Children's Place To Expand Disney Stores Into Outlets

[crazy4wdw]

Children's Place To Expand Disney Stores Into Outlet

GLENDALE, Calif. -(Dow Jones)- Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. (PLCE) expands its Disney North America stores into the retail-outlet market with the official opening of its first outlet store in New York this weekend.

In a press release Thursday, the children's retailer said this is its first move in real-estate strategy since the company bought the unit from Walt Disney Co. (DIS) in November.

A Children's Place spokeswoman said the real-estate strategy refers to the company's view that outlets will be particularly successful for Disney stores, partly because outlet shoppers tend to be very brand-conscious.

The new Disney store will open at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets spanning more than 7,000 square feet. The grand opening is this weekend, the company official said, but the store has been open for business since its "soft opening" on Wednesday.

Children's Place plans to open 10 new stores this year, said the spokeswoman, and six of them will be outlet stores. Aside from the New York location, the company is slated to open outlet stores in California, Arizona, Illinois, Tennessee and Ontario.

The representative said there are currently 305 Disney stores in North America, and the company expects to grow that number to about 600 in the long- term. Out of those 600, she added, about 60 will be outlet stores.

[Pea-n-Me]

I hope we get one in MA!! :)

[athenna]

I hope we get one in MA!! :)


Ditto
:flower:

[mantaz]

One in GA would be nice!

:Pinkbounc

angela

[MPLsDad]

Disgusting...

[Pea-n-Me]

Disgusting...
Care to share why?? :confused3

[Tannerman]

Care to share why?? :confused3

It further dilutes the Disney, equating it with low-cost, low-quality products that have little value.

[Plus4206]

RE: " equating it with low-cost, low-quality products that have little value."

I don't know about the outlet malls in your area, but the ones we visit in Lancaster Pa are all up-scale retailers selling premium products above Walmart prices. I would rather have a Disney store located between the Coleman Store & a Rockport Shoe store in an Outlet Mall then between Spencer Gifts & a Payless at my local mall.

[rafikimom]

Amen!!!! Plus4206 :worship:

[tar heel]

MPLsDad and Tannerman -- I can't help but think you're thinking of the wrong kind of outlet. I live five minutes from a "mills" mall, and it is upscale. It's over a million square feet and a mix of play places (NASCAR Speedpark, Jeepers, etc.), retail stores (Bass Pro, Old Navy, Bath and Body Works, Yankee Candle, Books a Million, Hot Topic, etc.) and "outlets." A lot of the outlets are upscale stores, such as Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger, Wedgewood, Saks, Nike, Liz Clairborne, etc. The prices may be lower than department stores on the same item, but "cheap" is not how I would describe most of the stores. There is a Children's Place there. This is a destination mall -- it's North Carolina's most visited place -- and I think a Disney outlet would fit perfectly.

[Braque]

There is a 'trip report' thread on the Budget Board. Currently the outlet store in NY is offering similar product and prices to what you can get at any Disney Store. No spectacular markdowns and not (yet) the destination shopping experinece I was hoping for.

[eeyore kelly]

Children's Place outlet's have both regular priced merchandise and lower priced merchandise. Usually, the lower priced merchandise is the older merchandise from the regular stores. The walls and "feature hardware" such as tables and towers have full priced merchandise, and rounders and bins have outlet merchandise, so if you don't know where to look, the outlet store can look like nothing but full priced merchandise.

[JimB.]

Our local DS stocks about 90% merchandise for the 8 & under crowd. I would assume any outlet stores will be about the same mix of merchandise.

Until that (if ever) changes, I have no reason to step foot in a DS again.

I used to spend lots of $$ in them when they had a nice assortment of adult apparel & some collectibles. Haven't spent a dime in one in 5 years.

Their loss, not mine.

But if the marketing strategy works for the company, who am I to argue??

[tjkraz]

It further dilutes the Disney, equating it with low-cost, low-quality products that have little value.

Disney itself owns 3 outlet stores within a few minutes drive of WDW. It also seems that they've had good success with "Disney Deals" on eBay. :confused3

When you've got overstocked and seasonal merchandise that no longer has a place at the prime locations, selling at discount outlets makes a lot more fiscal sense than taking a loss and destroying the merchandise.

[Planogirl]

There's been a Disney outlet store for many years in a Texas town with several outlet malls. These stores run the gamut from discount stores to upscale designer stores. I see no reason to assume that this will dilute the Disney name any worse than the regular Disney stores already have.

[Euphscott]

I see no reason to assume that this will dilute the Disney name any worse than the regular Disney stores already have.


And there is the crux of the argument!

At one time the Disney brand stood for quality...

[eeyore kelly]

I was in our Local Disney store over the weekend, and they are starting to get merchandise manufactured by The Children's Place and they were raving over the quality and price of the new merchandise. The Polo's for adults were great quality.

[minijeanie]

had a wonderful Disney outlet about 5 minutes from my home. got my kids their halloween costumes their every year.

They were always packed..When they told me they were closing down ..I asked why?
because the retail stores were hurting with the outlet store within 10 miles of them..

from what I heard, they m oved to VA

I miss that store so much...

[Greg K.]

...and they're very disappointing. Mind you, this isn't an outlet store, just a regular Disney Store. But it's small, and the selection pitiful.

The ultimate Disney Store experience (outside of DL or WDW) remains the flagship store on Fifth Avenue -- one of the few places still operated by the theme parks division. It's colorufl, big, bustling, and beautifully themed, to boot.

[NandP]

I've been to this Outlet in Woodbury Commons... It's no big deal... it's basically another Disney Store.. loaded with girls clothes mostly... the "DEALS" are no big bargain.. T-shirts still 2-$24 for adults.... That was about the only adult item,,, I liked the old "Disney's Character Corner" that was in the same location a few years ago(3 doors down) It had theme park items and a bigger selection.. not to mention, you really got a DEAL ! Much cheaper than resort prices.... I wish that one re-opened!

[Laurajean1014]

There is a 'trip report' thread on the Budget Board. Currently the outlet store in NY is offering similar product and prices to what you can get at any Disney Store. No spectacular markdowns and not (yet) the destination shopping experinece I was hoping for.

I disagree. I shop at Woodbury and Clinton (both Chelsea Outlets) and I have found great deals. Granted you can pay similar prices for somethings at some stores, but don't you have to think before you buy? Doesn't everyone do that? Just because someone says its poo, is it? There should also be a need, as well.

I bought a RLL Polo Rain coat for DH for $40. It's the purple label and that sucker goes for over $300 around here. I buy Mac and Lancome make-up at about 2/3 of what I would spend retail. That kind of money adds up.

Gap, please do not get me started on the bargains I get there. When DS was little, I got lots of stuff there. The Abercrombie Outlet has wonderful discounts as well. I bought an Abercrombie coat for DS and paid $99 for it in an upscale mall. He loved it so much (and so did I) that in March I was trying to buy the next size up for next year. I got the number of this one store (I didn't know if was an outlet). When I called to buy another coat, they said, "sure" and I said, "how much" and they said, "$20.00." :faint:

He still wears that jacket and it's 2 years old and I paid $20 for it. Now, who can tell me that's not a bargain?" ;)

[DancingBear]

Just last week went shopping at the Tanger Outlets at Myrtle Beach, SC. Saks, Coach, Brooks Brothers, Jones New York, Liz Claiborne, Nautica, Tommy Bahama, Timberland, Harry & David, etc. There is nothing inherent in being in these outlet centers that cheapens the Disney image.

[Braque]

I've been to this Outlet in Woodbury Commons... It's no big deal... it's basically another Disney Store.. loaded with girls clothes mostly... the "DEALS" are no big bargain.. T-shirts still 2-$24 for adults.... That was about the only adult item,,, I liked the old "Disney's Character Corner" that was in the same location a few years ago(3 doors down) It had theme park items and a bigger selection.. not to mention, you really got a DEAL ! Much cheaper than resort prices.... I wish that one re-opened!

Me too . . . me too . . . me too.

Are you listening Children's Place? (not that there's much they can do, I guess).

[4DisneyfansinNC]

. This is a destination mall -- it's North Carolina's most visited place -- and I think a Disney outlet would fit perfectly.
AMEN! It would be awesome at that mall, I love going there. :earsboy:

[we3disneygo]

I wonder where in IL proably Chicago area- :confused3 just a guess.

[Euphscott]

I read on another website (forgive me for not having a reference ready) that one fo Iger's first moves would be to grab the stores back and restore them to the original Disney store ideal.

Count me in on that model if the rumor is true. I am one that finds the saturation of Disney product and outlet mindset to be a poor way to represent the brand.

[tjkraz]

I read on another website (forgive me for not having a reference ready) that one fo Iger's first moves would be to grab the stores back and restore them to the original Disney store ideal.

I'd love to see that reference.

The ink is barely dry on the deal with Children's Place. Assuming there are even provisions to do this, it would have to be very costly to Disney. And that's after losing money on the stores for years.

[mking624]

I read on another website (forgive me for not having a reference ready) that one fo Iger's first moves would be to grab the stores back and restore them to the original Disney store ideal.

Count me in on that model if the rumor is true. I am one that finds the saturation of Disney product and outlet mindset to be a poor way to represent the brand.
I would love to see that reference as well. I work for TDS and we've never heard of such a rumor.

I highly doubt they'd take us back. TWDC had TDS up for sale for some time. The closing date of the sale was back in November. With all the change over with the website/catalog, employee benefits/perk changes, etc...something tells me that having to once again go through all that red tape is not going to happen. Tjkraz is right, TDS was losing money for several years. Our last fiscal year was the first time in I believe about 5 years that TDS as a whole actually made a profit. I just don't see this happening.

I don't personally find outlets a poor representation of the brand. Even well known designer brands have outlets. From the business perspective, it's better to do that than it is to just destroy the merchandise and take losses for it. Then we'd lose even more money. I think the biggest downfall was opening SO many stores at once and having a ton of stores carry Disney merchandise (which in effect made us compete with the very company who owned us).

As far as quality of the products go (as mentioned by other posters), I don't notice a HUGE difference. Yes, the adult polos are great. But otherwise, everything is pretty much the same. It isn't too often we have merchandise that is really poor in quality. There are Disney licensed products carried by Walmarts, Targets, etc that I've seen have way worse quality.

[Euphscott]

I went back to find the reference. It was a rumor attributed to a TDS manager. Just a rumor at this point, no official media coverage anywhere.

While I have no working knowledge of the stores, I have observed them as a consumer. I know for a fact that when the stores were making money, I was spending money there. Now that is not to suggest I was spending enough to help make a profit! But the point is that when things went south, I had no interest in the merhandise that was being offered. I would argue that if the TDS were mananged like the WDW park stores (with offerings for the entire family, not just rows and rows of plush and children's T's) the retail chain could turn a profit. The original business plan was to have a little of the Parks close to home. But, when the merchandise offered stopped resembling the parks and Disney quality, well, I (along with many others) lost interest.

I, for one, would like to see Disney take it back if (and only IF) someone that GETS Disney would run the franchise correctly. I suspect it would be embraced by fans and turn a healthy profit.

[titan247]

Not sure of the rumor about TWDC buying back the U.S. stores (highly doubt it) but I do know that TWDC has decided not to sell the Disney Stores in Europe. Instead, they will keep them.