At Walker Art Center, soon you'll be able to shop for furniture, 'collectible' home goods

Next month, the Walker Art Center is finally reopening its shop, which has been empty since 2020.

But it will be an entirely different shopping experience.

Called Idea House 3 and opening on Nov. 16, the 1,500-square-foot space at the back of the Minneapolis art museum will be a "collectible design store," the Walker said in a news release this week. It will be set up to look like different rooms of a home and filled with a mix of furniture, lighting, tableware and other goods that are all for sale.

There's also going to be a "Guest Room" space in the store that will be curated by a changing roster of creative folks. First up is design curator Wava Carpenter, known for overseeing the Design Miami fair.

"With the launch of Idea House 3, we are establishing a more permanent presence for design at the Walker and creating a space to explore the ways in which the lines between fine art, craft and product design have and continue to blur," Mary Ceruti, the Walker's executive director, said in the release announcing the store.

And if you're looking for gifts, jewelry, postcards or the time-honored "Closed Mondays" sweatshirt, the smaller gift shop near the museum's entrance is sticking around.