Merchandise Shortage

[hopemax]

The decline in ornaments is pathetic…

the poster child for me is the discontinuation of rhe radko line…guess it wasn’t Chinese made enough??

i saw they did release 4 for the October 1 thing…but they were shunted straight to eBay by the vultures. I also noticed they aren’t selling at the prices asked…good.

I have a feeling that was driven as much by the manufacturer. It had always been a family business, but Christopher Radko (real person) sold the company in 2005 to Rauch Industries. It went very bad, there were lawsuits, Rauch lost a lot of money and almost ruined the brand in the process all on their own. I suspect the Disney license got caught up in the middle of all of this and neither side cared about renewing it. By the time the dust settled from the Radko business implosion, Disney's merchandising had moved on to blowing things up on their side.

 

[castlecake2.0]

If it's anything like it was 2 weeks ago... you won't find much.

Yesterday’s highlights were an entire wall full of Halloween mugs and multiple floor fixtures of Rémy hats

 

[HauntedPirate]

Yesterday’s highlights were an entire wall full of Halloween mugs and multiple floor fixtures of Rémy hats

So it hasn't really changed much. Mickey's Star Traders had 2 displays full of Halloween merchandise when I was there. I thought they just couldn't sell the stuff (which they obviously can't), but now I realize it was also taking up shelf space to not make things look so bare.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I will never forgive them for shuttering Disney Store to sell their things at Target. TERRIBLE decision and I hope they live to regret it after seeing what it looks like in practice.View attachment 605996

Hubby saw one near us last week and said it was a shambles. He said they should be humiliated by the representation they're getting.

 

[castlecake2.0]

So it hasn't really changed much. Mickey's Star Traders had 2 displays full of Halloween merchandise when I was there. I thought they just couldn't sell the stuff (which they obviously can't), but now I realize it was also taking up shelf space to not make things look so bare.

this is the plush section at WoD yesterday. Having spent most of my Disney career in merch it is very easy and funny/sad to see how they’re trying to hold presentations together with whatever they’ve got.

 

[HauntedPirate]

View attachment 605998
this is the plush section at WoD yesterday. Having spent most of my Disney career in merch it is very easy and funny/sad to see how they’re trying to hold presentations together with whatever they’ve got.

"World of Disney, where the merchandise is the star!"

 

[Lilofan]

Yes, our family loved Writer’s Stop. Not a single bookstore on property now with the loss of that and the Virgin store in what was formerly Downtown Disney about 10 years ago now. We’re currently at the parks now and even the small book and media section in the Emporium at MK is gone. Was really hoping to grab a copy of that hardcover 50th coffee table book, but no books of any kind anywhere here.

I think the only items I bought at Virgin at DD was drinking expressos on the second floor while lounging on the couches reading the unique magazines / books for sale from cover to cover, then going to the first floor and putting on the many headphones to hear the CDs on display. It was a very inexpensive way to spend a few hours at Downtown Disney back in the day.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

I will never forgive them for shuttering Disney Store to sell their things at Target. TERRIBLE decision and I hope they live to regret it after seeing what it looks like in practice.View attachment 605996

Mmm... really makes you want to spend 4 or 5 figures for that Star Wars hotel starcruiser, doesn't it? Nothing says "premium brand" like a sad looking store display at Target.

Worst part about the merch shortage is it almost certainly means less revenue, which will be used to justify yet more cuts and closures in the parks, perpetuating a downward experience for CMs and guests.

 

[TP2000]

Made in China and stuck on a container ship off the coast of California.

Went to Lowes yesterday for the blue plastic electrical boxes --they haven't had any in weeks PVC pip fittings hard to find them. Trying to find a Whirlpool water softener back ordered. Find it hard to believe this is all pandemic related since we have a high level of vaccinated people now.

The problem in the California ports is getting much worse, not better. The media stopped reporting on it for some reason this month, but it's happening. And getting worse by the day.

The staging areas within 40 miles off the coast of Los Angeles is overfull, so now the ships are waiting a hundred or miles out into the ocean and/or slowing their speed on their way from China because they know when they get here there's no place for them to unload and they'll be in an offshore queue for weeks.

As this article from December 6th nicely explains, any talking head on TV who tries to say "We have fewer ships waiting to get into the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach" is lying and using word games to describe the worsening situation.

Fewer ships are anchoring at the Port of Los Angeles, but it doesn’t mean the supply chain is healing

A change in where ships wait for a berth led to the erroneous impression the logjam was reducing.

qz.com

I live in Orange County, California and have a great hillside view out to Catalina Island. I can see the dozens of ships sitting in San Pedro Bay from my home. When you drive on the 73 Freeway in Orange County, from the hilltop you can see dozens of giant container ships stretching to the horizon just sitting there. It's getting worse this month, not better.

 

[mightynine]

I know I (and others) have many complaints about Disney now vs. Disney in the past, but I think the stores are by far the easiest place to point to show an overall decline.

Not only have they eliminated almost all of the themed shops (along with their corresponding merchandise) that really helped with place setting, and minimized the theming in the ones that do still exist, but the merchandise itself is so generic and homogenized across the parks and resorts.

I was going to buy some kind of Port Orleans Riverside merchandise (preferably a mug) when I was staying there a few years ago, and the only resort specific merchandise they had in the entire store was an ornament, which I did not want. That's crazy to me.

I was mildly surprised to see actual All-Star Resorts merch - t-shirt and magnet - last week.

But resort merch has been very spotty in recent years.

 

[Lilofan]

Went to Lowes yesterday for the blue plastic electrical boxes --they haven't had any in weeks PVC pip fittings hard to find them. Trying to find a Whirlpool water softener back ordered. Find it hard to believe this is all pandemic related since we have a high level of vaccinated people now.

Supply shortages are a nightmare. Some in FL have been without central AC since August with critical parts on backorder.

 

[Lilofan]

The problem in the California ports is getting much worse, not better. The media stopped reporting on it for some reason this month, but it's happening. And getting worse by the day.

The line of ships waiting offshore to get into the Port of LA and the Port of Long Beach has almost doubled in the past two months. The staging areas within 40 miles off the coast of California is overfull, so now the ships are waiting a hundred or miles out into the ocean and/or slowing their speed on their way from China because they know when they get here there's no place for them to unload and they'll be in an offshore queue for weeks.

As this article from December 6th nicely explains, any talking head on TV who tries to say "We have fewer ships waiting to get into the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach" is lying and using word games to describe the worsening situation.

Fewer ships are anchoring at the Port of Los Angeles, but it doesn’t mean the supply chain is healing

A change in where ships wait for a berth led to the erroneous impression the logjam was reducing.

qz.com

I live in Orange County, California and have a great hillside view out to Catalina Island. I can see the dozens of ships sitting in San Pedro Bay from my home. When you drive on the 73 Freeway in Orange County, from the hilltop you can see dozens of giant container ships stretching to the horizon just sitting there. It's getting worse this month, not better.

That is a very sad ( million dollar plus ) view looking out towards Catalina. Friends and family live in the area ( Newport Beach / Corona Del Mar ). It is a beautiful place to be if one can afford it.

 

[TP2000]

That is a very sad ( million dollar plus ) view looking out towards Catalina. Friends and family live in the area ( Newport Beach / Corona Del Mar ). It is a beautiful place to be if one can afford it.

Oh, I just realized the way I wrote that sentence made it seem as if that was my view. It's not. I don't even think that's OC actually, it looks like a view from San Pedro's hillside in LA County. It was just a photo included in the article I found on the issue.

I'm in Villa Park, but on the hill with a view to Santa Catalina. I can see the dozens of ships sitting in the ocean between Huntington Beach and Catalina, which is something I never saw before. It's actually kind of scary to think about how dependent we now are on Communist China to send us almost everything we use in our lives.

The sight of all those ships just sitting there is creepy. Again, it's a sight we've never seen before in SoCal.

And the problem is getting worse this month, not better.

 

[UNCgolf]

Oh, I just realized the way I wrote that sentence made it seem as if that was my view. It's not. I don't even think that's OC actually, it looks like a view from San Pedro's hillside in LA County. It was just a photo included in the article I found on the issue.

I'm in Villa Park, but on the hill with a view to Santa Catalina. I can see the dozens of ships sitting in the ocean between Huntington Beach and Catalina, which is something I never saw before. It's actually kind of scary to think about how dependent we now are on Communist China to send us almost everything we use in our lives.

The sight of all those ships just sitting there is creepy. Again, it's a sight we've never seen before in SoCal.

And the problem is getting worse this month, not better.

There's really no other options, either. Greg Abbott tried to suggest they could go to Texas instead, but that's ridiculous. Some of those ships are too large to go through the Panama Canal (meaning they'd have to go all the way around South America), but it's still a two week journey for the ones who could go that way. The ports around Houston aren't as large as the LA/Long Beach ports, nor do they have as much manpower, so they'd quickly be backed up there after all the extra travel time.

 

[Hakunamatata]

So what is the legit reason that they are backed up in Cali?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Speaking of merchandise…I was running through target and made a detour into “the Disney store”

Tacky…a couple racks of randomized stuff…they even had some of the wdw 50th anniversary stuff on the racks…that was a head scratcher.

that idea is…literally…a “low rent” move.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Speaking of merchandise…I was running through target and made a detour into “the Disney store”

Tacky…a couple racks of randomized stuff…they even had some of the wdw 50th anniversary stuff on the racks…that was a head scratcher.

that idea is…literally…a “low rent” move.

I hope this was only a 5 year deal and they realize the mistake

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So what is the legit reason that they are backed up in Cali?

They’re blaming lack of trucking capability…which leads to stacked containers in port…which leaves new ones on the water

 

[TP2000]

There's really no other options, either. Greg Abbott tried to insinuate they could go to Texas instead, but that's ridiculous. Some of those ships are too large to go through the Panama Canal (meaning they'd have to go all the way around South America), but it's still a two week journey for the ones who could go through the canal. The ports around Houston aren't as large as the LA/Long Beach ports, nor do they have as much manpower, so they'd just end up getting backed up there after all the extra travel time.

Exactly. And there's also the issue that the Canal already is full of traffic just normally. The problem has been building all year, and the industry knew it needed help months ago.

The only real way to deal with this problem is to focus like a laser beam on the twin mega-ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and have the federal government, the state of California and the private shipping industry throw everything they've got at the problem there.

Cut red tape, remove regulations, think outside the box, and don't take any time off until it's fixed!

Sadly, the response currently seems to be word games and accounting tricks instead of hard work.

Park more ships further offshore and count the parking spaces differently, so you can report a "decrease" in the number of ships waiting for a berth in an official parking space. Problem solved!

 

[UNCgolf]

So what is the legit reason that they are backed up in Cali?

There are multiple reasons. One is a lack of truck drivers -- there's stuff that's unloaded but can't be moved because they don't have any available drivers, which means it's sitting at the port and taking up space that's now unavailable to unload new containers, and so on. There are a bunch of chokepoints slowing everything down.