Museum shops have been a mainstay of cultural institutions for decades. But New York’s Museum of Modern Art has taken the concept to new levels, with a store in its midtown museum and another across the street. And downtown, it just reopened its SoHo MoMA Design Store with an updated, remodeled format that continues the fine art of shopping.

If MoMA’s retail business is not the largest among American museums, it certainly ranks near the top. The museum says its retail side generates more than 3 million transactions a year—in comparison to the 2.7 million visitors to its galleries between 2023 and 2024. It won’t directly disclose how much of its overall fiscal 2024 revenues (about $278 million) came from its retail business, only saying more than half of that came from its three physical stores, versus online sales and those through third parties and licensing deals.

However, an October 2024 financial audit statement from PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that “auxiliary activities” (retail, publishing and restaurant sales) generated about $83 million in revenues for the brand, compared to the roughly $56 million total from admissions and membership. Though short on details, such statistics imply that the retail-related side of MoMA could account for more than a quarter of its revenues.

And that is likely to increase with the reopening of the SoHo store at 81 Spring Street, following several months of renovations. The two-story, 6,600-square-foot location—originally built in 1884—is heavily merchandised to home and gift decor products; whereas the MoMA Design Store inside the museum has an extensive book department, and the location across 53rd Street focuses on furniture, jewelry and decorative accessories.

MoMA executives acknowledge how important retail is for the organization’s overall position, and for serving as an entry point for the museum itself. “We’ve been thinking beyond revenue [to] how our retail business can connect people to the larger institution and … the art of our times,” Jesse Goldstine, MoMA’s chief retail officer, told Fast Company in an interview timed to the opening of the SoHo store.

“This rolls up into the biggest pivot in the business since I’ve been managing retail at MoMA, which is the shift in strategy from the typical exit-through-the-store model to retail as a point of entry for the institution,” added Goldstine, who joined the museum in 2015.

That point of entry in SoHo is all-new—from its more transparent facade that allows for better views into the store than its original 2001 design’s, to more period-correct details that were covered up or eliminated in the pursuit of modernism 24 years ago. Fast Company says the store “now looks a bit more like a museum.”

Once inside, shoppers will see reproductions from MoMA’s permanent collection alongside licensing tie-ins with brands as varied as Lego and the New York Yankees. Items are curated by a staff according to the museum’s design principles, allowing for a consistent merchandising statement.

FC also reported that there are 30 percent fewer SKUs on the selling floor, “a strategy that gives merchandisers more space for storytelling.” More than half of the products in the store are new to the SoHo location.

“We wanted to create a space where visitors don’t just shop, but also engage with the stories, ideas and creative thinking behind the objects surrounding them,” says Goldstine. “For some, SoHo is their first encounter with the institution, and we’ve created a space to make that moment feel meaningful, memorable and unmistakably MoMA.”

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Warren Shoulberg is the former editor in chief for several leading B2B publications. He has been a guest lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business; received honors from the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology; and been cited by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other media as a leading industry expert. His Retail Watch columns offer deep industry insights on major markets and product categories.