an interesting and informative day and a wonderful opportunity to see and discuss new product ideas, as well as being able to network with people from the Heritage and Cultural sector. I can highly recommend”
Emma Butler
Assistant Buyer at the Science Museum Group
“It was great to meet the Cornflower team in person and spend time with Museum colleagues sharing this year’s Museum retail challenges and successes. A really practical and productive day of Museum retail!”
Alex Nott
St Albans Museums Commercial + Marketing
Our 2025 roadshows were a huge success, offering customers invaluable insights and real inspiration. If you’re thinking about working with us in 2026 - whether it’s on a product, a full range, or something personal like holiday cards - feel free to get in touch using the form below or clicking here.
At Cornflower, we specialise in creating exclusive, thoughtful products that act as ambassadors for your brand long after the initial sale. We will guide you through every step of the journey, from product development to final product. If you’re still exploring possibilities, you can browse our existing ranges here for inspiration.
Because our work is entirely bespoke, not everything we offer is listed. If you have an idea - traditional or completely out of the box - we’d love to hear it! Email us sales@cornflower.co.uk
