M+H Awards Hall of Fame: A theatre shop designing its own future

A theatre gift shop which designs its own merchandise, sells props from recent productions, and has its own blog was among the projects recognised at the most recent Museums + Heritage Awards.

The Globe Shop at Shakespeare’s Globe in London was presented with the Shop of the Year Award at the Museums + Heritage Awards in 2024.

Meghan Cole, its Head of Retail Management spoke to Advisor in 2025 with an update on the project, as well as a look back at the venue’s win.

The award was decided on by a panel of sector judges who said they were “impressed by the interrogation of the procurement process as well as the clear alignment with both mission and place. And, with merchandise created by an in-house design team too making this shop impressive on all fronts.”

How has your work evolved since receiving the Museums + Heritage Award?

Cole: We have been looking at how we can make retail at the Globe more experiential. Onsite, we’ve really looked at space planning and started using heat maps more effectively to track how our customers use the space. We’ve built on the ideas of using theatre props to create enticing stories that lead patrons through our merchandise.

Online, we’ve been developing a whole range of themed gift boxes that tell stories connected to Shakespeare’s world in a contemporary way, and these have proved very popular.

We’re also working with even more small businesses who provide us with unique collaborations, and of course, we continue to design and develop very cool merchandise in-house to support the Globe’s activities!

What did winning mean to you and your team?

It was a total surprise! We knew we had a good shop, but we also haven’t been refitted in twenty years, so we struggle with out-dated fittings. We’ve tried to compensate for this by re-using props from past shows as display items – literally bringing the experience of the theatre into the retail space – and that creates a great sense of drama and tells a story for our customers.

Winning the award was a confidence boost and we’ve been proudly displaying our bright pink trophy in the shop windows for all to see. It also cemented a growing sense of the value that retail brings to the Globe – we can say that we have the best cultural retail shop in the country!

We’ve built on the ideas of using theatre props to create enticing stories that lead patrons through our merchandise"

What would you say to others considering entering the Museums + Heritage Awards?

Do it. Write from the heart. Get your enthusiasm out on the entry form and it will hopefully inspire the judges as much as it inspires you.

Where do you display your Museums + Heritage Award?

In the onsite shop window. We’re looking at having an awards case built to house the M+H Award and our two ACE awards.

Tell us about your next ambitious project or plans for pushing boundaries further

We do have some very ambitious plans, but they are strictly under wraps for now!

Things I can talk about include expanding our Print to Order offering, our growing licensing programme and our ambitions regarding B2B.

We currently offer apparel and textile homewares on our Print to Order platform, but we are looking to expand into stationary and other categories too. Print to Order is a great way to expand product lines without incurring financial risk as well as being a sustainable way to make merchandise.

2025 will also see the Globe offering products B2B, something we’ve only dabbled in before. We are also always on the lookout for new licensing partners and have been working with Start Licensing for a while now with great results. 2025 will see the first Globe licensed products released into the world! It’s an exciting time.