Originally Posted By Doobie This topic is for discussion of the May 28 article: Kenversationsâ„¢ at <a href="News-ID111280.asp" target="_blank">http://LaughingPlace.com/News-ID111280.asp</a>.
Originally Posted By jazzfan4 The Disney store under any other name is another store and I doubt that the new owners will be allowed to use the Disney name. The stores will be closed, the decorations will be sold on E-bay and that chapter of magic from Disney will be history. I guess maybe the stores are already dead, they just don't know it yet. All the stores in the Salt Lake area are too small for the larger option!
Originally Posted By TheBigChurro Ken, you hit the bullseye when you described how Paul Pressler jumped on a good idea, rode it (hard) to exhaustion and jumped off just before it died. Moderate and intelligent growth is key to any capitalistic venture that wants to prosper for the long term. The stores are an example of what happens when a short term mentality for quick profits takes precedence over that intelligent growth. They opened way too many stores, saturated the market, and made disney products no longer special. Unfortunately, closing some stores and reorganizing others wont help. Theyve ruined the brand. The stores have been dead for a while and should be buried. Thanks for a good article.
Originally Posted By Disfan1022 I don't know what Disney will do in the end but I won't be disappointed if they shut down the stores in their current state. I was heartbroken when the stores went from a place I could go to enjoy an authentic Disney fix without the expense of traveling to "just another mall store" with the bright white lighting and such. I guess that says it all.
Originally Posted By d-r As I understand it, the current plan (and current plans can, as always, change), is to reduce the number of stores down to 300 or less in the US. There are some stores with mall leases running out soon; other leases run until 2005 or 6, and it would cost more to get out of them than to just leave the stores open. The current plan is to have adult and infant lines in the stores by this Oct. We'll see if that pans out. It isn't really true, by the way, that the stuff in the disney store is the same stuff at walmart or target. If you go to a disney store and actually look at the stuff there, and then go to target and walmart you'll see it isn;t the same stuff, but it may seem like it because the disney store has mostly only toys now. But it is disney store exclusive stuff, you're just not looking close enough at the toys at walmart to tell the difference. It may be that disney would profit more from licensing products to be sold at other stores rather than paying the overhead to sell it themselves at their own stores. Also, don't get me wrong, that wall street journal article was put out for a reason - they are running the flag up to see if anyone salutes, and if someone wanted to buy it, that would be great with Disney; but there aren't any buyers and they are making plans instead on how to continue, at least for the immediate future. DR
Originally Posted By moviela The stores are not doing well because the economy is not doing well. There is too much merchandise available. Wal-Mart and Target are diluting the brand at the expense of the companies own stores. When your prices are high, you need to offer "Nordstroms" style service. I went to the Glendale store a few months after it opened, and I thought Mickey himself has never been treated better, but now sadly that is the exception rather than the rule. This stuff is so cheap to make, their must be a few dollars to reward staff for giving superlative service.
Originally Posted By MouseBear Salutations Ken and All, Good article and your "Disney Town" idea is solid, particularly if it included characters. I think the Disney stores will be allowed to die off except for the largest and most successful stores. (I doubt they'll close the store in Times Square.) I think they'll continue to operate the Disney Catalog. MB
Originally Posted By SFH "Said it again. He said it in Spanish." Uhm, I could see that one and the one in Vegas staying open, to be sure. SFH
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I think this article hit the nail on the head. Does anyone see any similarities between the Disney Stores and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? I sure do. The Disney Company rode them both into the ground. I wonder if the same thing might not happen with the rerelease of Beauty and the Beast and other classic films. I think the direct-to-video offerings are taking the luster away from the original and might impact sales. But, that is another discussion. I like the idea of regional "Downtown Disneys" but they can't get carried away with them. I remember in Ohio when there were only two Disney stores. One was in Columbus and the other was in Cleveland...both in high-end malls. Making a trip there was almost as special as making a trip to one of the parks. By putting a Disney store in so many malls they took away the luster. Down here in Florida I have 3 Disney stores plus a Character Premier all within 30 minutes of each other. That is ridiculous. Of course, every one of those stores sells (or tries to sell) little girl stuff and that is about it. That cow is anorexic and they have milked it to death.
Originally Posted By fabdisbabe Both this great article and Big Churro's post nailed it. I remember attending the blessing and lei cutting of the Disney Store in Honolulu, and of making a special trip to visit the Disney Store in Glendale when it was a rare jewel. Alice and I plan on making a special trip to NYC to the Pokemon Center there, as it's a rare and special treat, like the Disney Stores used to be. Fab
Originally Posted By aracuanbird This is the same basic premise behind the contraction of Planet Hollywood outlets, that is, basically, that oversaturation and lackluster product killed the franchise. While I agree that this is the case, there is at least one huge factor here that PH never had to deal with. That is that, unlike PH, the Disney Stores couldn't just hire better chefs and buy better burgers to fix their problematic product. The primary product they relied on to bring guests into their outlets wasn't something they stocked...it was Disney animated films. What the Disney Stores stocked and the product that they relied on to draw mom, dad, and the kids tied directly to the product that Disney Feature Animation churned out. As audiences lost interest in DFA's product (and films like Pocahontas sold less tickets than features such as Lion King did) they also lost interest in the Disney Store's product. The loss of this fickle market cannot be underestimated and cannot be backfilled by the folks who buy more spendy collectible items. Ironically, the simplest fix for the Disney Stores is, sadly, one of the most ambitious fixes for the the Disney Company as a whole. If Disney could create another chain of back-to-back winners that hit people as hard as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King did, the stores would succeed. Would they be bigger successes if they carried more exclusive merchandise or offered more varied floorplans/environmental experiences? Maybe...at least I'd hope so. But without those hits and the expected results (mainstream consumers would go goo-goo for Disney product as they did in the early-mid 1990's) I'm afraid any other change is academic.
Originally Posted By Wendybird Great article! As a former Disney Store Cast Member, it makes me sad to see what's happening with one of my favorite places. I don't get to Disneyland often and the Store used to be such a fun place to visit. But as many others have mentioned, all the merchandise seems to be aimed at little girls now. What happened to the figurines and snowglobes? >>When your prices are high, you need to offer "Nordstroms" style service... I thought Mickey himself has never been treated better, but now sadly that is the exception rather than the rule.<< Too true. When I worked there (1995-1997) one major goal was for every guest to be greeted immediately as he/she walked into the store. Now my family and I can walk through the store without ever being approached. Sad.
Originally Posted By pitbulllady Two of the biggest problems I've seen with the Disney Stores around here(many of which have already closed)are a really bleak economy, in which many outlets are doing poorly, and the Disney Store's catering only to very young children, especially little girls. Virtually everything available the last time I went into one of the stores was either something to do with Princesses or with Winnie The Pooh. The collectables, like snowglobes and coffee mugs, were gone. They have ignored the fact that there are a LOT of adults who love Disney movies and characters, too, especially when it comes to clothing. They especially left out a large potential market segment, adult fans of "Lilo and Stitch"! Not ONE article of adult-sized clothing related to that movie has been made and put out by Disney, and there were only two snowglobes available for a short time. No other collectables were made at all, at least not available in the US. By ignoring adults and even teens, the ones who have the money, Disney lost out on a world of sales opportunities! pitbulllady
Originally Posted By JACanepa I think around my area, The Disney Store's really lost me when they got rid of their Galleries. I know that there were some stores that had special rooms built to keep the Gallery things separate, now they have girls clothes, it looks ridiculous. I was in a store a few weeks ago. I walked in, walked the perimeter and walked out. I can’t tell you the last time I bought something there. And I find no employees that even say hello anymore. The DisneyTown idea sounds good. Disney is something that needs room. Maybe each DisneyTown can have more it’s own theme or design based on different Disney movies. To look like the 100 Acre Wood or the Beast’s Castle, this will give a variety feel to each store someone visits. Beyond the look, Disney needs to make more merchandise based on other movies and characters they don’t usually focus on. They were slowly making more Nightmare Before Christmas stuff for the gallery but just some shirts or pajamas would be nice. And where are all the house-ware type things or some more practical things you can use for every day – not just girls toys. Lastly, they need to come out with a winning feature film. I haven’t seen Finding Nemo, but they haven’t had a great feature in a while – and sequels to their classic movies do not count.
Originally Posted By casie47 I really like the idea of a Disney Town in large cities. I recently went to the Disney Store in Chicago and was quite dissappointed. Merchandise needs to be more varied and not just geared to the younger set.
Originally Posted By ExtraGrumpyJelloBoy While the idea of these "Disneytowns" might sound appealing to Disneyphiles, the Company has had a pretty lousy record at successful regional enterprises. I don't see how opening one of these behemoth places and then populating them with ventures that the writer himself deemed "ill-fated" (i.e. DisneyQuest, Club Disney, Soap Opera Bistro, et al) would generate a sustained interest from the general public. The reason that the Disney Stores are dying is because the Company doesn't believe in its own ability to manufacture Disney magic anymore. Comments from the new Consumer Products head indicate that he'd rather license product to places like Wal-Mart and JCPenny's and not compete head to head with them in a shrinking marketplace. It's somewhat ironic that in the early 1990s, industry analysts said that the Disney Store needed to open more locations to catch up with the infrastructure in place at the corporate level. Now many of these same analysts are complaining that Disney grew the stores too fast and diluted the brand. Talk about Monday-morning quarterbacking! Personally, with the sale of the Disney sports teams, the eventual closure of the Disney Store, the virtual elimination of Feature Animation and Walt Disney Animation, I think that Micheal Eisner is preparing his own Golden Parachute. He appears to be getting the Company in a position to provide himself with a great big retirement package. ---------- There's always room for Jell-O!
Originally Posted By mrstoad I am a former Cast Member in a Disney Store. No manner of corporate strategizing will save the stores, because on a grass-roots level, they are doomed to fail. A. They stock nice, new merchandise (such as current-year Birnbaum guides, for instance) in the backstage area, but WILL NOT bring them onstage nor even admit to their existence until last year's dog-eared, abused copies are bought. All this, despite the fact that one can walk 20 paces across the hall and purchase THIS YEAR's guide at Waldenbook's. Duh. B. When you fill out an "Employment Interest" form, you must read carefully, because at the very bottom of the form, the Disney Store reserves the right to schedule you OUTSIDE your hours of availability. And they do. Insanity. That is just downright self-defeating on Disney's part. C. They break the law. Employment law states that employees must have 12 hours rest time between shifts. That is disregarded so often, it is ridiculous. D. Each store is like a little Feifdom for the Manager. During Holiday crunch times, Christmas Eve, Store Inventory, etc., our store Manager was actually on vacation for each and every event. It just showed such a lack of caring. In fact, when an Assistant Manager complained about not getting a very important personal day off compared with all of the store manager's flight's of fancy, she was yelled at and told to become a manager -- "that's why I did." E. It was SO SLOPPY both backstage and and onstage, but when a corporate visit was scheduled and Cast Members switched into high gear and made the store look spic and span, our manager swanned around like we were sparkling clean every day. The hypocracy would make you sick. In fact, we were held up as a glowing example to all stores in the region. F. Cast Members were not valued. I was actually injured on the job and my manager made a joke about it. She also yelled in Cast Members' faces, etc. But she put forth a "tow the line" philosphy, and discouraged any truth-telling, calling it "negativity." When I was honest, gently, about what I saw, it sailed right over her head. G. The corporation will not give the store enough personnel hours to complete our work. As a result, no mess is ever completely cleaned. No job is ever completely finished. Chaos is always brewing, barely tamed. Meanwhile, you have marketing gurus planning ridiculous strategies -- harder selling -- sleazy stuff like putting toys into childrens' hands, etc. So all of this manifests as a disempowered workforce who tend to gossip maliciously about each other and who pull the safety pins out of fire extinguishers, so that the slightest pressure will set them off.
Originally Posted By basil fan Just heard from a castmember yesterday that the Sisney Store plans to add adult merchandise again. Donald Duck's Family Tree <a href="http://www15.brinkster.com/wtstsgalor/donald.html" target="_blank">http://www15.brinkster.com/wts tsgalor/donald.html</a>
Originally Posted By Indigo If true Basil, that's a small ray of hope in an otherwise dark forecast for the stores. The question is, is it too late? Have they already driven away their prime customer base. And if so, will the stores try and say "we told you so, no one wants adult merchandise?"
Originally Posted By goodgirl I was in our Disney Store at Washington Square in Portland OR yesterday. I was disappointed that they only had 1 type of adult clothing. It was a Mickey 2003 t-shirt. Luckily it was 50% off. Also I had to go way to the back of the store to find it. I did ask the CM if the 'rumors were true' that the Disney stores were closing. She said the less profitable ones would be closed but that they were looking for a buy for the profitable ones. She said theirs was a profitable store so would probably be sold and not closed. I expressed my disappointment at the lack of adult apparel and other items for adults. She said that by August there would be quite a lot of new stuff in for adults. That seems like such a long way off. You'd think they could get stuff to the stores much sooner than that.
