I just can’t think of why they would decide to retheme a Crocodile Mercantile shop to a Winnie the Pooh gift shop at DL, when they had plenty of spots & space in Fantasyland. Can anyone here tell me if you know another reason? Sure didn’t fit with the rest of the land at the time and why carry Country Bear merch in a Pooh Corner store (which they barely did, I might add), and since it’s Pooh themed, what merch do you think would sell more there? They sure wouldn’t be going in there to buy anything else, unlike Crocodile Mercandile which had a wider variety.. and that’s not even getting into things like the Country Bears Christmas Special being a big hit), so much so, they decided to do Small World Holiday & Haunted Mansion Holiday later after seeing how popular it was at DL.
So yeah, just can’t imagine why we’re so POd/Annoyed they’re seemingly intentionally not selling ‘any’ Country Bear merch in FL now, huh? despite a brand new show they invested lots into and it getting alot more attendance now. Makes zero sense. In Tokyo, they clearly understand the merch opportunities. Why not here?
And that’s not even tackling the fact Figment now has a considered massive downgrade from the original, by the public since 02, Honey I Shrunk crossover “Journey Into Imagination” ride, yet despite that, Figment (the thing specifically from the original non-IP ride) himself still sells TONs in merch. How then, do they not think the Country Bears would sell also w a ‘new attraction’? Again, could even sell it on both coasts. DL updated the Hungry Bear Restaurant to a Bear Barbecue Jamboree restaurant w enhanced theming along with a new Big Al statue installed at DCA, yes?? The logic of not producing/selling any merch there at all to coincide with any of this isn’t meshing whatsoever.