Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2014/06/09/co-op-opens-at-downtown-disney-marketplace/" target="_blank"><b>6/9/14: Co-Op Opens at Downtown Disney Marketplace</b></a>
Originally Posted By SuperDry I don't understand the use of the term "Co-op." My understanding of such when applied to a retail store is that it's a store that's owned by its customers. There are various supermarket co-ops around the country that follow this model. A national example in retail is REI: when you shop at REI, you are highly encouraged to become a member by purchasing a $20 membership card upon your first purchase. In addition to other benefits, it makes you an actual part-owner of REI, entitling you to not only your share of annual profits but also voting rights on corporate matters. There is no corporate ownership interest in REI other than all of the members collectively, and it exists solely for the benefit of the members and not to generate a profit for anyone else. How does this concept even remotely relate to a retail outlet that Disney operates?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think they wanted to make it feel like a co-op or mini-farmers market, with multiple "unique" retail spaces under a single roof. I agree that it seems like a real misnomer, and I suspect any guest expecting such will be very disappointed It seems like a lot of the "unique" merchandise they're selling there is already available in other places. The clothes and accessories look exactly like the type of stuff they already sell in D-Street and Tren-D, and they sell phone cases in all of the parks. The home goods have already made their debut at DLR and in WDW's parks, and look pretty nice, but that's really the only unique offering out there. It's kind of a shame, when you consider that the previous store was nearly all stuff that couldn't be found elsewhere in WDW, and that space is now a tiny fraction of the overall area's footprint I understand what they were going for conceptually, but I think it sort of flopped. If these were actually unique vendors, rather than yet another Disney-run space full of Disney-branded merchandise, I could see this area becoming really neat. As it is, the best case scenario is to see it used as a testing grounds for future widespread merchandise lines, as a way to gage interest on a small scale
Originally Posted By wahooskipper We were there on Monday and my wife enjoyed the store. It did have a cleaner, neater look and I like that it was easy to negotiate, unlike WOD. While it was nice, it also appeared that it was very temporary in nature and I'm guessing this will enable them to change things fairly regularly, or convert it to whatever the final form will look like as they finish DTD.
