Sabetrend is proud to announce its entry into the French market after winning the prestigious tender organized by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. This success gives Sabetrend the great privilege of supplying iconic museums such as the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay—two of the world’s most important cultural institutions.
An exceptional market with remarkable potential
France offers an outstanding opportunity for cultural merchandising and museum-focused textiles, with figures that highlight its enormous potential. In 2024, French museums and cultural sites welcomed 94.13 million visitors, maintaining remarkable attendance levels despite the challenges posed by the Olympic Games. Major Parisian landmarks showed particularly strong performances: nearly 9 million admissions at the Louvre, 8.4 million visitors at the Château de Versailles, and 4.9 million at the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangerie.
Cultural tourism accounts for between 35% and 45% of France’s total tourism revenue, employing between 90,000 and 110,000 people, with a ripple effect across the hospitality, food service, and leisure sectors. France’s status as a global leader in cultural tourism is built upon an exceptional heritage of more than 8,000 museums, 40,000 to 45,000 listed historic monuments, and 40 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
An underexploited economic opportunity in textiles
Paradoxically, despite such high visitor numbers, French museum shops still offer relatively few textile products—such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, and tote bags—despite the strong international demand for them. Yet the numbers clearly show the market’s economic potential: the Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) generates over €55 million annually through its 34 managed shops, while national museums collectively exceed €60 million in annual shop revenue.
By comparison, the MoMA store in New York reaches \$90 million in annual sales, representing nearly 20% of the museum’s total revenue. In Europe, some museum shops have seen dramatic growth—such as the Musée d’Orsay, which reported a 67% increase in 2022. More than 60% of museum visitors purchase a souvenir before leaving, and in France, museum stores can account for up to 15% of a museum’s overall revenue.
The French museum bookstore-retail market remains below €100 million and consists of only around fifty fully developed stores—demonstrating substantial room for growth. The Centre Pompidou, for instance, sold over half a million merchandise items annually before the pandemic, illustrating the public’s appetite for cultural products.
A textile opportunity in a growing market
Against this favorable backdrop, Sabetrend aims to support the evolution of the French market toward a more robust textile offering. In 2024, 56% of French citizens visited a museum, exhibition, or heritage site—up from 51% in 2023—and 20% plan to increase their visits in 2025. This positive trend, combined with growing demand for souvenirs and “little pieces of France” to take home, creates ideal conditions for high-quality textile collections.
As part of its expansion in France, Sabetrend offers museums, cultural institutions, châteaux, tourist attractions, immersive exhibitions, and theme parks capsule collections with exclusive designs. We are committed to providing high-quality textiles, printed and labeled in Europe, with the flexibility to produce small batches and ensure express delivery—meeting all requirements and creative ambitions. We also offer eco-friendly product lines and can develop tailor-made designs for you.
Proven expertise supporting the French market
Already a leader in cultural merchandising in Spain, Sabetrend works with prestigious clients such as the Sagrada Familia, the Prado Museum, the Thyssen Museum, Reina Sofia, the Picasso Museum, and Casa Batlló. Backed by this experience and aware of the tremendous opportunity represented by France’s 94 million annual museum visitors, we are excited to help modernize and elevate the textile offering in museum and cultural site shops across the country.
Welcome to a new generation of cultural merchandising—imagined and brought to life by Sabetrend!
