The future of the Disney Store - a big mistake? What went wrong for the Disney Stores?

[ChipnDale79]

I live in Winston-salem. Has the concord store closed? You are right though, it has turned into a toy store.

Im not sure if it has yet or not, but i do know it has or will. the only one left in our "area" will be the Myrtle Beach store.

 

[ChipnDale79]

The ones near us were always packed as well. Holidays would have lineups wrapping around the mall.

I think it was far less "These stores aren't making money," and more "We think we can sell just as much without paying employees and renting storefronts." It's the current slash and burn mentality.

This. i think this is the real answer. i know both of our stores were always pretty busy.

I mean the one at Concord Mills is right near the Movie Theater. People would leave the movies, go right to the disney store and pick up an item from the disney movie they just saw. always busy.

I got a feeling this is more of a cost cutting measure than anything.

 

[SteveH]

The Disney Store (TDS) used to be an extension of the Disney Parks. Some of the same merchandise and you could even buy park tickets. The decorations made you feel like you were back at a park. Then the music died, they stopped selling adult items and began just selling what I thought was junk with the Disney logo on it. There was no different between a TDS and the local Walmart selling low end merchandise. IMHO Disney made it purely about the margin and didn't understand the connection guests had. The genie is out of the bottle now, and you'll never be able to stuff it back in, things have moved online like it or not. To make matters worse the online TDS is just an awful mess. They can't even manage a roll out of a popular item without crashing the site and just like the parks they shove you in a virtual queue. Just imagine that is the same Disney company that is going to roll out the Disney Genie and can't manage to make sure the ADR system is working.

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, our Disney Store closed, and it wasn't because that patricular store wasn't profitable, but because the mall wanted to jack up the rent on them becasue H&M wanted to get in on that prime location plus several adjacent bays, so Disney opted to walk. The mall is declining as so many are these days anyway, and I don't think Disney wants stores in places like that.

 

[ChipnDale79]

The Disney Store (TDS) used to be an extension of the Disney Parks. Some of the same merchandise and you could even buy park tickets. The decorations made you feel like you were back at a park. Then the music died, they stopped selling adult items and began just selling what I thought was junk with the Disney logo on it. There was no different between a TDS and the local Walmart selling low end merchandise. IMHO Disney made it purely about the margin and didn't understand the connection guests had. The genie is out of the bottle now, and you'll never be able to stuff it back in, things have moved online like it or not. To make matters worse the online TDS is just an awful mess. They can't even manage a roll out of a popular item without crashing the site and just like the parks they shove you in a virtual queue. Just imagine that is the same Disney company that is going to roll out the Disney Genie and can't manage to make sure the ADR system is working.

to be honest....thats still kind of extension of the parks. a lot of the stuff in the parks now are low end items with a disney logo on it.

Over the past few years, i came home with money that i intended to use to buy something for myself in the parks, and couldnt find something worth it.

 

[AurumPunzel]

We were Disney Store shoppers and enjoyers since day one, for years being buddies with CMs.

BUT ...

I live in an affluent area, and our mall is still dying. High end stores like Apple moved out to these village style shopping areas. Many empty stores. Rents are high to the point I don't think most can continue to sustain. Most isn't just rent but a percentage of sales as well. Our mall was headed towards a renovation of a work/play/live adding condos, apartments, offices, outdoor space connecting to a greenway ... then covid hit and cancelled it all. I've probably been in mall twice in two years, no one goes to wander except for the morning walking clubs. Ironically I've said for years how do these small shopping center stay open when there is only a few stores, now the mall is struggling. I think so many of us were pushed online the last 1.5 years that it is a habit that will stay. Malls have to repurpose themselves somehow.

Add that the Disney store had just become a storefront for all things they also sell online, so why pay the rents? Now Disney stuff is in Target, HomeGoods, Marshalls, Burlington, Walmart .... why do they need to absorb cost of operating storefronts? ESPECIALLY when they are not selling the high end clothes etc they once sold. I wish the outlet stores had stayed but again, between online and discount retailers they don't need them to clear product.

They are closing because Disney DisMarted their product line and shoppers are shopping online or at big box stores.

Yet Lego also sells their products in third party retailers including the aforementioned bigboxes, and still continues to have stores. Why? Because the Lego Stores managed to evolve into experiences, and have a USP of having more exclusivity on certain products like the Disney Castle and Millennium Falcon sets. Also, Lego has a loyalty programme, which Disney lacks, and that would have helped the stores more, along with having a much broader range of adult-oriented merch in-store. Disney should have learned from Lego instead of just selling their products in discounters and letting the stores die a painful death. The whole story could have changed for the better.

 

[HopperFan]

Yet Lego also sells their products in third party retailers including the aforementioned bigboxes, and still continues to have stores. Why? Because the Lego Stores managed to evolve into experiences, and have a USP of having more exclusivity on certain products like the Disney Castle and Millennium Falcon sets. Also, Lego has a loyalty programme, which Disney lacks, and that would have helped the stores more, along with having a much broader range of adult-oriented merch in-store. Disney should have learned from Lego instead of just selling their products in discounters and letting the stores die a painful death. The whole story could have changed for the better.

This could be said of any retailer out there that has slowly seen a decline in revenue. Disney opted to not go the route of Lego, I think for a variety of reasons, including letting 3rd parties sell their product is highly profitable. I don't think their business models are the same.

In the end it's about business and stockholders, and a leader that has no passion about the "magic" that will impact decisions.

 

[AurumPunzel]

This could be said of any retailer out there that has slowly seen a decline in revenue. Disney opted to not go the route of Lego, I think for a variety of reasons, including letting 3rd parties sell their product is highly profitable. I don't think their business models are the same.

In the end it's about business and stockholders, and a leader that has no passion about the "magic" that will impact decisions.

Yet there was a clear alternative. Disney just chose to shaft loyal guests and CMs by replacing the stores with a subpar experience that isn't even the same thing. Could you even have the same celebrations in a Target as one would an Imagination Park Disney Store?

 

[Solo2987]

Here in Georgia we lost all but one store until the most recent round of closures. Now it too is gone. We just happened to wander by last weekend to see the rather depressing remnants of the end sale.

I guess there won't be any more of those in store events we used to get for Disney VISA cardmembers, like we had before the pandemic. I'm guessing, like the post above me, we won't see those in a Target store. Only time will tell, but this may be a reduction in benefits for those cardmembers.

 

[AurumPunzel]

Here in Georgia we lost all but one store until the most recent round of closures. Now it too is gone. We just happened to wander by last weekend to see the rather depressing remnants of the end sale.

I guess there won't be any more of those in store events we used to get for Disney VISA cardmembers, like we had before the pandemic. I'm guessing, like the post above me, we won't see those in a Target store. Only time will tell, but this may be a reduction in benefits for those cardmembers.

That's the thing. The reason why I still argue that there's a place for the Disney Store today is because of their USP: the Disney Difference. And like I've said, they could have introduced a loyalty scheme that everyone can use, like Lego's VIP scheme. The shifting to third parties selling Disney products and shopDisney is a huge downgrade, and sooner or later, I feel that it will eventually backfire once feedback turns overwhelmingly negative. And before anyone argues about the bottom line that Bob Paycheck seems to be clamouring for, would Roy E. Disney even allow such egregious moves if he was still alive today?

 

[Kennywood]

Disney seems to accept the decline in quality of merchandise and park/cruise experiences. As long as they can keep increasing pricing for everything, and people continue to pay it, Disney has absolutely no reason to change the status quo. The magic is slowly dying.

 

[TCRAIG]

I dont buy the tshirt unless ive been there and done that.

Our outlet mall at Concord Mills seemed to only carry outlets items from Disneyland. Never been, so i never bought the stuff. I've been to Disney World many times. Only a handful of times did they carry things that they had at disney world. We buy mugs at DW every time. Once found the same mug we got at DW at the Disney Store for a quarter of the price, so we bought 2 more.

not to mention it turned into basically a toy store only. They stopped providing some of house décor that my wife wanted.

My kids are 9 and 10, we went recently to the ones at South Park and Concord Mills one last time, both times my boys said they didnt have anything they were interested in.

Hello from Rock Hill - didn’t realize there was a Disney Outlet at Concord

 

[hhisc16]

Hello from Rock Hill - didn’t realize there was a Disney Outlet at Concord

There was a Disney outlet store at Concord, plus a Disney store at SouthPark.
I think both are closing sadly.

 

[HopperFan]

Yet there was a clear alternative. Disney just chose to shaft loyal guests and CMs by replacing the stores with a subpar experience that isn't even the same thing. Could you even have the same celebrations in a Target as one would an Imagination Park Disney Store?

Malls and mall stores are dying, not sure why Disney is being held to a higher standard to stick it out. I can't stand Bob Chapek, and yes he brought about the DisMart product line being sold in those stores and by the company many years ago. But at this point I don't see anything worth saving in the Disney Store shopping experience and I don't think tons of money should be invested into them or bringing back mall special events.

 

[TCRAIG]

There was a Disney outlet store at Concord, plus a Disney store at SouthPark.
I think both are closing sadly.

I’d been to the one at South Park but not recently - I used to go when it was in Pineville - but agree with others - too many T-Shirts - not enough adult stuff

 

[cheryl.UK]

Here in the UK they have closed all but 2 Disney stores in the last 3 weeks.
I honestly believe that they have misunderstood the UK market. Speaking to the UK store workers, Disney told them that they wanted to concentrate on the online sales instead of the high street. However, I think this is misunderstanding WHY a lot of the sales are made. On any trip to our local store in the mall, the majority of customers were:
People who had taken their child to the mall and were treating them
Older people looking for gifts for their grandchildren
Parents who had taken their child to the mall on their birthday to go to the restaurants and cinema and were treating their child to a gift of their choice
Confused dads looking for a gift
Tourists who were browsing

None of these groups would swap automatically to the online store as for most it was an experience rather than shopping for a specific thing.

I'm betting the Lego store, 2 doors down from the now closed Disney Store, will do an awful lot more business and the online Disney store won't.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I’d been to the one at South Park but not recently - I used to go when it was in Pineville - but agree with others - too many T-Shirts - not enough adult stuff

Yeah, I think all the Charlotte malls had one at one point, all gone now.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

It is simply too easy to order online. They are following all the others before them that have reduced their volume of Brick and Mortar or have completely gone under.
I remember when the Disney stores first opened. That was truly a great store and then they went completely kids and toys with few exceptions. Although I always loved stopping into my Disney Outlet, I felt it was going down slowly for quite some time.

 

[DodgerGirl]

When Disney Stores were launched in 1987 they were geared to everyone and sold everything Disney without ever going to the theme parks but I think when they were starting to go downhill was when they changed their image and became a kids store with mostly toys and that was different than the family image that they originally had. But I think the main reason why Disney Stores and toy stores are dying is that if you look at the general picture nobody is really buying toys for kids anymore and the only time kids really get toys is during Christmas and birthdays and sometimes toys are used for children as rewards for good behavior and so even though toy companies still make toys nobody rarely buys toys that much. But had Disney Stores had partnered with Macy's as Toys "R" Us did rather than with Target it would've saved them and kept them alive. But unlike TRU Disney Stores didn't create much spin-off stores like TRU did with many chains in the "R" Us series of stores like Babies "R" Us and the Kids "R" Us clothing store chain and that caused TRU's actual demise in my opinion. But I think Disney Stores will be revived but this time in a Big Lots type of store where you can get closeouts on Disney merchandise. But I do wish a Disney Shopping channel would be made for TV because it would be like QVC but of Disney. But I can bet that toy stores will return especially toy supermarkets and superstores too

 

[Karin1984]

It's about experiences. My nephew owns a toy store. And where the toy chain stores in the Netherlands have closed one after another in recent years, my nephew has opened new stores. He did some interviews and said that most stores are nothing more than a warehouse with a register. There is no reason to go to those stores, people can buy that online at the store or at Amazon.
He basically does a few things differently, he makes sure:
- his stores are a fun experience to go to, he organizes a lot of events with other local store owners,
- he has knowledgeable staff.
- he has special items that are not easy to get at other stores or online. You have to go to the store for these.


What did Disney do wrong? Maybe go for the easy way to make money (with reason), not willing to invest in something more. They did move with the times, but they also miss out on something.