What's happening at the Disney Store?

[jlwhitney]

Also wonder how the new Disney Store section in Target plays into this. As Target is the type of brick and mortar that seems poised to do well as malls go out of business (they carry impulse buys alongside the day to day staples that you typically need immediately, or are perishable, and don’t want to have shipped) I wonder if Disney will go all-in on this.

There is a target near me with the disney store. IMO it sucks, its small and its never on sale till it goes on clearance while the regular disney store has frequent sales.

 

[disneyfan150]

Also wonder how the new Disney Store section in Target plays into this.

Say what???
Our Target doesn't have a Disney Store section. . .☹

 

[skeeter31]

Say what???
Our Target doesn't have a Disney Store section. . .☹

It’s only 25 Target locations around the country. Was rolled out in September or October of 2019. I doubt Disney will be expanding from those 25 locations.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

There is a target near me with the disney store. IMO it sucks, its small and its never on sale till it goes on clearance while the regular disney store has frequent sales.

I was excited last Christmas... before they opened the official "Disney Store Section", they had a little holiday kiosk with Disney cooking utensils. I can't remember but I think stuff like spatulas and such - stuff that I would have bought. Then when they opened the actual store section, it's mostly an extension of the toy section with a few shirts and Disney themed stuff playing on a tv. I like having a "little bit of Disney" when I go to Target but agree there is not much there I would buy. Not sure how much Covid impacted the rollout though and if it will evolve over the next couple of years.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

It’s only 25 Target locations around the country. Was rolled out in September or October of 2019. I doubt Disney will be expanding from those 25 locations.

Didn't realize that, I am in a fairly no-name suburb so figured if we had one it was a common thing.

Edit: Just Googled it out of curiosity and it looks like they expanded to about 40 stores nationwide. I think it's a cute idea although with Target stores already full of Disney merchandise they need to do something to make the Disney Store section 'pop' a bit more. We already had a toy aisle that was almost exclusively Disney, now it's just laid out a bit better with a tv.

 

[disneyfan150]

It’s only 25 Target locations around the country. Was rolled out in September or October of 2019. I doubt Disney will be expanding from those 25 locations.

I just read the article about more being added. We do have a "cart" similar to this one:

 

[DreamIsaWish]

You all are probably right about the demise of physical Disney Store, but for me it force me out of buying altogether. The online shipping is so miserably slow and such a high free shipping threshold that I haven’t bought from them online in ages. My closest physical store is an outlet that gets a lot of park merchandise discounted well. So I look forward to my visits there. If that closes, I guess I’ll just have to wait until my next park visit or save my cash for a different hobby. Which is too bad.

 

[Alicefan]

The op's post about getting a survey on how they shop made me think. I don't typically buy anything Disney related unless A: I'm about to go on a Disney trip or B: I'm actually AT Disney. So I might go into a Disney store if I run into one in a city I'm visiting where I can guarantee that I'm just looking because I'm not in a Disney frame of mind, or if I've gone to the outlet stores for something else, I always pop in to see.....that they STILL only have toys and costumes and nothing I'd want. I will always morn the loss of the old Disney stores that you couldn't help going into, just because the look of the store, with the lighting and carpeting and overall feel of a Disney ride or resort merch shop lured you in as if you were riding on a moving sidewalk lol. Now they all look like outlets no matter where they are. Bring back those dark blue walls and mood lighting!!! It made everything FEEL expensive...like you were getting a really nice piece for your house...or at least that's how I felt.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

The op's post about getting a survey on how they shop made me think. I don't typically buy anything Disney related unless A: I'm about to go on a Disney trip or B: I'm actually AT Disney. So I might go into a Disney store if I run into one in a city I'm visiting where I can guarantee that I'm just looking because I'm not in a Disney frame of mind, or if I've gone to the outlet stores for something else, I always pop in to see.....that they STILL only have toys and costumes and nothing I'd want.

Yeah I really don't understand this approach. You can't walk 10 feet in any major store without tripping over Disney merchandise. Most people are going to spend their Kohl's cash if they want to buy something as easy to find as a stuffed Mickey Mouse.

I will say the Target Disney "store" has toys that are at least not available in other places, like a line called the "Animator's collection" and "Disney comic minis". I did get my niece some of those for Christmas. Not too different, but it's a start.

I've also noticed that Target seems good at generating buzz. I don't get into fashion but I have a cousin who is into the various fashion designer lines Target has put out and I know sometimes there is fierce competition to buy them - they sell out fast and end up on eBay. So maybe Target can help Disney figure out the retail sales game, lol. I feel like surely they could do a "Disney line" for things other than toys - purses, dishes, "hidden Mickey" houseware, etc.

 

[skeeter31]

Yeah I really don't understand this approach. You can't walk 10 feet in any major store without tripping over Disney merchandise. Most people are going to spend their Kohl's cash if they want to buy something as easy to find as a stuffed Mickey Mouse.

I will say the Target Disney "store" has toys that are at least not available in other places, like a line called the "Animator's collection" and "Disney comic minis". I did get my niece some of those for Christmas. Not too different, but it's a start.

I've also noticed that Target seems good at generating buzz. I don't get into fashion but I have a cousin who is into the various fashion designer lines Target has put out and I know sometimes there is fierce competition to buy them - they sell out fast and end up on eBay. So maybe Target can help Disney figure out the retail sales game, lol. I feel like surely they could do a "Disney line" for things other than toys - purses, dishes, "hidden Mickey" houseware, etc.

Those animators collection and other collections are Disney collections and have been available on ShopDisney and in Disney stores for years. Not Target exclusives.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

Those animators collection and other collections are Disney collections and have been available on ShopDisney and in Disney stores for years. Not Target exclusives.

Well, not totally unique then, but at least something you wouldn't see the second you stepped into any Kohl's, non-Disney Store Target, Wal-mart, etc.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Target isn't the only store with Disney Store items there's also JCPenney and I didn't even know that JCPenney even had a Disney Store section until my dad showed it to me but all I have seen in it is mainly plush toys on clearance and very few clothing and the Disney toys are limited to dolls. I think Disney Stores are aiming to do what Albertson's Supermarkets did with Toys "R" Us by having a Toys "R" Us section in Albertson's and it somehow worked. So with Target having a Disney Store section I think Target will aim to become Disney king and the surviving Disney Stores will turn themselves into Disney Store Outlets

 

[AurumPunzel]

Another Disney Store lost. This time, in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/n...0-sM6WblUmy4EuydLJR4fdGn_lf19roAFn5FQyu2Kc7x0
Disney have already lost so many stores in the past 12 months, and on top of the pre-pandemic closures, it's making me wonder if they'll ever re-expand and start investing in more refurbishments after the pandemic, or they'll just let them die. I'm sceptical about the idea of Disney Stores within stores as they're nothing more than just a mere section, and Disney has tried that before in one Asda supermarket and in Harrods (along with a Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique, which was the only one in Europe and the only one outside of the Parks), before they both closed, and since department stores are in terminal decline here (we don't have a Target), it's unlikely we'll ever see something similar happening here.

Honestly, Disney needs to take a great look at their stores and start addressing areas that need improving on for survival, and landlords need to stop charging exorbitant rates that have been a retail cancer for years and is only going to stunt a recovery in high streets and malls.

 

[ford91exploder]

It's the financial cancer known as private equity driving those insane rental rates

 

[AurumPunzel]

It's the financial cancer known as private equity driving those insane rental rates

Indeed. And vulture capitalism has led to the death of many long-standing businesses such as Toys R Us, who have been starved of funding because of the nature of the buyout that was driven largely by borrowing, which stunted many attempts at rejuvenating the business.

As for the Disney Stores, much of their problems were largely driven by an expansion campaign that coincided with flagging box office returns, and when the turn of the Millennium came around, their failures grew even more, and despite attempts at rejuvenation by both TCP and Disney themselves, there were still so many stores that haven't seen investment in years, and given how the Disney Stores are supposed to be viewed as bellwethers of experiential retail, the large number of ageing stores compared to their interactive formats didn't reflect that. Yet the alarming rate of closures that even affect what were profitable locations are being exacerbated by current market conditions and ravenous landlords engaging in rates gouging.

 

[YesterDark]

Retail spaces have been slowly dying anyway. We're moving to a world of online purchasing.

My only issue is the shop Disney website experience is god awful. That website sucks.

 

[ford91exploder]

Retail spaces have been slowly dying anyway. We're moving to a world of online purchasing.

My only issue is the shop Disney website experience is god awful. That website sucks.

Retail is not dying, Even the giant Amazon only encompasses 9% of retail sales and they are getting ready to open PHYSICAL stores. But we have private equity driving malls so they are overstuffed with teen clothing stores because of the drug dealer profit levels in selling cheap offshore clothing at disgusting margins. This has driven out all the other store types from the mall like book and craft and hobby shops sporting goods etc.

 

[ford91exploder]

Private equity is interesting in that its both completely honest 'only interested in making more money' and manifestly evil in if it can make a greater profit by throwing 30,000 people out of work to strip the assets of the company they will do it.

What's truly necessary for a real sustainable economic revival is to, dump the 'maximize shareholder value' theory popularized by Michael Milliken (convicted Wall St Fraudster), The courts have repeatedly stated that other than fraud the fiduciary duty of companies is set down in their bylaws and the related state and federal statutes none of which legally mandates the type of asset stripping capitalism we see all too often today.

Before the 1980's and Milliken companies were rewarded for maintaining CONSISTENT profitablity your stock price went up if you maintained your normal behavior sometimes with a nice bump up after successfully launching a new product or service or successful mergers.

 

[AurumPunzel]

Retail is not dying, Even the giant Amazon only encompasses 9% of retail sales and they are getting ready to open PHYSICAL stores. But we have private equity driving malls so they are overstuffed with teen clothing stores because of the drug dealer profit levels in selling cheap offshore clothing at disgusting margins. This has driven out all the other store types from the mall like book and craft and hobby shops sporting goods etc.

The boom in online retail is going to eventually become a burst bubble. There'll come a time when people will be pining for the glory days of the shopping mall and high street to come back, and those online-only companies will eventually make a move into physical, like Amazon already have done, for example. The real issue lies within ravenous landlords engaging in rate gouging and local councils over-regulating certain aspects such as (in the case of the US) taxes, regulations concerning shopping bags (particularly in New York, where there's still wrangling over their controversial bag ban) leading to higher overheads and supply chain nightmares, and, in the case of the UK, parking. The latter has especially been an issue in the UK where local councils, in a concerted effort to pursue a strategy of getting people onto public transport, increase parking fees to the point that it, in reality, drives shoppers to retail parks with free parking, and even to other towns or super-regional shopping centres such as Bluewater in Kent, which attracts shoppers from all over South East England, and has a wide range of stores including, of course, a Disney Store.

 

[ford91exploder]

The boom in online retail is going to eventually become a burst bubble. There'll come a time when people will be pining for the glory days of the shopping mall and high street to come back, and those online-only companies will eventually make a move into physical, like Amazon already have done, for example. The real issue lies within ravenous landlords engaging in rate gouging and local councils over-regulating certain aspects such as (in the case of the US) taxes, regulations concerning shopping bags (particularly in New York, where there's still wrangling over their controversial bag ban) leading to higher overheads and supply chain nightmares, and, in the case of the UK, parking. The latter has especially been an issue in the UK where local councils, in a concerted effort to pursue a strategy of getting people onto public transport, increase parking fees to the point that it, in reality, drives shoppers to retail parks with free parking, and even to other towns or super-regional shopping centres such as Bluewater in Kent, which attracts shoppers from all over South East England, and has a wide range of stores including, of course, a Disney Store.

The problem with public transport is twofold availability and reliability. Availability drives ridership and if the thing runs like most public transit on Saturday from 1-3 pm on months with a blue moon. The transit mavens can’t figure why no one wants to ride

whereas if it ran every half hour all day and night it would probably be packed.

reliability it needs to show up on time all the time

the problem is most public transit is run for the management and unions and the riders are not part of the calculus