From bikinis to cat bowls: how museum gift stores became the place to shop

Curated edits mean people are treating museums as stand-alone shopping destinations rather than simply exit points

First it came for bookshops. Then your favourite coffee shop. Now there is a new frontier when it comes to upping your merch game: museums.

Instead of art print postcards and coffee table books, you are now more likely to find everything from slogan T-shirts to coffee mugs when you “exit through the gift shop”, as museums look to merch-maxx in order to boost revenue