Sid's One of a Kind Shop to close?

[WDW1974]

You don't need to tell me those things, I agree. However, these days there is no chance that Disney will have a store sitting there selling nothing. Part of the show or not.

However, I would say that in the past it had managed to keep itself above water, now though, I don't think that is the case.

I'd argue that the shop isn't even a loss leader (and when WDW allowed them, it's entire product was considerably higher quality than what they shovel today) because all it takes (at those price points) is 2-3 guests a week to buy a few of the pricier items to pay for the location for a long time. And I have seen people do just that ... often they're from the Middle East or native Americans who just opened casinos (the Seminoles shop very well at WDW!) and even the occassional geek from the heartland.

Disney is trying to kill the shop. To what end (Starbucks, vinyl, plush, a meet and greet) I can't say, but something is up ... would be nice if the people who cover WDW (hey, Yee, talking to you!) in the fan community actually looked into it and didn't simply accept a stock answer.

 

[Kuhio]

Now ... where's my 2012 WDW hoodie ... or my vinylmation ... or how about some Duffy plush?

They'll be at the Character Warehouse at the Orlando Premium Outlets in a few months, at a deep discount.

(And that's where I picked up some stuff I actually really wanted last week at a super cheap price. Too bad my bags were already stuffed chock-full of other things I'd bought at full price at the parks the previous couple of days -- it took some creative arranging to get everything onto the flight. Next time though, I'm going to swing by the outlets at the beginning of my trip...)

 

[WDW1974]

Wasn't there a Villians shop that used to be cool, but now it's a candy store?

Pretty much ... it still has merchandise as well as candy and slushies and such, but it isn't what it once was.

Funny thing is people want to justify it and then wonder why I get on WDW fans for being their own worst enemies.

When Disney-MGM opened, all the shops were unique ... what is now a glorified ODV/slushie locale once was a newsstand where I bought Variety and the Hollywood Reporter and DC Comics ... what is now a generic Disney crap stand once sold Roger Rabbit and Toowntown merchandise ... what is now a giant Disney Christmas shop once sold all sorts of Hollywood/movies/TV merchandise, much of it non-Disney.

Sid's is the last shop that is a Disney-MGM original ... that hasn't been bastardized and Walmarted because we really need another location that sells the exact same crap ... I don't want to see it leave.

Hey, maybe one of you Tweeters can ask Blondie or one of the Jasons (you know the ones who are playing y'all) if they know what's up. You can say it's a Spirited question, so they ignore it (and have a meeting about it tomorrow at Celebration Place).

 

[WDW1974]

I would at least hope that they keep a blend of what the store once was, and then add new offerings (even if it's generic) to keep the store around. I'd love to see one of a kind items that aren't necessarily autographs. Disney has a library of movie and television props, but it could also include theme park related props as well.

Forgive me for throwing this out there, but this could also be a DHS location for limited edition merchandise as well like pins, vinylmation, or Artwork.

No forgiveness. They already have a location for that. It's called the Art of Disney/Animation Gallery and it more than serves the purpose.

 

[WDW1974]

Sid's is part of the show, part of the magic, part of the Hollywood placemaking. Browsing through the memorabilia is immersing oneself in Hollywood's history. A museum with price tags on the artefacts.

Oh well, I remember when one could shop for silver dinnerware and 18th and 19th century American antiques in Liberty Square. Why would I have any illusion about the direction WDW is moving in? It is no longer an elegant, surprisingly sophisticated resort for an audience that appreciates boutique shops.

Yeah, I recall those days too. My Spirted mother still has a jewelry box I bought for her in 1990 at DL's One of a Kind antique shop in NoS.

But when you are marketing your resort to bumpkins and rubes (sorry, that is what they are doing whether any of us fit in that category or not) what do you expect? Chicken nuggets for a chicken nugget crowd.

It disgusts me because ... yeah, I sorta ... kinda .. still love WDW.

 

[M.rudolf]

This is truly walmarting, take away the exotic, hard to find, historical items and give us tees, vinylmation and plushes. What once was a place for all, not just children, is now being refurbed into a bargain basement bin. Where a person could go in and find items that are rare or different is no more. They have replaced uniqueness with a more of the same. Disney no longer wants to cater to anyone over the age of 12. I collect Disney watches over the last so many years, won't say my age but I am not an antique, but not a twenty something either, I would usually go home with a citizen, bulova or wittenhauer, not the best but defiantly not the the worst, I searched the shops and in the past 2 years they haven't even updated the higher end brands,but there is a ton of lower end timex, etc. Disney doesn't want a high end business they'd rather pillage from the parents of children. At one time my kids could go into a Disney shop and find something that they wouldn't want to leave without. Now they no longer really care. Oh it's another tshirt or Mickey/Minnie in a new outfit. Disney no longer has the ability to appease a guest that wants something out of the norm. That's the problem if they have this attitude toward merchandise how far away is the attitude towards attractions. Lets make our merchandise average,our dining about the level of a chilis and we will just keep the resorts at an acceptable level. Disney please wake up you've made a business about going above and beyond, in our economy now isn't the time to slip its the time to exceed

 

[Mrs.Toad]

NOOO! Say it ain't so.
That is a childhood memory for me and it goes well into adulthood. Once I cross that gate into DHS I instantly look at Sid's and make a beeline. I have bought books there and I bought a porcelein figurine from Mary Pickford's estate, which I love, and I love her.

NOOOO!

 

[elchippo]

I cant believe I'm actually hypothesizing a world without Sid's out loud....but nobody has brought up the obvious, more likely replacement...

another meet n greet.....probably for another character you can meet 8 other places on property....

 

[SirNim]

I want the store to remain. Even more so, I want that autographed photo of the Sid Cahuenga Streetmosphere character, because, let's be real here, that is something I always made a point of scoping out when I was in the store, always hoping that somehow someday there'd be a price tag attached to it, so I could buy it!

But at the price points the store offers, a lot of the autographed memorabilia could and should be had more cheaply on the 'Bay. If while browsing, something tickled your fancy, you'd do well to simply make a mental note. Then, once you were back home in front of your compy, you could fire up the eBay, type in the parameters, and see dozens (nay hundreds) of signed photos from your favorite actor or personality available at the click of a button, and at much more reasonable price points. Sid's One of a Kind: Good to browse. eBay: Better to purchase.

BTW (meaningless observation): The store itself is very reminiscent of the Hollywoodland Antique shop just inside the Beachwood Village Hollywoodland gates.

 

[Magenta Panther]

OH, god, I hope Sid's doesn't go anywhere! It's always the first place I visit when I go to DHS!

 

[drew81]

I've mentioned this in other threads, but it seems to get buried in discussion of blue alien sex kittens, Mater and his hometown and my motives, so I thought it was deserving of a thread of its own.

Seems like the best shop TPFKaTD-MGMS has ever had and a place I have spent thousands of dollars at in the past may well be on the way out. It was locked up tightly well before park closing numerous nights last week.

About half the merchandise and display tables are gone. More ominous, the photo of the man who played Sid until his death a few years back is gone. And when the shop has been open, there's usually just one CM manning it.

I've asked and the CMs there know nothing about Disney turning it into a vinyl and pin hut (they'll need to replace the BAH locale when that finally comes down) or a Duffy shop or even the park's Starbucks as a friend's young brother hypothesized.

But it would be tragic to lose one more piece of another WDW park's soul.

Anyone out there actually know the real story?

Talked to folks at Guest Relations, but they either really don't know or they're spinning the company line.

Oh I really hope this isn't true. They have the Michael Jackson piece that I really want.

 

[WDW1974]

They'll be at the Character Warehouse at the Orlando Premium Outlets in a few months, at a deep discount.

(And that's where I picked up some stuff I actually really wanted last week at a super cheap price. Too bad my bags were already stuffed chock-full of other things I'd bought at full price at the parks the previous couple of days -- it took some creative arranging to get everything onto the flight. Next time though, I'm going to swing by the outlets at the beginning of my trip...)

Yep. I can't wait for the truckloads of EPCOT 30 stuff that the insane folks stood in line hours for winds up at my local Disney outlet in time for Black Friday. Why people opt to pay $32 for tees is something and $14 for pins is a bit out of my ability to comprehend ... at the same time people saying that folks don't have money to buy quality unique merchandise such as what you can find at Sid's.

 

[disney fan 13]

Or, perhaps boutique/individual/unique Theme Park merchandise is just something that
doesn't sell like it used to, in this day and age? Perhaps we, the fans, just aren't enough.

Butterbeer and everything else in WWOHP disagree's with you.

 

[WDW1974]

I want the store to remain. Even more so, I want that autographed photo of the Sid Cahuenga Streetmosphere character, because, let's be real here, that is something I always made a point of scoping out when I was in the store, always hoping that somehow someday there'd be a price tag attached to it, so I could buy it!

But at the price points the store offers, a lot of the autographed memorabilia could and should be had more cheaply on the 'Bay. If while browsing, something tickled your fancy, you'd do well to simply make a mental note. Then, once you were back home in front of your compy, you could fire up the eBay, type in the parameters, and see dozens (nay hundreds) of signed photos from your favorite actor or personality available at the click of a button, and at much more reasonable price points. Sid's One of a Kind: Good to browse. eBay: Better to purchase.

BTW (meaningless observation): The store itself is very reminiscent of the Hollywoodland Antique shop just inside the Beachwood Village Hollywoodland gates.

I don't really buy (no pun intended) the eBay argument because you can find anything there, including the same pins, shirts and aosorted Disney crap that one can also find at WDW. So, why ever buy anything when on vacation? Just buy what you want on eBay when you get home. Less to pack, carry, get thru the TSA checkpoints.

And many of the prices on eBay are not lower, they are higher. People want to profit off their trash. I haven't even looked, but I wonder what the EPCOT30 guidemaps and buttons are going for right now (my guess, $4.99 to $15.99) because people are dumb and see value where there isn't any.

There is a company that buys old Disney stuff and then sells it in a warehouse about 30 minutes from WDW or online ... they want to buy things very cheaply, but take a look at what prices they sell for.

I guess my point is eBay goes both ways and many of the items at Sid's are ONE of a kind. Meaning while you may be able to get someone's autograph elsewhere, you may not get an autographed item that was used in a film or a check some great actor wrote in 1956.

 

[BrightImagine]

Okay, I'll admit it. I have been to MGM/HS dozens of times since the year it opened, and I have never set foot inside Sid's. I have admired the building for sure, but never stopped in because the park was pulling me forward. But now, after reading this thread and this article, I am just hoping it will stay around long enough for me to pay a visit, because it's truly fascinating. It reminds me of the original stores in the Magic Kingdom... I don't think they were ever there for their sales potential, they were there primarily for atmosphere. There is nothing wrong with retail locations that simply add to the character of the park - I hope WDW will remember this fact.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

On a slightly less Sid-loving note, I must admit that I find the shop a bit unappealing from the outside. That whole side of the entrance looks a bit messy.

Like a precursor to the DAK style of design - those parts where DAK takes theming and story one level too far. Too many objects, too much text, too much backstory, too many props bought at a garage sale.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I'd say if you still work close by to ask the managers who know what's going on because something is.

The place looks like a store going out of business. The patio no longer has merchandise. The tables of it inside have been removed. Much of the hanging art/autographs are gone as is Sid's photo. It doesn't take a genius to figure out something is up. Also, the shop never would be closed at 6 p.m. when the park was open until 10. That's another sign they're looking to kill it.

You're right. There can't be a worse kiss of death for a store at the very front of the park than to be closed at the beginning of the day and the end of the day... the times when people are most likely to walk by!

 

[scoobygirl39541]

wow I never heard of this place before, so I looked it up...I had NO idea this existed! May have to step inside next time before it goes

I agree that its becoming hard to find a "must have" piece of merchandise. We just got the Disney Visa which came with the $250 giftcard. I took it to the parks last December and had the hardest time finding things to spend it on. Nothing sparked my interest. I believe I ended up getting a hoodie (overpriced and not that great), variety teas, and some personalized glassware. I wish I knew about Sid's last year!

 

[dreamfinder]

I think Sid's started to go downhill when it became primarily an autograph shop. I recall it having more one of a kind stuff, more props/wardrobe from shows/movies. Now, it's more of the same stuff people will just buy on eBay. And in a world of people buying fake pins to save $10, would any of them really think twice about buying a possible autograph print for $15 instead of $300?

 

[Kuhio]

Look, the store is a part of the show. It was never going to move mountains of merchandise.

You don't need to tell me those things, I agree. However, these days there is no chance that Disney will have a store sitting there selling nothing. Part of the show or not.

I think Sid's should have been conceived, from the beginning, as an "attraction" (even if it wasn't explicitly designated or advertised as such), rather than as a point of retail. The overall concept for Sid's -- along with a dedicated background character -- was substantially more developed than for other stores in the park, and the location literally stands by itself, as opposed to being part of a continuous facade of storefronts.

Viewed in this fashion, Sid's would not have had to be held to the same sales expectations as, say, a place that basically just hustled T-shirts and toys -- it would basically be more akin to a walk-through attraction; any incidental sales of high-end memorabilia would just be a nice bonus.

And I do understand the idea that merchandise locations have to justify their existence, but the front end of the Studios is already chock-full of them... at some point, you just reach a saturation point where another store fifty feet away is not going to move appreciably more product, and might just cannibalize its neighbors.