Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks

[Lee]

The store ever turned a profit in it's existence, but still lasted for more then 2 decades because of the old Disney logic of putting on a good show because you have the money to do so.

Just in case anyone in management is reading this, I'll once again repeat the Keys to the Kingdom:
(In order)
1. Safety
2. Courtesy
3. Show
4. Efficiency

In the case of the closure of the unique shops, they seem to have forgotten the last two parts.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Just in case anyone in management is reading this, I'll once again repeat the Keys to the Kingdom:
(In order)
1. Safety
2. Courtesy
3. Show
4. Efficiency

In the case of the closure of the unique shops, they seem to have forgotten the last two parts.

Heya, courtesy is pretty much dead, too.

 

[Disneyson 1]

And didn't that dragon in DL collapse because Disney was too cheep to put safety valves on it or something?

 

[Fade_to_Blah]

..............The same thing happened when I went to some small quaint town in Cape Cod, only to find the GAP and Jamba Juice inside the historic exteriors.

At the Mashpee Commons?

 

[MKCP 1985]

As a child, I enjoyed the Magic Shop on Main Street USA. My parents and/or grandparents would give me a certain amount of money to spend on souveniers and I would always come back with some gadget or trick cards or mask of some kind from the Magic Shop.


As an adult, I was fascinated to read Steve Martin's biography and read him tell of his time working at the Magic Shop in Disneyland.

I sure do hope the Magic Kingdom will re-open the magic shop if the pendulum does swing back in the direction of specialized retail (and I hope it does!)

 

[SirGoofy]

Just in case anyone in management is reading this, I'll once again repeat the Keys to the Kingdom:
(In order)
1. Safety
2. Courtesy
3. Show
4. Efficiency

In the case of the closure of the unique shops, they seem to have forgotten the last two parts.

Posts like this are why you are my favorite, Lee.:lol:

Heya, courtesy is pretty much dead, too.

I don't agree with this statement at all. I think the majority of the CMs do a fantastic job.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

That is a baseless assumption. But that is what you are best at.

I own a plastics manufacturing plant in mainland China. It's in Guangdong, about an hour's train ride from Hong Kong. I've got the Visa stamps in my passport to prove it. I had to negoiate with the Chinese Government to be allowed the business.

I can back up virtually every single thing that 74 said with regard to negotation style, and pre-concieved notions they have toward American businessmen, and how they go about their business... Not to mention just how clueless some Americans are when they attempt to deal with them.

I'm not sure what experience you have with business relations overseas... Especially in the Far East. But I venture to say you have none.

I, on the other hand, have. And I've stood at Victoria Peak taking in the view of Hong Kong Harbor, and played drums with a Phillipino band at the Hard Rock Cafe in Kowloon. Would you like a couple pictures for proof? One is from the roof of my factory. The other, just for fun, is me playing drums at the Hard Rock in Kowloon. I would hope that would be proof that I'm telling the truth.

74 is right.

And 74... Kudos for not getting "personal". I, personally, appreciate it. And trust me... You still got your message across. :wave:

 

[SirGoofy]

I own a plastics manufacturing plant in mainland China. It's in Guangdong, about an hour's train ride from Hong Kong. I've got the Visa stamps in my passport to prove it. I had to negoiate with the Chinese Government to be allowed the business.

I can back up virtually every single thing that 74 said with regard to negotation style, and pre-concieved notions they have toward American businessmen, and how they go about their business... Not to mention just how clueless some Americans are when they attempt to deal with them.

I'm not sure what experience you have with business relations overseas... Especially in the Far East. But I venture to say you have none.

I, on the other hand, have. And I've stood at Victoria Peak taking in the view of Hong Kong Harbor, and played drums with a Phillipino band at the Hard Rock Cafe in Kowloon. Would you like a couple pictures for proof? One is from the roof of my factory. The other, just for fun, is me playing drums at the Hard Rock in Kowloon. I would hope that would be proof that I'm telling the truth.

74 is right.

And 74... Kudos for not getting "personal". I, personally, appreciate it. And trust me... You still got your message across. :wave:

Awesome post. My father had to deal with the Chinese everyday, and he would always say how amazed he was about how different they did things than he was used to business wise.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Awesome post. My father had to deal with the Chinese everyday, and he would always say how amazed he was about how different they did things than he was used to business wise.

As you should be properly taught by teachers in International Business (it's in the textbook too if they don't).

However, Jt probably isn't old enough to be in high school yet anyway.

 

[HMF]

The character stuff was a slam dunk, but of course, the artist thing was hard to deal with, a pain to manage, and a tough sell. They said a watch could only retail for 75 bucks tops (yeah right, with original art!). Now they range from 125 to 500). With some arm twisting and finally then President Frank Wells forcing them to test it, it was tested and they and production was back ordered for three months from 3 days business. That did it. The interesting thing was that the mere presence of the watch artist and watch maker in the window caused the rest of the store to increase overall by 30%!

Frank Wells seemed to keep Eisner in check during those years. Once Wells died' Eisner went wild. BTW' Eddie what is the difference ratio of plans that get completed vs. Plans that don't?

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Awesome post. My father had to deal with the Chinese everyday, and he would always say how amazed he was about how different they did things than he was used to business wise.

It sounds cliche', but it's definitely an entirely different world. And thank goodness for that. It made me realize there's a lot out there to see... And my goal now has been to show my kids the world. And we're well on the way. :sohappy:

As a side note... Before anyone complains... I'm not showing any pics of my actual factory. My goal was to show I wasn't making something up... Not give people here a way to check into me personally. I can already see the "those pictures could be taken from google" complaints. That's why I put one with me in it.

But anyway... If this picture from a kareoke club at about 5 in the morning is any indication... My business venture was approved. :lol: Once you get past the initial distrust and hard exterior, they're some fun people.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I don't agree with this statement at all. I think the majority of the CMs do a fantastic job.

I know YOU are good, and most likely the ones you associate with are too, but over the past few years, especially in EPCOT (The Land even more specifically) CM's are just mean.:shrug::lol:

 

[WDW1974]

I remember seeing a photo of the DLP prexy handing an original animation cel to Jacques Chirac, then mayor of Paris to commemorate the union of Disney and France as the contract was signed for the park. Guess what the image was? Snow White accepting the Poison Apple. Nice.

That is soooo classic and I haven't ever heard it ... great stuff.

It also showcases how Disney keeps on making the same cultural (that one goes even beyond that ...) miscues when dealing with foreign nations.

Mindboggling that what you say happened over two decades ago and the same things are still going on.

 

[MKCP 1985]

I know YOU are good, and most likely the ones you associate with are too, but over the past few years, especially in EPCOT (The Land even more specifically) CM's are just mean.:shrug::lol:

I haven't found this to be true at all. :lol: What kind of monkey business have you been up to over at the Land to rile up those happy, courteous Disney cast members? :lol:

 

[WDW1974]

My sincere feeling was that theft caused them to pull unique and better quality wares from the shops. Ebay may have done more to end themed merchandise than anything else. I understand people's perspective on themed stores but it was never important to me. I do like that I can walk the length of Main Street entirely indoors when it's raining or the streets are too crowded however. So there is a silver lining. :lookaroun

:lol:

Theft had NOTHING to do with it.

I know for a fact Disney has seen a huge increase in shoplifting since they have outlet malled the west side of Main Street. With the shops all essentially being one place -- Emporium (AKA WoD/MK) -- people are now free to walk with merchandise from one end of the street out the door of Casey's Corner.

Realize it's a helluva lot easier to walk out with a tee or DVD or a pin or a keychain or an antenna topper than it is with something of substance.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I haven't found this to be true at all. :lol: What kind of monkey business have you been up to over at the Land to rile up those happy, courteous Disney cast members? :lol:

Nothing, really...We were checking out of Sunshine Seasons and my old Gift Card was not working. It took a few times, and a manager to come over before it worked. All the CM's were glaring at us.:lookaroun It was frightening.

Other times at EPCOT...Mono CM's who talked of Universal nonstop while in the cockpit..ones who sat there is silence and ones who were just awkward.:lol:

 

[SirGoofy]

I know YOU are good, and most likely the ones you associate with are too, but over the past few years, especially in EPCOT (The Land even more specifically) CM's are just mean.:shrug::lol:

Well maybe if you didn't just go to Epcot all the time you'd interact with the great CMs of Adventureland/Liberty Square!:fork::lol:

But seriously, you just must have caught some CMs on an off day. I haven't really seen any glaring problems in that department.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Well maybe if you didn't just go to Epcot all the time you'd interact with the great CMs of Adventureland/Liberty Square!:fork::lol:

But seriously, you just must have caught some CMs on an off day. I haven't really seen any glaring problems in that department.

Heh. You know I'm trying to make my way to MK this Summer..

 

[WDW1974]

I think in the case of the Antiques Stores, I recall many years ago that the original buyer for those wares, either died or quit, but they didn't know how to proceed or more likely did not want to. The stock slowly dwindled. I don't quite get the eBay argument as then it's easier to buy for the shop now than ever. Antiques are impulse items as if they are bought well, they are truly "One of a kind" and will sell. Sid's had a friendship ring given to John Barrymore by Errol Flynn with their initials on it. It was "One of a kind" and amazing. That's it, one only. Buy it or don't. Just holding it made my day and gave the Boulevard street cred. Collectables are eBay comparable and that is an issue.

I don't buy the e-bay argument at all. You can buy anything and everything online, so by that notion every place should be closing up shop (and even in this recession/depression that ain't happening).

This was all a conscious effort. A decision that not only did all shops have to be profitable (show got tossed out the window) but that they had to meet specific goals. Let's say you had a location with unique items that when all was said and done made a small six figure profit annually. Sound good, right? Nope. Not if the beancounters had determined that for that piece of retail the number had to be many multiples of that to justify its existence.

Many folks don't realize this also resulted in many dead zones where shops got closed and never replaced. MK has about half as many retail locations now as it did in the 1980s. Because nothing says 'quality show' like locked doors and blacked out windows.

Sid's is a great example of what Disney shopping used to be and should be. No pins or plush. And the Disney items for sale all make sense ... so what if Kin Shriner's blue blazer has been on sale there for years? It's a great place that oozes the atmosphere of the movies and Hollywood.

When I was down at DL (VP working for TB) Tony Baxter had a very good idea long ago that we negotiated with the merchandise folks. The issue at the time (the 90s) was that all stores had to perform to a similar bottom line. No store could "lose" money by definition (which is ridiculous when you compete with yourself). What this was doing was putting undue pressure on heavily themed "show" shops, like an antique shop or a perfume store when compared to a T Shirt Shop. Tony wanted the whole merchandise $$ pie seen as one and then we would classify each shop as an A ,B, or C store by performance. We would give them more free reign to merchandise the C class "volume" Emporium (plush and shirts) and push that if they gave in and let us do more show with more display in an A low volume "Show" store. We staked out the territory and everyone respected the turf to a degree.

IMHO this worked well initially until the slippery slope of class definition, product or management change crept in and enforcement eroded over time. (The "One of a kind" Shop was selling pictures frames by the hundred, so we called it the "Ton of a Kind" LOL ). DL Main Street has a pretty good variety of Disney product contained in well themed spaces. Could it be better? Sure. We still have a Cinema and a Firehouse. Any new park has those spaces on the kill list (HKDL just lost theirs to Jewelry). DLP does not have them or a Penny Arcade. Fought violently and vocally but still lost. Why? The square footage is so valuable they won't let you have it. It's like Times Square. When you look at the relatively low numbers of guests that comment or see that stuff, it's hard to win the argument. If the space is empty and you can sell a stuffed Dalmation in it, then they test it and it makes lots of money then you're dead and the vignette of the Firehouse is compromised. (I know, it's part of the ambience and that is the show. I'm not defending just explaining reality). But the pressure then was for everything to sell, and that made it very tough to fight for the show but you had to (makes you very unpopular with management). Back in the "20% growth" days it was extreme pressure from the top on all of us, so that drove lots of this. Not fun back then.

DL still has some definition in merchandise ... and when you add in that the attractions are all (Penny Arcade excepted) still there, it has the soul I speak of.

I'm so in awe of the details at DLP's that I probably am not as critical as I should be of the dumbing down that's gone on there. I don't think anyone here knows about the old autos that were for sale when the park opened on Main Street.

As to HKDL, the Cinema there was never one ... it opened selling jewelery ... very high-end, I might add ... from the start.

The problem with merchandise is no one seems to understand what role its supposed to play other than moving units of Jonas Bros DVDs or the latest LE pin releases for summer. There's no sense that anyone has any sense of history. If you told 100 merchandising people at Disney that Main Street at DL once had shops that sold everything from bras to pianos to tobacco ... you'd be hard-pressed to find one who knew that.

But they all know what the Halloween 2009 line is going to look like.

I think shops like the current "Fortousity" on MSUSA at Disneyland are a gesture back into that direction where an eclectic format is developed to appear like there is variety. BTW, my stories are from a decade ago, I have no idea what progress they have made. Tony back in charge of DL is a good thing and he negotiates hard for theme in merchandise and is very involved, suggesting products himself. WDW is unknown to me. The players are different. SQS works very hard to make the shops as good as they can be.

To me, the sad thing is that merchandise over the years will go with WDI and do lots of custom stuff and really try to sync things thematically only to fail. This does not help the plush wars. DCA had lots of great stuff when it opened. Toys out of the rides on Paradise Pier, all kinds of custom unique items. I recall being impressed by all they had done, same for the 50th Disneyland (but that stuff sold like mad). The problem is that the DCA rides themselves as well as the park wasn't popular, as it's all gone now. So the merchandise folks bet along with WDI and sometimes lose.

Yep. DCA had some amazing merchandise. About the only thing that was done totally right from the start. But when the park failed at the start, it took a year for that to disappear to be replaced by Tink hoodies, Grumpy tees and generic DL merchandise. I bought some of the DCA stuff at a temporary outlet store in the Nevada desert in the summer of 2004 ... wish I had bought more ...

 

[WDW1974]

The stores add alot to the positioning of the Disney image. You're local Six Flags doesn't sell antiques, perfume and glassware does it? And neither will your local strip mall for the most part.

The point of Disney influencing those malls, is a very valid point. You can clearly see the influences in mall and public spaces, where storefronts are meant to have a chosesive, pleasing look, there's background music that plays, there's greenery and fountains the walkways are wider and streets are meant for peple not cars etc.

The gap between Main Street and your outdoor mall is lessening. Disney still has the edge, but it's not as revolutionary as it once was. That's why it's important for Disney to push what it can do with themeing and quality of merch to make it more special like it once was.

All good points.

Disney did have a huge influence on design (I am sure Eddie can jump in on this) in retail, dining and hospitality circles.

Where once themed 'locations' were very unique and something Disney did better than anyone that is no longer the case.

From local malls to themed dining to casino resorts in Vegas and beyond, theming isn't something that just WDI can do and do well.

Sadly, as Disney has dumbed its product down many other companies have stepped it up ... and not simply theme park builders.