2026 Retail Merchandising and Product Development Intern: Summer

Job Description:

Position Title: 2026 Retail Merchandising and Product Development Intern: Summer

Position Type: Part Time/Full Time

FLSA Classification: Non-Exempt

Department: Retail

Reports to: Buyer

About Crystal Bridges & The Momentary:

Crystal Bridges is a museum of American art located in Bentonville, Arkansas. We explore the unfolding story of America by actively collecting, exhibiting, interpreting, and preserving outstanding works that illuminate the American heritage and artistic possibilities. Founded by Alice Walton in 2005, the museum opened in 2011 and is a public, non-profit charitable organization with free admission.

The Momentary is a new contemporary art space that opened to the public on February 22, 2020, in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas. A satellite to Crystal Bridges, the Momentary presents visual, performing, and culinary arts. The mission of the Momentary is to champion contemporary art’s role in everyday life and explore the unfolding story of contemporary American arts in an international context by actively commissioning and exhibiting outstanding works that explore new ideas and inspire action

Position Summary:

The Retail Merchandising and Product Development Intern will focus on helping to grow our exclusive custom print program from the permanent collection at Crystal Bridges as well as branded products and exclusive artist product collaborations. The custom print program allows customers to purchase prints from the CBMAA collection in a variety of sizes and frame options in just three easy steps. It is one of the largest revenue streams in the Museum Store and has the potential to increase exponentially with more variety and offerings. This position will help grow this offering. This position will also work on branded products and artist collaborations. 

Application Materials: Interns that do not submit a resume AND cover letter will not be considered for this opportunity.  Please answer the following questions in your cover letter when submitting your application. 

What interests you most about retail merchandising and product development in a museum setting? How do you stay informed about retail trends, e-commerce best practices, or product development innovations? Visual merchandising often requires balancing creativity with sales goals. How would you approach creating a store layout that tells a story while driving revenue?

Duties and Responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities & Goals

Assess Retail Pricing Strategy

• Review Good/Better/Best in each category of our assortment.
• Identify areas of opportunity – where we are not holding enough of a particular price point, or conversely, we are holding too much of a price point.
• Research assortments from other Museum shops to compare against. 

Goal: Understanding Retail Strategy

E-commerce (Shopify) Support

• Assess the extended assortment possibilities for our E-comm store
• Update the online store with new products, collections, and relevant content.
• Assist in building and curating product collections that align with seasonal and

promotional strategies.

• Collaborate with the Buyer and Associate Buyer to maintain accurate and effective product tagging and metadata.
• Support ongoing website maintenance and troubleshooting as needed.

Goal: Gain hands-on experience managing product data in Shopify, including tagging,

collection building, and website updates to optimize product visibility online.

Store Merchandising Map

• Assist with maintaining and updating the store merchandising map to reflect current
• product placements and seasonal layouts.
• Collaborate with the retail team to ensure the map supports storytelling, sales goals, and visual consistency.
• Develop retails sales per square footage guidelines.

Goal: Develop spatial planning and visual merchandising skills along with financial acumen by managing updates to the store map that align with product placement and sales strategies.

Product Development

- Assist in product research, trend analysis, and sourcing materials.

• Support the buyer and design teams during product testing, sampling, and evaluation

phases.

• Help track feedback and revisions throughout the development process.
• Contribute ideas aligned with market trends and brand identity.
• Document key steps and learnings to support future product planning.

Goal: Understand the end-to-end product development process by supporting sourcing,

sampling, and documentation of new retail products.

School Programs Swag Bags

• Finalize a swag bag project started by a previous intern for school programs.
• Coordinate with the School Programs Manager and Retail team for ordering, approvals,
• and delivery.
• Ensure accurate inventory, branding, and assembly of swag bags.

Goal: Apply product development and inventory management skills by coordinating

ordering and assembly of swag bags, ensuring timely delivery and quality control.

Timeline: 

Intern selected by: March 1st

Schedule: 

Start Date: June 1, 2026 

End Date: July 24, 2026 

Weekly schedule to be arranged with direct supervisor. Interns are permitted to work up to 40 hours a week. 

To qualify for bachelor’s or master’s hours, you must be enrolled in an accredited program or have graduated from an accredited program within the last three years. Students will be required to submit a current schedule or official transcript. 

Compensation: 

• High School Interns: $12.00
• Undergraduate Interns: $13.00 
• Graduate Interns: $14.00

To qualify for bachelor’s or master’s compensation, you must be enrolled in an accredited program or have graduated from an accredited program within the last three years. Students will be required to submit a current schedule or official transcript. 

Housing

Housing for internship positions is contingent upon the availability of funding and is not guaranteed. Internships that include housing explicitly state this within the position description. Any housing and/or relocation assistance provided is considered taxable income and will be reflected on the intern’s Form W-2. If housing is provided, priority will be given to students whose primary residence is more than 150 miles or three hours from either Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art or the Momentary.

Application Materials: Interns that do not submit a resume AND cover letter will not be considered for this opportunity.  Please answer the following questions in your cover letter when submitting your application. 

What interests you most about retail merchandising and product development in a museum setting? How do you stay informed about retail trends, e-commerce best practices, or product development innovations? Visual merchandising often requires balancing creativity with sales goals. How would you approach creating a store layout that tells a story while driving revenue?

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an intern to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Physical demands:  In the work environment described below, position requires work at a desk, utilizing a computer and a telephone for prolonged periods of time, good eye/hand coordination, bending and stretching for filing, and physical stamina to lift a minimum of 25 pounds to a height of at least three feet for file and materials storage as appropriate for the demands of the office. Visual acuity to review written materials is required for this job.

• Work environment:  Work will be performed in an office environment and museum spaces. The noise level in the museum work environment is usually low to moderate.

If the intern’s personal equipment is used, the museum accepts no liability for any damage caused to said equipment while being used for museum purposes, nor loss or corruption of electronic files on devices.

All offers of employment are contingent on your successful completion (where permitted by state law) of a confidentiality agreement and background check. In addition, you will need to provide proper identification verifying your eligibility to work in the United States.

Crystal Bridges is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.