Disney Store Closed!

[Maerj]

I've been reading about Disney Outlet Stores, some are called 'Disney Character Premiere' stores. They have a few in Florida that sell park merchandise cheap. There is a Disney outlet in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware I have been thinking about checking out. Has anyone here been to any of these?

[AwallaceUNC]

Over time it was more and more common for "cast members" to look at me funny when I went in a Disney Store. I never figured out why until I read this thread and realized that it must be because over time they started to focus on just selling merchandise to prepubescent girls. Nothing wrong with being one if you are one but they used to cater to everyone.

Same thing here. Our resident CMs working in the Disney Store tick me off for a lot of reasons.

-Aaron

[Owlzindabarn]

Well it's not all bad. There's a big HUGE Disney Store at Downtown Disney, that goes on and on forever and they carry everything. But of course, it's right there in front of Disneyland so it has to big the Big Momma of Disney Stores, now doesn't it.

[Christian]

I was going to mention the Downtown Disney place but in a sense that is not a Disney Store. I think it's technically called Worlds of Disney and they get stuff the normal Disney Stores don't get.

[AwallaceUNC]

Yeah, it's called World of Disney, and it's like a giant version of what The Disney Store used to be. You'd think they'd model it after this store, but alas, they don't. But then, Disney merchandise as a whole- whether it be The Disney Store (in-store or online) or in WDW, is of a lesser quality lately.

-Aaron

[Eeyore]

But then these quality items appealing to ALL ages...disappeared. Why the change? More of Eisner's stupidity?

Right on. This whole thing has been *caused* by Disney. The stores were doing great when they catered to all ages. Then, they change focus to kids only, and drive the store right into the ground so it's a big money loser.

This is obvious stuff folks. Pre-school age kids don't walk into the Disney store and buy stuff. Adults do. The majority of Disney fans are *adults*. Always has been. Walt figured this out long ago, it's what made his films and the parks successful. They weren't just for kids.

[Koda]

Jack: We used to have 3 Disney stores in San Diego. We still have one.
The first one closed a while ago (Horton Plaza), and the second one (Fashion Valley) closed this January. When they closed the Fashion Valley one I almost cried. I visited it at least once a week. The Plaza Bonita one is still open, but I don´t usually visit Plaza Bonita.

P.D. Who wants to join my club:

"Stuck the Matterhorn through Michael Eisner´s %$& "

[Kram Nebuer]

I was just wondering what all your Disney stores looked like. The ones near us are usually divided into four sections: Disney Adventurers boys toys, Disney Princesses girls toys, clothes for everyone, and collectibles. One of them still sell framed art cells too.

Also on top of all the shelves are 3D animations of the Disney characters with the main characters as moving, swaying statues and their supporting characters as card board cutouts. In the front is a BIG window display with animations of Mickey, Donald, and the gang in German-Swiss-Fairy Tale lederhosen in some sort of cabin. Though not as elabotare and colofrul as the murals and figures at the World of Disney Store (based on the one in WDW), our Disney Stores aren't that bad. From reading some of these posts, it seems like your Disney stores are just stores with Disney merchandise in them. Is this true? What happened?

[Starion]

I was just wondering what all your Disney stores looked like. The ones near us are usually divided into four sections: Disney Adventurers boys toys, Disney Princesses girls toys, clothes for everyone, and collectibles. One of them still sell framed art cells too.

From reading some of these posts, it seems like your Disney stores are just stores with Disney merchandise in them. Is this true? What happened?

Hi Kram Nebuer!

There are three stores near my house. The one at Tysons Corner Mall and Dulles Town Centre are fairly big. They are divided into four sections.

The one at Ronald Regan Washington National Airport (or as I call the Airport: DCA) is very small. It sells some toys and childrens clothes. I saw some Micky Mouse fleece jackets. I couldn't find any adult sized T-shirts at any Disney Store. The Disney Store at National Airport looks like a store with Disney merchandise in them. There is a display of Micky Mouse stuffed animals near the entrance. There is no room to put any cardboard displays near the counter. The DVDs are a few feet in front of the counter. I did not see any toys for girls. I saw some plastic Buzz Light Year toys. I'll look again when I go back to the airport.

When I went to the store in Tysons Corner last August, I saw a big display shelf of Lion King stuffed animals. On the right of the entrance was a cardboard display announcing that the movie and lithographs are available for pre-order. Near the center of the store is round shelf full of stuffed animals. There is another shelf on the side of the store for stuffed animals. A third shelf is at the entrance to showcase new toys or toys that are on sale. There might be another shelf for backpacks. There are at least three racks of clothing: one for adults, one for boys and one for girls. I think there was one with kid's pajamas. I remember seeing the Nala pajamas last year.

Hope this helps.

[AwallaceUNC]

Right on. This whole thing has been *caused* by Disney. The stores were doing great when they catered to all ages. Then, they change focus to kids only, and drive the store right into the ground so it's a big money loser.

This is obvious stuff folks. Pre-school age kids don't walk into the Disney store and buy stuff. Adults do. The majority of Disney fans are *adults*. Always has been. Walt figured this out long ago, it's what made his films and the parks successful. They weren't just for kids.

Indeed. Apparently "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is too much to ask, but you'd think they'd be able to fix what they obviously broke when they 'fixed' it. I mean, it's not rocket science. A CEO with the business capacity of an 8 year old could figure this out.

Kram- the DS here is just like your's, except that the characters stopped moving, and they used to have new ones in the window from time to time (no more).

-Aaron

[Kram Nebuer]

Thanks for the descriptions Starion! I actually was wondering if other Disney Stores still had the 3D animated displays, but your description still helped. I forgot to mention the plethora of stuffed animals, which all the Disney Stores have. It's kind of sad that a lot of them are emphasizing too much on toys for kids rather than a collection of merchandise for all Disney fans. I like leafing through the catalogs and seeing everything from clothes and toys to dishware, doormats, and office supplies. I've never seen some of the latter in the stores though.

Aaron - I think only Mickey moves now in the window display. The Alice above the register used to move, but she's stopped now, but then again I"m not quite sure if she really did move in the first place. May have been my childhood imagination!

[2099net]

Right on. This whole thing has been *caused* by Disney. The stores were doing great when they catered to all ages. Then, they change focus to kids only, and drive the store right into the ground so it's a big money loser.

This is obvious stuff folks. Pre-school age kids don't walk into the Disney store and buy stuff. Adults do. The majority of Disney fans are *adults*. Always has been. Walt figured this out long ago, it's what made his films and the parks successful. They weren't just for kids.

Indeed. Apparently "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is too much to ask, but you'd think they'd be able to fix what they obviously broke when they 'fixed' it. I mean, it's not rocket science. A CEO with the business capacity of an 8 year old could figure this out.

Well, like most things, I think this is making the situation simpler than it actually is/was.

Firstly, I know people around here like to label Disney executives as dunderheads based solely on their decisions when none of use have seen the information they used to make these decisions. Secondly, Disney is a large - a very large - company, and like all large companies decisions made by one division of the company have affects on other divisions.

Obviously when the Disney stores started to switch to the more child oriented merchandise, the child oriented products were selling and making the store the most money. No business is ever going to deliberately stop selling their best selling products, no matter how stupid you think the executives are.

I would imagine the more collectable Disney stuff's turnover was not so great. While people like you or I would have bought stuff, I'd imagine stuff like an animation print and a collectable snowglobe would be likely to sit on shelves for weeks, if not months, before anyone bought it. While they may have had more dollars profit for each sale I doubt the turnaround times would be anywhere close to clothing etc.

As I understand it, things really started to go wrong when Disney signed a deal with a major store chain (was it WAL*MART?) who began selling Disney clothing in their shops - and much cheaper than the Disney Store too. I don't know if the clothing was the same, or different. But the average person on the street is just going to see "Disney clothes for my kids are avaiable here for prices less than at the Disney Store". So where are they most likely to shop?

Of course, the executives in-charge of The Disney Store shops most likely had nothing to do with the signing to WAL*MART (or whoever). It may of harmed the Disney Store, but it probably brought in more money than the Disney Store division did anyway, so from Disney's overall point of view, it was a success!

It's the same with DVDs. WAL*MART and other chains have such bargaining power with the studios, they can buy in bulk at low prices. They can also afford to sell their Disney DVDs for a loss, hoping the low prices will encourage people into their shop and buy other things in the store at the same time they buy the DVD they want. This is known as loss-leading. While logically you would think Disney Stores would be able to get DVDs in at cost (and thus sell them cheaper), I don't think this happens. Large corporations like to treat their divisions as seperate entities, and it's often unlikely favours are given. Plus, the Disney Store cannot really afford to use loss-leaders at this time.

All this results in the apparently illogical fact that Disney Store charges more for a Disney DVD than WAL*MART, or even Amazon.Com.

Of course, given the current situation, the Disney Store should be looking to carry more "exclusive" merchandise and add the collectibles back. But even then, such a range of merchandise cannot carry all the stores. Collectibles are collectible for a number of reasons - one is that they are limited. Selling a limited number of items in an unlimited number of stores does not add up. While I don't even begin to pretend I have all the information, I can't really see how all the Disney Stores can remain open, short of Disney pulling Disney merchandise from the big stores (which they are unlikely to do, because in the long run, I guess it makes more money than all the Disney Stores together).

Also consider that the Warner Bros. Studio stores, a similar business model - are also having lots of financial problems at this time. Again look to the larger picture and trends when complaining about Disney.

[AwallaceUNC]

Firstly, I know people around here like to label Disney executives as dunderheads based solely on their decisions when none of use have seen the information they used to make these decisions. Secondly, Disney is a large - a very large - company, and like all large companies decisions made by one division of the company have affects on other divisions.

But in the end- it's their decisions that matter, not the information that inspired their seemingly good intentions. When those decisions bring about negative effects, then it's someone's fault. The buck stops somewhere- and that somewhere is with management. And when management's decisions turn out to be bad ones, it's their responsibility to fix them. When they don't, they are rightfully turned over to the consumers and the shareholders for scrutiny. In the case of the Disney Stores, that management is Michael Eisner. He is known to micromanage, and has taken credit for managing the Disney Stores. And even if he's not responsible for the initial bad decision, it becomes his duty to step in and figure out the problem when things begin to go downhill.

Obviously when the Disney stores started to switch to the more child oriented merchandise, the child oriented products were selling and making the store the most money. No business is ever going to deliberately stop selling their best selling products, no matter how stupid you think the executives are.

Yet, they did. Things may have been selling well at the time, but at some point, these things stopped selling well. That's when management should fix it, but they didn't/haven't. This business did deliberately (or so it would seem) keep their stores at under-performing levels. If it wasn't deliberate, they didn't do anything to change it. That leaves no other conclusion to draw than that the executives are, as you put it, stupid. I would probably call it un-wise administration.

I would imagine the more collectable Disney stuff's turnover was not so great. While people like you or I would have bought stuff, I'd imagine stuff like an animation print and a collectable snowglobe would be likely to sit on shelves for weeks, if not months, before anyone bought it. While they may have had more dollars profit for each sale I doubt the turnaround times would be anywhere close to clothing etc.

Indeed. They may not have sold well, but they do serve another purpose, which is drawing people in. There has to be something in the store to attract adults. The very first initiative must be to get bodies in the stores- if only just to look. Otherwise, nothing will be sold. Once they are in there, sales of other items can be made. Especially if these parents are accompanied by children, or have birthdays or holidays coming up to shop for. By removing adult incentive, the adults were removed as well. Kids don't shop, and as a result, the Disney Stores are empty.

We agree on the Wal-Mart (assuming that that's the retailer) situation, though. If Disney is going to let them retail their merchandise (and they should), then they are going to have to differentiate their own stores from the norm. This comes by selling merchandise exclusive to the Disney Stores. I'm not talking collector's items, just different items. At the very least, that gives people reason to come into the stores.

The 2nd thing they need to do is offer competitive prices for things that are similar to Wal-Mart's stock (DVDs). WDC may view the Disney Store as a separate entity, but Wal-Mart is a separate entity, too. If they can cut them a deal, they can cut a deal for Disney Store as well, and save a little cash by eliminating the middle man in the meantime. An example of this would be with DVDs. One can explain all the justifications for higher DVD prices at TDS all they want, but the bottom line is that not a single DVD is being sold at some of these stores, and even fewer at others. Instead, TDS should be seen as the place where every Disney DVD is available at a competitive price. Some profit is better than no profit, and that's a lesson that apparently hasn't been learned in this case.

-Aaron

[2099net]

I don't know for sure (which is why I didn't mention it in my initial post), but regarding DVD sales, I believe there are competition laws in place which stop Disney selling their product to their own stores for a preferential discount. I may be wrong, but it would be unfair on other shops if Disney could off-load (or dump as it is known) their own product into their own stores for cost. As a result Disney can only sell to themselves on the same terms and conditions as other retailers (ie discounts for bulk purchases only). Disney seem to have tried to off-set this by offering free gifts with the DVDs (and they can get these cheap and pass on at cost, as the plushes or lilographs are commisioned by the Disney Store and made exclusively for the Disney Store).

Wal*Mart (and who ever) get discounts due to bulk purchases. In Wal*Mart's case, exceedingly bulk purchases. Plus, they often sell them at a loss too (especially during 1st week sales, though this in itself seems to be an instance of dumping based on my internet research. I suppose they get away with it as it is a "limited time only sale" - after all sales aren't illegal).

When it comes down to it Aaron, if Disney can make as much money by selling to Wal*Mart, why would they want the problems and hassle of running a Disney Store empire anyway? It's not something I particularly agree with, but you can see Disney's logic. Why bother? That undoubtably explains their decision to licence to Wal*Mart in the first place ("We can get all this money, guarenteed, and we don't have to do hardly anything for it. We especially don't have to bother with our only shops, rent, employees, reordering, stock control, buildings maintenance, cleaning, wharehousing etc")

Ultimately its less risk to licence to Wal*Mart then sell the stuff themselves. Less risk may mean lesser rewards, but it also means lesser losses should the business fail.

Personally, I think Disney should keep the stores going - I'm sure something could be done to generate some profits, or at least break even. How about more exclusive DVDs? Cartoons seasons sets only available from the Disney Store would bring in lots of money I would guess. The phrase is "You can't put a price on good publicity" and the Disney Store is good publicity. Great publicity infact. And if you have it running at break-even, you don't even need a price!

[AwallaceUNC]

Well I think you answered your own question. Why bother with the Disney stores? It keeps the Disney name live, fresh, and in consumer's minds. There's another (potential) reason, too. "If we can make the $ from Wal-Mart, why bother with TDS?" was the reasoning you put forth, and it's certainly not wrong. But if you can make that Wal-Mart cash AND cash from TDS, it makes sense to do that, right? It makes even more sense not to throw away investments made into an already established empire. So I think there is reason enough to keep it going.

But then that brings us back to how you go about bringing that extra money in, and the answer, of course, is the use of the tactics we already addressed above. It sounds like you and I both share the optimism that this can be done.

As for the legality of whether or not Disney can offer the same deal to its own stores as it can to Wal-Mart, I'm not sure, either. If they can't, though, then that's (at the risk of sounding mundane) stupid. They should be able to make total profit off of them, since there isn't really a middle-man there.

-Aaron

[toonaspie]

i have three words: Oriental Land Company

I was just looking at the Photo Essay at SaveDisney, no surprise here that the DVDs are not part of the 50% storewide clearance sales (with very tiny disclaimers)

[Eeyore]

I would imagine the more collectable Disney stuff's turnover was not so great. While people like you or I would have bought stuff, I'd imagine stuff like an animation print and a collectable snowglobe would be likely to sit on shelves for weeks, if not months, before anyone bought it. While they may have had more dollars profit for each sale I doubt the turnaround times would be anywhere close to clothing etc.

Absolutely, but as Aaron said, those high end products still drew you in. And you dreamed about buying them one day.

It wasn't just the high end stuff that disappeared though. It was everything that an adult could want. Coffee mugs. Office or desk stuff like business card holders, etc. Wrist watches. Adult clothing, t-shirts and jackets. Picture frames. Pillow cases. Sheet sets. Christmas ornaments. Almost all of this stuff was affordable, and there was a wide selection so that everyone could find something of interest.

Each time you went to the store, you were always looking for what was new, and you usually found something. And then slowly it all dried up.

[pezisgood]

My local store is closed, I checked today. When they opened like 10 years ago it was a great store, then slowly deteriorated. Personally I am glad it is closed as opposed to being the awful store it had become.

[MickeyMousePal]

Most Disney Local Stores are doing 50% off on some items in the store.
I guess Disney is desperate to sell the items because they are losing lots of money. Disney Stores have rip-off prices only because it's a Disney Store if you buy something at Wal Mart or Costco it will cost less if it has a Disney character. I been to the Disney Store many times my older sister got some plush toy character of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse because they were on special but not me I already have them but small version.
I guess I'll miss the Disney stores I really like to see Disney items but hey I could go to Downtown Disney at Disneyland instead.

[Cinderelly]

Hi all, I am a castmember at a Disney store in my area so I thought that I would share some information.

First, we still have the moving 3d- animation in our store for those who were asking about it. Also, we change our windows either monthly or when new sales arrive.

As for our DVDS costing way more than walmart, that is a thing of the past. Like you guys have mentioned we have to off-set the pre-orders with free items but recently they have been doing lots of price slashing on DVDs. For instance, Monsters inc, and Finding nemo are 14.99. Now, I doubt it that Walmart is much lower than that. Also, our treasures (or what we have left of them) are priced at 24.99. Last time I was at my local Walmart i noticed that the prices for the treasures were 23.94. Wow, a whole dollar and 5 cents difference.

I wanted to talk about the comment that a castmember looked weird at a guest because they are an adult rather than a pre-pubescent girl shopping at our stores; this is sort of silly in my opinion. You will not believe how many adult men and adult women come in our stores to buy stuff for themselves. In fact, it is nice to see adults in the store without children because I can usually help the person find something they are looking for. Children are impossible to help because they practically want everything that they see.

Maybe I am jaded because I work at a large store where collectables still exist. Sure, the store is mainly for kids now but that doesn't mean that we don't get adult apparel and nice snowglobes in with every shipment.

Lastly, the reason that lots of our stuff is up to 50% off is because it is part of our super-summer sale. Each year we have the same sale. This is no news. Anyone who goes to the store often would know that this sale has been around for years. Yes, we may be offering more items at sale prices than last year but I would hardly call us desperate to sell.