9/11 Museum Will Ask Families About Gift Shop Offerings

The head of the National September 11 Memorial Museum said Wednesday that he will take input from victims’ family members in deciding how to stock the controversial gift shop.

The memorial, which opened to the public earlier this month, has drawn criticism for, among other things, housing a gift shop and a café.

“This is a good reminder that as much ‘success’ as we’ve had…we have to remember that the sensitivity around 9/11 is so high,” Joe Daniels, president of the memorial foundation, told the Wall Street Journal. He said that family members who sit on the board will browse the store and give input on its products.

The Journal notes that gift shops are not uncommon in memorial museums because they help raise funds for the institutions. However, the 9/11 Museum’s offerings have already sparked outrage — a decorative ceramic platter in the shape of the U.S. that marks the sites where the hijacked planes made impact with heart symbols, for example, is no longer on display, the Journal reports.

“We in no way presume to get everything right,” Daniels told the Journal. “We will accept that criticism, absolutely.”

[Wall Street Journal]