About three years after it opening its doors in Zagreb, the Museum of Illusions continues expanding its locations around the world - after nine franchised museums already up and running in countries from the United States to Malaysia, another dozen locations are in the works.

The most recent new location launched in New York, on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue, with a new set of exhibits, which will soon be unveiled in Zagreb. The next in line to open will be locations in Kansas City, Hamburg, and Toronto.

“We had the idea for the museum three and a half years ago, and two years before we opened we closely studied the market and available spaces. Very quickly we became the most visited museum (in Zagreb),” museum’s co-founder, Roko Zivkovic, told state agency Hina.

As numbers of visitors grew, interest for franchises also grew. In the coastal city of Zadar the museum became a hit with tourists, and franchises in Ljubljana and Vienna soon followed.

“About 90 percent of people who want to open our franchise are our visitors. They come to the museum, they like what they see, and with each new franchise brings in even more interested franchisees in the surrounding area,” Zivkovic said.

The entire process of signing the franchise, finding locations, setting up exhibits, and marketing, takes around a year.

Zivkovic told Hina that the museum achieved success because it aims at a wide audience, from 3 to 99 years of age, and successfully melds education with entertainment.

“It’s equally interesting to small children and to pensioners, and it’s intentionally set up in such a way to offer entertaining features for visitors of any generation. Visitors also like its educational dimension,” Zivkovic said.

The Museum of Illusions, which consists of a collection of optical illusions, offers a chance for visitors to, among other things, seemingly resist gravity, see their partner or friend grow smaller or larger right before their eyes, get lost in what seems like infinite space in the Mirror Room, serve somebody’s head on a platter, or even “climb” to the ceiling in the Upside Down Room.

Its original location in Zagreb employs 13 people, and a team of three architects work on developing new exhibits and puzzles designed to play tricks with human perception.

Currently, the museum has other locations in Zadar, Vienna, Belgrade, Ljubljana, Athens, and Berlin. Outside Europe, franchises have already opened in Oman’s capital Muscat, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and New York.

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