More Disney stores close

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Do people really pay Disney Store prices when theres similar tat for a fraction of the price at your Third World Sweat Shop Approved Walmart?

 

[lebeau]

Do people really pay Disney Store prices when theres similar tat for a fraction of the price at your Third World Sweat Shop Approved Walmart?

I buy from them under 2 conditions:

1. I buy the clearance items from the website. The deals are better than a sale at Wal-mart if they have the size you need. I bought X-Mas decorations for 75% in the summer time. Halloween costumes around X-Mas. You just have to store the stuff until you actually need it. And buy big in case the kids grow.

2. I sometimes take my daughter to the mall and let her explore. Invariably, we wind up in the Disney Store. This is where Disney really makes their money back on me. With her standing there holding an overpriced plush (or 3), I'm on the hook. The best I can do is try to mitigate the damage.

 

[roadtripper]

The company has turned around since DIsney took over.

They tirned around since they acquired Pixar, and who was the main man at Pixar when they took them over...Steve Jobs!:sohappy:

Steve has apparently always been interested in making movies available over the internet, he was once quoted as saying he would like to see them released on the internet the same day as in theaters. With the IPhone's popularity, who knows?

 

[Captain Hank]

Just wanted to know if your store was hit in this new set of closing's ours was. Here in Canton Ohio the Westfield Belden village Disney store closed 1/24/10 what a sad day for this area but who do you blame. The Disney store said the mall sold the lease from under them.But remember you have the mall that said they were trying to work with Disney on a different spot in the mall.Here we go again Disney store never heard of this funny thing the music store had to go also next to the Disney store. In a letter from Disney today they stated they alway's don't know why one store stays one goes but it was not that the store was not making money and that as of now we have no reopen of a store in the area but Disney real estate would be notified. That was the real surprise as bad as the economy has been the manager of this store said they could not believe how much money they made in the last year someone said they were in the top five to ten stores. Earlier I said this was funny now I will say why just read a post on here from 1/7/10 that the New York store is going to share a spot with Forever 21 and Mac. guess what the mall said they needed both spaces for in this mall yep Forever 21 now is this odd or what. Are they in with Disney somehow? So if your store closed do you know whats going in or was your store in a Westfield mall?

You wouldn't happen to know the status of the Great Lakes Mall Disney Store in Mentor, do you? I worked there for several years before moving to Florida.

 

[Figment632]

They tirned around since they acquired Pixar, and who was the main man at Pixar when they took them over...Steve Jobs!:sohappy:

Steve has apparently always been interested in making movies available over the internet, he was once quoted as saying he would like to see them released on the internet the same day as in theaters. With the IPhone's popularity, who knows?

TDS was owned by the childrens place until last year and they ran it into the ground. The merchandise has shown some improvement and will bee good again now that Disney is running things. We are also starting to show some better sales.

 

[MissM]

Not for nothing but the Disney stores sell crap anymore and all this talk of magic mirrors and princesses talking to you when you walk past mirrors does nothing for the fact that its still a bunch of garbage in the store.

I agree. I haven't bothered going into one of the many Disney Stores here in Tampa Bay Area (ironically an hour from Disney there's one in each of several malls around here) in years.

Back in the old days, they had beautiful artwork, framed cells, figures/statuary, collectibles, housewares - you name it, they had it. Sure they had some little kid stuff but they also had grown-up stuff too. They even used to carry adult clothing! Imagine! These days, there's no adult clothing, no art, no collectibles - just the same crap as Wal-Mart.

Things got rock bottom during the Children's Place period and I was hopeful that with Disney taking them back they'd improve but so far, nothing much has changed around here. Maybe its just slow going but they need to do something because right now, even a die-hard Disney fan and AP holder like myself simply doesn't bother shopping there.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I agree. I haven't bothered going into one of the many Disney Stores here in Tampa Bay Area (ironically an hour from Disney there's one in each of several malls around here) in years.

Back in the old days, they had beautiful artwork, framed cells, figures/statuary, collectibles, housewares - you name it, they had it. Sure they had some little kid stuff but they also had grown-up stuff too. They even used to carry adult clothing! Imagine! These days, there's no adult clothing, no art, no collectibles - just the same crap as Wal-Mart.

Things got rock bottom during the Children's Place period and I was hopeful that with Disney taking them back they'd improve but so far, nothing much has changed around here. Maybe its just slow going but they need to do something because right now, even a die-hard Disney fan and AP holder like myself simply doesn't bother shopping there.

Amen.

I had the cutest Pooh dress that I bought at a Disney Store when I was pregnant with one of the boys (who are 12 & 13 now so it was a loooong time ago) and wore as a maternity dress. It was adorable. And pink. I used to buy tons of my clothes from Disney stores. I used to buy lots of coordinating shirts from the .com for each of our trips. It's just sad how things have turned out.

I, too, hope the merchandising turnaround is just slow coming. I'd love to have some sort of hope that things will get better.

 

[waltsbiggestfan]

To add some to my post first to the question the Great Lakes Mall Disney Store in Mentor is to stay open as of now. They tell me it is a copy of our Canton store or was. They told me our Westfield Belden village Disney store was 17 -20 or more years old and I was shocked how good it looked. To the walmart thing not sure about the walmart in your areas none in 45 miles around us carry anything disney beside some Cars items and that is it.As far as shopping online it does not have even part of what we could get at our store this store still sold the snowglobes and even a very very few adult clothing.Early in 2009 we had plates teapots towels and what not and they did not sell so that stopped. Disney wants us to keep the magic and wants us to stay loyal customers how are we to do this with closing stores all around us.:shrug:

 

[fauna]

I would definitely be sad to see my local Disney Store (Cherry Hill, NJ) close. The people that work there are great (especially the one manager who never fails to address me as "Princess" - that always brings a smile to this 43 year old's face). But, I agree with everyone that the quality and selection of merchandise is sorely lacking. My kids like to look around in there, but I think the last time I bought anything there was maybe 2 years ago. And it was a couple of seriously marked down t-shirts.

When my son was little (he's almost 13) I occasionally would buy him clothing from the Disney Store. I still have the adorable little overall shorts with Pooh and Friends embroidery on it that he wore for his first birthday. At that point the clothing was well made with nice detailing. Worth the extra bucks for a special occasion.

I really hope they can turn the stores back into true Disney Experiences.

 

[raven]

If memory serves me correctly, the Disney Stores are not operated by Disney at all. It is a separate company that has licensing agreements. It is this company that makes a decision whether a store remains open.

In 2004 the Disney Stores were sold to Hoop Retail which also owns Children's Place. They ran the stores until they filed Chapter 11 in the spring of 2007 for 1/2 of their company (the half that ran TDS). Disney bought back the stores then closed nearly 2/3 of them.

Some mall owners decide not to renew contracts with stores for many reasons. My roomate just had his jewlery store close 2 weeks ago for this very reason. The owner wanted to shut down the mall and sell off the property. So a store closing doesn't have to mean that it's the companies fault.

 

[Victor]

There are a few stores that aren't doing very well closing around the country. Remaining stores will be receiving upgrades, but there is no set schedule as to when yet. There is also NO solid talk of renaming or rebranding the stores.

As a Disney Store cast member, I too would love to see collectibles and more adult merch return to the stores, but this isn't likely even with the upcoming changes. That said, all the talk about quality of product is just nonsense. The product put out by Disney Store under WDC ownership is much higher quality than that when it was owned by TCP, and at the same if not higher standards than theme park merch, and at better prices too.

 

[lebeau]

The product put out by Disney Store under WDC ownership is much higher quality than that when it was owned by TCP, and at the same if not higher standards than theme park merch, and at better prices too.

Those are some pretty low standards to beat!

 

[Victor]

Those are some pretty low standards to beat!

Haha, very true. But look, the reality is that quality of product is not just a Disney issue, this is all around us in every store or supermarket. It's a result of cutting corners. A sign of our times, I guess.

 

[lebeau]

Haha, very true. But look, the reality is that quality of product is not just a Disney issue, this is all around us in every store or supermarket. It's a result of cutting corners. A sign of our times, I guess.

That's true, to an extent.

There was a time in the early 90s when the Disney name meant quality. Disney animation was experiencing a resurgence that people now call the second golden age. People were willing to shell out big bucks for quality Disney product.

At first, the Disney stores really capitalized on this. They were upscale and offered all kinds of product. As others have noted, you could buy animation cells, house goods and quality clothing for all ages. There were still lots of toys and plushes, but they were just part of what was being offered. Shopping at a Disney store was special.

But Disney got greedy. Suddenly, there were Disney stores on every corner. And Disney cashed in on their brand with direct-to-video sequels. Eventually, people lost their faith in the Disney brand. It no longer meant "quality" and it was no longer special. There was no reason to go to a Disney Store any more.

People stopped spending money and so the upscale product disappeared. The upscale product disappeared and people stopped spending money. A vicious cycle ensued and the bottom dropped out of the Disney Stores.

Now, they have a long fight in front of them if they want to convince people they are anything more than an overpriced Wal-Mart. Yes, mall stores are hurting these days and the economy doesn't help. But to a very large degree, Disney killed the Disney Store years ago when they tried to make a quick buck off their good name.

 

[disneyliv85]

I believe there are 2 stores closing in Indiana. While most of the time I didn't buy anything in there I always enjoyed looking around. It's about the only toy store left in our mall so my daughter always enjoyed the break from the clothing stores Plus it was a little piece of Disney right here at home. Oh well, I will miss it.

 

[Mikester71]

I know the one in Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, MI is still going strong. It's a must-visit whenever we make the 45 minute drive down that way.:sohappy:

The prices are quite reasonable too! We were down there the day after Christmas and they had some pretty good deals. Thought maybe it was just an after-Christmas sale, but when we went back a couple of weeks later, the deals were even better! Picked up a NICE sized coffee mug with Jiminy Cricket on it for only $3.99.

 

[Figment632]

I know the product is bad and the only thing I can tell you guys is wait for the Imagination Park stores to open it will change everything.

 

[lebeau]

I know the product is bad and the only thing I can tell you guys is wait for the Imagination Park stores to open it will change everything.

Not for me it won't! I'm not holding my breath for one to come here since they are closing our only Disney Store in February.

Imagination Park sounds great for the big markets that are going to get them. I've always approached the Disney Store more like an attraction than an actual store anyway. But from my undertanding most of the country won't have an Imagination Park nearby to visit.

 

[Figment632]

Not for me it won't! I'm not holding my breath for one to come here since they are closing our only Disney Store in February.

Imagination Park sounds great for the big markets that are going to get them. I've always approached the Disney Store more like an attraction than an actual store anyway. But from my undertanding most of the country won't have an Imagination Park nearby to visit.

AT first you are right there won't be many, to my knowledge 1 in NJ (Freehold this will be my store :sohappy, 1 in NY, 2 in CA, 1 in Chicago. After these are tested more may open.

 

[lebeau]

AT first you are right there won't be many, to my knowledge 1 in NJ (Freehold this will be my store :sohappy, 1 in NY, 2 in CA, 1 in Chicago. After these are tested more may open.

From what I have heard of the concept, I think they are on the right track. Like I said, I use the Disney Store as an attraction now. It sounds like they are moving more in that direction.

(Although I must say I hate the name. Imagination Park? WTH?!?)

By the time this concept makes its way to my area, my kids will likely have outgrown this sort of thing. Maybe I'll take the grandkids.