Hate to see one of the ones by me in Niles, IL going away, but loved the 20-80% off everything this past Sunday.
How bare was it...I haven't had a chance to get out there yet....hopeflly I can take pictures
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Save a Illinois Disney Store petition online. :)
- Thread starter yoda_5729
- Start date
How bare was it...I haven't had a chance to get out there yet....hopeflly I can take pictures
WhatJaneSays
Well-Known Member
98 stores closing, I belive that is over 1/3 of the total Disney Stores.
Laineybug67
New Member
I am a CM at one of the Disney Stores here in Ohio. I just wanted to thank you for posting a petition. Unfortunately, like some of the others have stated, it is a done deal and won't change anything. A little "pixie dust" never hurt anything though, so ya never know. Maybe in a few years Disney will have a few new "Grand Opening's" again.
I do want to say though that there honestly is no rhyme or reason to how they picked the stores that are closing or keeping the ones that are staying open. The store I currently work for is No.1 in sales for our area and we are closing. Our store is always busy and we beat our sales goals almost every day. I know we are not the only one's in this situation. Currently there is a freeze on job hiring at the stores, but we have been told that we can transfer when the freeze is lifted if the other stores have openings. I personally am choosing to be a stay at home mom again, as this is a "fun" job for me and with gas rates how they are it is not worth it for me to transfer.
One more thing.....Yes, all the store fixtures are for sale, but this does NOT include the Disney Animation. It has been made VERY clear to even us CM's that if there are any pieces missing our Managers lose all their benefits. Sad, but true.
I do want to say though that there honestly is no rhyme or reason to how they picked the stores that are closing or keeping the ones that are staying open. The store I currently work for is No.1 in sales for our area and we are closing. Our store is always busy and we beat our sales goals almost every day. I know we are not the only one's in this situation. Currently there is a freeze on job hiring at the stores, but we have been told that we can transfer when the freeze is lifted if the other stores have openings. I personally am choosing to be a stay at home mom again, as this is a "fun" job for me and with gas rates how they are it is not worth it for me to transfer.
One more thing.....Yes, all the store fixtures are for sale, but this does NOT include the Disney Animation. It has been made VERY clear to even us CM's that if there are any pieces missing our Managers lose all their benefits. Sad, but true.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
FYI...The Golf Mill Disney Store is going as well..It was at 40%-20% off today..Alot of Oswald merch was there..
wdwwedding2004
New Member
Gahhh
I soo can't believe they are closing this store in Rockford. I am totally upset. I HATE the woodfield mall store and it's too far to go to just to get my Disney fix!
I soo can't believe they are closing this store in Rockford. I am totally upset. I HATE the woodfield mall store and it's too far to go to just to get my Disney fix!
TP2000
Well-Known Member
With all due respect, I'm fairly confident there actually was a rhyme and a reason behind every single Disney Store that is being closed. They wouldn't have just thrown darts at a map in a big room in Burbank to come up with this list of closures.
If anything, I would guess several important issues aside from raw sales figures would play into this closure list.
If Disney was smart, they would be scaling back the list of stores to reposition the Disney Store brand as an upscale, specialty store that offers a distinct experience placed in an upscale location. The store that started this thread, at the Cherryvale Mall in Rockford, Illinois, is not the least bit impressive from a "unique experience" perspective. Looking at the mall website and the demographics for Rockford, this looks like a very run of the mill mall in a rather average working/middle class town. Nothing special, and nothing worth keeping. I'm sure they are nice folks in Rockford, and it's a great place to raise kids, but it isn't exactly hip or happening there.
Cherryvale Mall doesn't even have valet parking available, which would be the death of any decent mall here in SoCal. You want me to park my own car and shlep armloads of Nordies bags out to the BMW when I'm done?!?! Are you crazy?!? That's the type of shopper Disney Store should be going after if they want to make this brand something more special than the toy department at Wal-Mart. (I'm making fun of those folks by the way. I've never valet parked my car at the mall, even at Christmas, and I chuckle when I see the line of cars waiting to be parked when I zip to the edge of the lot to find my space.)
Here in SoCal, the malls are all keeping their Disney Stores, even though they are all within a 45 minute drive of either Disneyland in Anaheim or The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. But the malls in SoCal where there are Disney Stores are in upscale, wealthy neighborhoods where the mall has at the very least a Nordstrom if not a Neiman Marcus and a Saks and a Bloomingdales as anchors to draw in upscale shoppers, not a JC Penney and a Sears Auto Center as anchors.
If Disney was smart, they would only have a Disney Store in a mall that is in a wealthy, hip, stylish neighbhorhood where the overall patina of style and affluence would help give the Disney Store brand a boost, so that they could position the store as a destination experience for special locations.
There's more to this closure list than just sales figures. :animwink:
WDWFigment
Well-Known Member
i wish you the best on this but I'm sad to say I don't know if it will work. I just visited a Disney Store that is closing and they were actually selling all their store fixtures off as well so they're really clearing the place out for good.
But if you want a 4 foot tall ceramic Alice in Wonderland with movable, blinking Cheshire cat have I got a deal for you!!! :drevil:
(I AM kidding...I didn't buy it...my boyfriend didn't think it would look good in our apartment for some reason)
Just out of curiosity, how much was the Alice? I love big figs, and I might be getting a "new variety" tomorrow if the price is right. Also, if they aren't sold out...
wedway71
Well-Known Member
Have to agree.I have been in Mid-Level Management in Retail for almost 22 years.
There are more to consider than just sales. A very busy Disney Store that is packed every day might not be worth keeping open.I know that sounds crazy or even Dumb.There are a lot of factors involved in the decision.
One could be the Lease.The Mall could have maybe told Disney that they will raise their lease when the contract was over.Even though the store was busy it could maybe not been enough profit to cover the big lease increase.
Also, since Disney is scaling back the number of Stores and does not want to over saturate an area,there could have maybe been another store that was even more busy and more profitable and they decided to keep that location open.
I dont know the specifics of each closure but if the store location was profitable to stay open,I am sure it would have been kept.
Just because a store does alot of sales does not mean it turns a profit.
Dont get me wrong,I am sorry people will be out of a job.
AliceinWhoville
New Member
I am in cleveland ohio and so far 3 around here are closed or closing..
But I did score good deals in the big sell off.. lol
My daughter is happy with the 4foot cinderella & Aurora doll for $5
But I did score good deals in the big sell off.. lol
My daughter is happy with the 4foot cinderella & Aurora doll for $5
wdwwedding2004
New Member
we went to cherryvale mall today and boy o boy were the sales bleak. They have 30-50% off, but the stuff they have left is sub-par and the stuff you actually want is only 30% off, which is not a good deal. They told us, the closing date is rumored to be July 1st.