With a frank, straightforward statement, the director of executive relations for the Louvre Museum explained why it has been merchandising and licensing so many more of its internationally renowned holdings: “We need to find new ways to make money.” For most of 2020 and well into 2021, the Louvre has remained closed to patrons—not that the millions of international tourists who normally account for a significant proportion of its 9.6 million annual visitors could have gotten themselves to Paris anyway.

If visitors cannot get there, and the government says the museum still cannot open due to COVID-19 restrictions, then earning revenues requires getting creative. Thankfully, creativity is kind of the main business of the Louvre, which has undertaken a range of novel endeavors to keep itself afloat during the pandemic.

Although it has long sold memorabilia and souvenirs, through a collaboration with a dedicated website called Boutique de Musées, that approach proved insufficient. The Louvre’s images appeared together with artwork and offerings from various international museums, preventing any differentiation, and it lost some revenue on each sale. Therefore, it decided to break away from the marketplace and build its own website, where shoppers could find the unique images, recreations, and reflections of its famous collection.

To fill that new site with content, the Louvre also expanded its existing licensing and branding deals. For example, Uniqlo was given a four-year deal to produce clothing with Louvre-inspired images. With Casetify, it also covered accessories like device cases, water bottles, and charging stations. Thus, fans can sport the Venus de Milo not just on their shirts but also on the grip stands for their phones. On a smaller, more exclusive scale, the museum installed sculpture-inspired home décor items in a boutique down the road. All these items thus are available through multiple channels, including its owned website, and the museum takes a bigger cut of the proceeds.

But when considering its assets, the Louvre realized it was not limited to reproductions of conventional artwork. Its buildings represent distinctive, unique, valuable settings as well. To leverage these resources, and earn substantial revenues, it began renting out galleries to interested parties, including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who used it a two-day video shoot. The plot of the Netflix series Lupin relies heavily on the museum’s holdings (and their possible theft), so being able to set the scenes within the actual museum was greatly appealing to producers, as a way to ensure authenticity.

It isn’t just famous people who want access though, so the Louvre also has been auctioning off various experiences that can only be found within its walls. One bidder paid nearly $97,000 for the right to watch while experts performed their annual review of the Mona Lisa, removing her from her famously encased position, inspecting the painting for any damage, and replacing it on the wall.

Discussion Question:

1. Is it a good choice for the Louvre to create its own ecommerce site?
2. What other nontraditional retailers similarly might enter the market in response to COVID-19 restrictions?

Source: Elaine Sciolino, “The Louvre Turns to Merch,” The New York Times, March 3, 2021