Disney moving New York City flagship store

[fosse76]

It's very true that New York City isn't being affected by the financial crisis but it isn't just because wealthy people live here. Perhaps the biggest reason is that 80 percent of New Yorkers use the subway to get to work and don't own cars. I'm not wealthy but have been able to keep my quality of life because I don't have to spend money on gas. Because of this, more and more people from the suburbs are moving into the city and realizing that the money they were saving by living far away from work is being erased by the high cost of gas and commuting. You're right, there is no way Disney would vacate this city. They picked 5th Avenue originally because it was the cleanest most Disney-esque part of Manhattan and Times Square was a dump. Now (thanks in part to Disney themselves) Times Square has become a familiy friendly tourist trap so it makes sense they would want to be there. 5th Avenue is where Prada and Tiffany belong, not Disney.

I actually watched a financial program years ago that questioned people who move from cities to the suburbs because of its cheaper real estate. The expert was advising people to guage their costs, because their housing cost-savings could be overshadowed by the increase in commuting costs and other types of costs. Whats the point in saving $300 a month in housing when your transportation and other expenses increase $400? New York is almost too big for its own good. The reason NYC isn't really affected is because most middle class people can't afford to buy a house, so most are renters (who are being pushed out by the wealthy even in Harlem). Brooklyn isn't even affordable and the Bronx is getting more expensive as well. The people who own property have more than enough money, so they can weather the storm. New York is a crazy expensive place to live. But it's totally worth it!

That said, Disney's current location is definitely not tourist friendly, and they should have kept the store in Times Square...it was starting to turn before Disney was a large presence.

 

[musicmaniac522]

Well atleast it will be here for another year or so before it closes and then probably moves. I think it would be smart for them to move to Times Square.

 

[AndyMagic]

That said, Disney's current location is definitely not tourist friendly, and they should have kept the store in Times Square...it was starting to turn before Disney was a large presence.

I agree Times Square is much more appropriate for Disney but its current location is most definately tourist friendly. I work on Madison one block over and that particular section of 5th Avenue is a tourist haven second only to Times Square. 5th becomes so hard to navigate because of tourists during the day that most New Yorkers avoid it between 45th and 60th streets. The issue isn't lack of tourists but the type of tourists. It's more popular with the older crowd while Times Square will have the whole family.

 

[mpoppins76]

This was in today's Post:

MOVING MOUSE: DISNEY ON B'WAY
August 13, 2008

RETAIL mouseketeers tell us that Disney is this close to a monster deal with Vornado Realty Trust for a mega flagship in Times Square.

Disney has been sweeping Times Square for years, hoping to find an appropriate venue to replace the Mouse House's current flagship store at 711 Fifth Ave., where the lease for more than 60,000 feet is up in 2010.

In fact, brokers say they've been told that space in the Coca-Cola Building can be made available earlier - if they lease it.
Sources say Disney very much wants to relocate to the center of the action that it essentially spawned with its renovation and 1997 opening of the New Amsterdam Theater on W. 42nd St.
But the area's high rents are now making it a victim of its own success.

Vornado has been asking an eye-popping $1,000 a foot for the 60,000 feet that consists of the former Bar Code triplex, the Virgin superstore and the four former Lowe's movie theaters.
The pricing however, is on par with the American Eagle deal for the former HoJo site on Broadway that we told you about first.

With spectacular signage, multiple levels and lots of configurations for exits and entrances, Disney creativity can run wild. Sources said Vornado already has interior renderings in its offices.

Vornado Chairman Steve Roth, who brought H&M to its first city location on Fifth Avenue, is known for biding his time for the right tenant and the right timing.
Indeed, IHOP was keen on flapping its pancakes at the Times Square location, but he wasn't.
The British cheap-chic retailer Topshop also toured the Times Square space, but when they balked at the pricing, Roth corralled them at one of Vornado's Soho properties, where the chain will open a much-anticipated store in October.
No one from Disney or Vornado returned calls for comment.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08132008/business/moving_mouse__disney_on_bway_124277.htm

 

[bryPOD]

As a New Yorker who enjoys going to the 5th Ave location for a quick Disney fix, this kind of sucks.

If the store moves to Time Square, I doubt I'd ever go; Time Square is probably the equivalent to Hell on earth, except there are less people in Hell and it probably smells better...

 

[mpoppins76]

As a New Yorker who enjoys going to the 5th Ave location for a quick Disney fix, this kind of sucks.

If the store moves to Time Square, I doubt I'd ever go; Time Square is probably the equivalent to Hell on earth, except there are less people in Hell and it probably smells better...

Agreed. :lol:

The 5th Ave one is 4 blocks from my office so it's nice to escape "Grown-up Land" from time to time on my lunch hour. :king: But that's just me being selfish, I think they Times Square location would be great for the company

 

[shoppingnut]

As a New Yorker who enjoys going to the 5th Ave location for a quick Disney fix, this kind of sucks.

If the store moves to Time Square, I doubt I'd ever go; Time Square is probably the equivalent to Hell on earth, except there are less people in Hell and it probably smells better...

Totally agree. I'll miss the store being on 5th Avenue, it's just a short walk for me during lunch. Times Square I have no interest in visiting, it's a mad house on a good day.

 

[Spyne]

Wow, the title was a little misleading there. I thought it was closing for good, that would of been awful. If they're just re-locating, that's fine. As long as there's still a store in NYC I'm happy.

 

[wedway71]

This was in today's Post:

MOVING MOUSE: DISNEY ON B'WAY
August 13, 2008

RETAIL mouseketeers tell us that Disney is this close to a monster deal with Vornado Realty Trust for a mega flagship in Times Square.

Disney has been sweeping Times Square for years, hoping to find an appropriate venue to replace the Mouse House's current flagship store at 711 Fifth Ave., where the lease for more than 60,000 feet is up in 2010.

In fact, brokers say they've been told that space in the Coca-Cola Building can be made available earlier - if they lease it.
Sources say Disney very much wants to relocate to the center of the action that it essentially spawned with its renovation and 1997 opening of the New Amsterdam Theater on W. 42nd St.
But the area's high rents are now making it a victim of its own success.

Vornado has been asking an eye-popping $1,000 a foot for the 60,000 feet that consists of the former Bar Code triplex, the Virgin superstore and the four former Lowe's movie theaters.
The pricing however, is on par with the American Eagle deal for the former HoJo site on Broadway that we told you about first.

With spectacular signage, multiple levels and lots of configurations for exits and entrances, Disney creativity can run wild. Sources said Vornado already has interior renderings in its offices.

Vornado Chairman Steve Roth, who brought H&M to its first city location on Fifth Avenue, is known for biding his time for the right tenant and the right timing.
Indeed, IHOP was keen on flapping its pancakes at the Times Square location, but he wasn't.
The British cheap-chic retailer Topshop also toured the Times Square space, but when they balked at the pricing, Roth corralled them at one of Vornado's Soho properties, where the chain will open a much-anticipated store in October.
No one from Disney or Vornado returned calls for comment.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08132008/business/moving_mouse__disney_on_bway_124277.htm

Wow...Times have really changed....
Origional from New York-Brooklyn to be exact, when I was a kid..... 42 Street meant one thing and one thing ONLY.....Hookers.
One time in the mid 80s I went back to NY to visit some family... we drove by 42 Street and was at stop light... My Aunt,her Hubby, their kids and me all in the car and this one Zebra coat wearing Mama walked up and asked him if he wanted to %^&$#.
NOW DISNEY>>>

 

[Jasperok]

I know that most of us are skeptical about whether or not Disney will do any better job of running the stores than they did when they owned them the first time. However, in one of the press releases that came out at the time of the repurchase there was something stated about looking for new locations across the country and about revamping the look of the stores and the products offered. Granted, that kind of generic statement can mean just about anything but since I always want Disney to do well I personally am going to give them the chance to either live up to that statement or drive the entire concept into the ground like the Warner Bros. Stores of several years back. I certainly hope that they do the right thing and make the Disney Stores a place that we all love going into again.

Along that same vein, I remember reading something about a meeting that the Chief Financial Officer of The Disney Company had with people on Wall Street shortly after they bought the stores back. This person (Sorry I don't remember the name of the person) said that they were going to start limiting the quantity and type of merchandise that is available at mass marketers so that the Disney Store would become more of a "destination store" again.