How the MoMA Store became more MoMA than the MoMA

While most museums have some kind of store—a place to buy a postcard or mug and help their respective institutions squeeze a few more bucks from its visitors—few are actually outstanding places to shop. The notable exception is MoMA.

The MoMA Store has become a brand in and of itself to the point where there are shoppers who know the acronym and logo but not necessarily the history behind them. And while retail has helped MoMA gain name recognition, the museum wants it to become a more effective ambassador for the flagship art institution. The recent renovation of MoMA’s SoHo design store, which recently reopened after months of renovations, exemplifies this new approach. 

“We’ve been thinking beyond revenue and contemplating our reach and how our retail business can connect people to the larger institution and to its mission of connecting people around the world to the art of our times,” says Jesse Goldstine, the general manager of MoMA’s retail operations, who joined the museum in 2015. “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.” 

Between online sales, brick-and-mortar shops, and licensing, MoMA’s retail endeavors generate more than three million transactions annually (MoMA declined to share sales figures). To put that figure into context, the museum welcomed 2.7 visitors during between 2023 and 2024. MoMA says at least 7% of museum visitors learn about the institution through merchandise. Recently, MoMA has been ramping up its licensing partnerships with brands like Lego, New Era (for cobranded Yankees and Mets hats), and Nike (for cobranded tube socks). Additionally, more than half of MoMA Store’s revenue is driven by brick-and-mortar stores.

Because the shop might be the first time someone engages with MoMA, the institution saw an opportunity to strengthen a connection to the museum itself. See an Aalto vase in the shop, then head to Midtown to see an archival example. Part of his shift has to do with the nature of SoHo and how the design store, which opened in 2001, relates to the neighborhood’s visitors. 

“When people come to 53rd Street, they know what MoMA is, they understand the brand,” Goldstine says. “They likely are walking out of the museum and into one of our retail locations. In SoHo, not necessarily. They may have grabbed a cup of coffee and saw a cool thing in the window. They may be excited about the MoMA hoodie that they’ve seen on TikTok or Instagram and want to go purchase it, but they don’t understand who we are as a business.” 

A store that channels a museum

To strengthen the connection, MoMA Design Store now looks a bit more like a museum. Working closely with Peterson Rich Office—the Brooklyn-based architecture firm behind Galerie Perrotin’s downtown outpost and the Met’s forthcoming retail and dining renovation—the shop reconfigured its layout to accommodate the strategy. 

First off, it’s much easier to see inside the store. Before, MoMA Design Store used its storefront for vitrine-like displays in each window. They looked attractive, but blocked longer interior views. Now, the windows are unobstructed and instead look into a spacious, gallery-like space in the front of the store, which will feature products from the museum’s collection plus exclusives and special pop-ups. (It’s also a flexible area that can be emptied out for events and talks to seat 50 people.) 

They also installed deep, built-in cabinets along the storefront at window height, which offers a space where furniture is displayed sparingly, like sculpture. Perforated metal shelving acts as a back wall for the storefront gallery as well as a secondary threshold into the shop. 

A more controlled entry sequence into the store is another shift for the experience. Instead of two doors at the corner of Spring and Crosby, there’s now one entrance on Spring. The architects shifted the door over a few feet so that it’s on a central axis and offers a sightline to the back wall, which is the site of a new rotating mural commission from a contemporary artist. The first is by Nina Chanel Abney and will be up for a couple of years. 

Overall, PRO emphasized what’s necessary for function but kept its interventions minimal. Sustainability concerns (why use more material than you need to or rebuild something that’s perfectly sound?) alongside architectural philosophy influenced the renovation. The store’s original design by 1100 Architects was celebrated when it debuted in 2001 and involved covering up the 19th-century building’s industrial details—think mirrored panels over cast-iron columns and an illuminated drop ceiling over pipes and air ducts—but didn’t serve the new business strategy. 

“It was the spirit of the time,” says Miriam Peterson, who founded PRO with Nathan Rich. “There was almost a fight against history and old things or this attitude that in order to have a point of view about what it means to be contemporary, you have to erase or obliterate whatever it is that was there before.” 

PRO removed most of the aughts-era interventions (the only feature they kept was the concrete stair leading to the basement, where home goods and children’s departments are). They wanted to make the shop feel spacious and heighten the feeling of being in SoHo, playing up the features that are distinct to the building. “You can’t squander the history of New York,” Rich says. 

Refreshingly, the redesign is not intended to be an Instagrammable experience, which has influenced so many SoHo flagships as of late. It’s still, at its heart, a very good place to shop. 

You’ll still be able to find exclusive products that MoMA Store’s merchandisers and buyers source from all around the world and that have all been curator approved—including Kermit-green expandable suitcases from the Korean brand Rawrow, painterly tumblers from the century-old European glassware company Ichendorf, and retro-style Bodum coffee makers— plus perennial bestsellers like perpetual calendars, ceramic Anthora cups, and prismatic acrylic side tables. However, there are 30% fewer SKUs on the floor, a strategy that gives merchandisers more space for storytelling—this includes iPads with video demonstrations of electronics, like projectors—plus breathing room for each product. (Anyone who’s braved the crowds on weekends or around the holidays will likely appreciate more space to move around.)

The redesigned store and strategy behind it also speaks to shifts in how people want to shop. Consumers are interested in spending money at places that align with their values. It’s easier than ever to find attractive, stylish products online and there are countless outlets now with aesthetics similar to MoMA Store. However, none of them have the same history and connection to art. 

In the past, it might have been that the museum lent credibility to the store’s inventory, but the relationship is more reciprocal now. On their way out of the store, visitors will notice a screen near the door that advertises the current exhibitions in the museum. The train uptown to see them is just two blocks away.

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