Bradford Kelleher

Bradford Kelleher (July 31, 1920 – October 31, 2007) reinvented the Metropolitan Museum of Art's gift shop and merchandise marketing program in the 1960s. He also served as the vice president of the Met from 1978 until 1986. He actively worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1949 until his retirement in 1986. He retired in 1986, but continued to work with the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an active consultant until his death in 2007. Two years after Kelleher's retirement, the Met opened its first satellite Met Store in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1988.

The Met Store today As of 2007, the Met Store and its merchandising business, including the reproductions, begun by Kelleher, currently brings the Metropolitan Museum of Art over $1 million in revenue a year. The Met Stores' offerings currently range from small items, such as key chains, to a $30,000-dollar emerald necklace. There are now Met Stores open throughout the United States and around the world, including the flagship Met Store founded by Kelleher, which is located in the main lobby of the museum.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a nonprofit institution so it is not required to pay taxes to the Internal Revenue Service on the sale of merchandise that have a proven cultural or educational function to the museum. This applies to items sold at the Met Store and the museum's smaller gift shops. Thus the Met Store and its merchandise has become a major source of income for the Met. Bradford Kelleher was a frequent defender of the museum's nonprofit sales operations.

Death Bradford Kelleher died on October 31, 2007, in Riverhead, New York. He was survived by his wife, Mary. The couple resided in both Manhattan and Cutchogue, New York. Kelleher's death was announced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he had worked for almost 60 years.