Disney discontinuing resort specific merchandise.

[Ragetti]

Wow... if true, this is really, really stupid. I'd certainly buy less merch.

 

[wedway71]

Interesting. I always thought that Disney made a great profit on their merchandise. I was a Manager/Buyer for a large Airport Retailer. I went to Buying Shows and dealt with many companies that sold to Disney Parks/ Resorts. Our cost and mark up was about the same as Disney. Most of the merchandise we bought and sold was marked up around 3x the cost.

Maybe things have changed since then?

 

[MKCP 1985]

Plain White T-shirt
Arial Font, Black Letters upper right "Walt Disney World"
$30.00 (It has the blue and white tag on the inside though).


"After research, we determined the guest wanted a better value.
While other T-shirts in the same store are priced at $35, we feel this provides a better value for our guest."

yep, when I thought those same Disney shirts were overpriced at $24, little did I know they were a bargain, on their way to $30.00.

If you don't like the $30 price, don't buy it now. Just wait til next year and you can pay $35. :lol:

Meanwhile, the shirt is still worth a solid $15.

 

[pax_65]

Why even have a gift shop at the resort if all they are going to sell is the same generic stuff you can buy in the parks?

On every trip I take, I always buy some merchandise from a favorite attraction and a favorite resort.

If this news is true, Disney just cut my purchases in half.

 

[kimmychad]

That's odd, considering that land-specific T-shirts are becoming popular again at the MK. New merch features Frontierland maps, AL and FL posters, and (coming soon) TL Space Mt. stuff.

I don't work in merch, but I suspect they're overhauling resort-specific merchandise, not getting rid of it altogether. Maybe it will just be a much smaller selection. Cast Connection, the WDW CM-only outlet store, is always full of unsold resort T-shirts and hats.

cast connection isn't cm only anymore, they started selling to guests also as of last year.

 

[WDW1974]

cast connection isn't cm only anymore, they started selling to guests also as of last year.

That's not accurate. I was there last month and while CMs can bring guests (I am not a CM!) that's always been the case.

A guest can't just go there and shop on their own.

Also, FWIW, if any guests have cast friends and want to buy loads of Disney crap at big discounts to stock up for the holidays (can't believe it's already August!) the fall SALSA sale is coming up the last week of September at the new Jostens fieldhouse at WWoS.

As to the OP, while this is the exact sort of stupid, dumb, ignorant move I'd expect of TDO, I think we need some confirmation before we jump to conclusions.

Sure, they sell a helluva lot more Grumpy generic tees and Tink pins than WL polos or BC towels or Coronado tees. But people want those items and they aren't gonna swap out generic crap for it. They'll either make a sale on resort specific stuff or lose out entirely.

I need to ask around.

 

[luckyeye13]

Wow! So that means that there will be even more room for Hannah Montana and High School Musical crap in the resort stores now! :sohappy:
:hammer::brick::hurl: :fork:

 

[WDW1974]

Again, I wouldn't jump to conclusions.

My gut says this isn't accurate.

 

[KeithVH]

You all know this started several years ago. Think of the time before the Poly Longhouse refurb. When there were several little stores tucked in the back near Captain Cook's. You used to be able to get some great stuff, even tho those were small footprint places.

Now we have Bou-Tiki. Meh

 

[s8film40]

As to the OP, while this is the exact sort of stupid, dumb, ignorant move I'd expect of TDO, I think we need some confirmation before we jump to conclusions.
I need to ask around.

I agree, I didn't jump to any conclusion, I simply repeated what I was told and expressed my opinion.

 

[HMF]

Looks like they are doing this so they have the same stuff at their disney stores and in their parks. Instead of making many different shirts and stuff with resorts and stuff and seperate stuff for the Disney Stores they will prob make it all the same . More profit and less costs.

I was at the World of Disney store in NYC this past weekend and it was very hard to find anything but generic Mickey stuff.

This is a major reason I feel embarrased to enter Disney Stores because all the young Child-Tween age group and so much generic stuff' it is sickining. There are in fact many people who think I have Peter Pan Syndrome (no pun intended) because of my intense interest in Disney which is Disney's fault because of the way it markets itself.

 

[majortom1981]

This is a major reason I feel embarrased to enter Disney Stores because all the young Child-Tween age group and so much generic stuff' it is sickining. There are in fact many people who think I have Peter Pan Syndrome (no pun intended) because of my intense interest in Disney which is Disney's fault because of the way it markets itself.

Well the sad part is the world of disney store in nyc is the same ones in the 2 other parks. So it says what the merchandise will be like in the aprk itself.

 

[jakeman]

There are in fact many people who think I have Peter Pan Syndrome (no pun intended) because of my intense interest in Disney which is Disney's fault because of the way it markets itself.

Disney is responsible for your obsession due to their marketing?

It's a shame the Disney company took away your choices like that...

While I could see the selection shrinking I find it hard to believe they would get rid of resort merchandise all together. It seems the general consensus here is that those purchases won't be replaced with something else, they would just lose that money. They have to know that.

 

[Debbie]

Business wise----a great deal of merchandise offered at the Character Warehouse was resort specific (last time I went). I can see cutting back on the amount offered and amount ordered. I would be sad to see resort specific merchandise altogether discontinued.
If this is true; I need to hold on to my Polynesian frosted glasses I bought on my trip in 1981! They are wrapped in the attic. They might be worth something?

 

[kapeman]

any idea if the same goes for DVC resorts?

It sounds like it could be and that is a shame as there is hardly any DVC merch of any type now!

 

[pax_65]

Regarding DVC... on my trip to Old Key West in May we noticed (to our disappointment) that there were no new "Old Key West" merchandise. We asked why, and a cast member told us that they were going to generic DVC merchandise instead of resort-specific. So a t-shirt would say "Disney Vacation Club" but not "Old Key West" or "Saratoga Springs". This was supported by some of the merchandise they had that said, simply, "Disney Vacation Club".

Again... I find it stupid. While I might buy one shirt that says DVC, I would have considered buying a shirt from EVERY DVC resort.

It seems to me the problem with selling this merchandise is and has been that they are only available in very limited locations. You sell more Mickey shirts because it has universal appeal and is available everywhere. But you can only buy an "Old Key West" t-shirt in one store on property, so how many will they sell?

If they don't want to give up their precious store space for this merchandise, they should at least make it available on a website for people to buy. I would think that could easily be profitable - especially if they marketed it a little bit (i.e. made resort guests of specific resorts aware that resort-specific merchandise is available online).

 

[puntagordabob]

Funny thing is, they are selling Bay Lake Tower At The Contemporary Resort shirts....and that is completely brand new... so I dunno what to make of all of this except that it sounds like Disney is "confused" at this point as to which course of action is the correct one. IMHO, resort specific merchandise is a smart play, as is the park specific merchandise.... people want what is different... Disney Parks or the Four Parks One World is cool, but after a while it is the same same same same....and hence becomes less less less and less cool. To maximise all the cash out of all the different customer-types, have both.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Can I just point out that standard base T -shirts for use on runs as low as 10 can be purchased for around $4 each, even allowing for set up (which in this digital age is minimal) printing / embroidering and subsequent distribution Disney with their rip off pricing would still be making a margin of over 100%. They cant argue inventory control, Amazon seems to cope just fine and it operate internationally.

If this is true it is just another indication that tthere is no imagination or even basic business sense beyond short term accounting in operation at senior levels in WDW.

That said It makes no difference to me Ill continue to purchase my park/attraction/resort merchandise at Universal, as for the last few years I have avoided the generic Chinese produced tat that Disney has been pushing.

 

[RiversideBunny]

I think they need a Pumbas Nakasak line of clothing and souvenirs.

 

[HMF]

Disney is responsible for your obsession due to their marketing?
.

No' What I meant was the way Disney markets itself (as if it were only for kids) makes me feel embarrased to be a Disney Fan sometimes.
take a look at this ad for Disneyland in the 60s.

Note the absence of the words "Magical" "Dreams" etc and the depiction of adults in the park.
A few years ago Disney actually ran ads in which the kids were in color and the teens and adults were in Black and White.