Local Disney Store is Closing

[Cobra B.]

Boo!, our local mall Disney Store is closing in Mays Landing, NJ. Honestly, I don't go to it very much anymore, but it's nice to know it's there. I asked if I could buy their fixtures but they said Disney comes in and collects everything after closing. We do have another Disney Store close in Atlantic City. But it was a cornerstone of this mall and will be missed.

Wondering if other DS's are closing again too?

 

[Disneyfreak44]

Boo!, our local mall Disney Store is closing in Mays Landing, NJ. Honestly, I don't go to it very much anymore, but it's nice to know it's there. I asked if I could buy their fixtures but they said Disney comes in and collects everything after closing. We do have another Disney Store close in Atlantic City. But it was a cornerstone of this mall and will be missed.

Wondering if other DS's are closing again too?

Ours closed a few years back and it was very disappointing but i have not heard of any mass closings of Disney stores I think it's just how much business they get in that location but that usually goes with any other store as well.

 

[LAMountJoy]

The store in our mall (Lancaster, PA) closed a few years ago. But, the best thing is that we have a Disney Outlet nearby.... great prices!! I've bought many things there that I know I would have paid 3X as much in the stores.

 

[Queenofspoons]

The closest Disney Store to us (it was in Lincoln Nebraska) closed sometime in 2003, I cant begin to tell you how much I fretted as a young girl upon disovering it covered by tarps when they began demolishing it to remodel the food court next door.

There is now a huge empty gap were it was, but Im over it now, no matter how much I secretly want it back.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

In the metropolitan area we live in there were three Disney Stores as of 2007. In early 2008 they closed one in a moderate-sized mall. It seemed to always be busy, but maybe there is a threshold of profit Disney Stores want to see. The remaining two stores were both in very large, trendy busy malls. They just closed one of these this spring. It made absolutely no sense as the one they closed was in probably our city's nicest, trendiest, best maintained mall. The only one left is also in a large mall, but it is kinda going downhill. I'm really surprised this one is still open and wouldn't be surprised if it closes in the future sometime.

When the one closed this spring, I got an email saying that even though the store is closing they remain committed to keeping the disney store website open. I got the impression they were more committed to keeping the website available to customers than their brick and mortar stores. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but if their website sales outdo their physical store sales, then I don't expect too many Disney stores to be around, perhaps only in the largest of cities.

 

[Amber74]

In the metropolitan area we live in there were three Disney Stores as of 2007. In early 2008 they closed one in a moderate-sized mall. It seemed to always be busy, but maybe there is a threshold of profit Disney Stores want to see. The remaining two stores were both in very large, trendy busy malls. They just closed one of these this spring. It made absolutely no sense as the one they closed was in probably our city's nicest, trendiest, best maintained mall. The only one left is also in a large mall, but it is kinda going downhill. I'm really surprised this one is still open and wouldn't be surprised if it closes in the future sometime.

When the one closed this spring, I got an email saying that even though the store is closing they remain committed to keeping the disney store website open. I got the impression they were more committed to keeping the website available to customers than their brick and mortar stores. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but if their website sales outdo their physical store sales, then I don't expect too many Disney stores to be around, perhaps only in the largest of cities.

Sounds like my area. You are describing perfectly (not sure of days though) Kansas City Disney Stores. 1 left and it is an hour drive for me.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

The reality is that the disney store peaked over ten years ago and suffered from overexpansion - first - but most significantly due to the decline in merchandise quality and selection...

and of course...online outlets/ sales. online sales have been destroying retail for years...and that trend will continue.

Disney will more than likely embrace a wider array of online options as time goes on and shift some of their retail to a model more like amazon.

The disney stores are kinda obselete...even if its nice to have them.

We have a "new" disney store a couple of miles away (cherry hill, nj) and honestly, its kinda a bad store. Not a great array of merchandise.

On the contrary...an "older" store i was recently at in Eatontown, NJ was way better...lots more of merchandise on the shelves. So i'm not that attached/ fond of them anymore.

In the pre-internet age when i was in high school and we could go look at alot of more unique stuff...the disney stores were really a thing out of the ordinary.

Now they aren't.

I actually am surprised that the disney parks haven't embraced somekind of online shopping service to travelers within the parks themselves - somekind of an interface system where you can carry a virtual shopping cart over your stay and have what you want shipped en masse at the end of your stay or at a later date via remote warehouse and shipping facilities....

this allows the shopper to go nuts without any concern to the logistics involved in travel...and could provide a low maintenance alternative for parents/grandparents/collectors who may buy a little more if it were easier.

 

[Disneyfreak44]

The closest Disney Store to us (it was in Lincoln Nebraska) closed sometime in 2003, I cant begin to tell you how much I fretted as a young girl upon disovering it covered by tarps when they began demolishing it to remodel the food court next door.

There is now a huge empty gap were it was, but Im over it now, no matter how much I secretly want it back.

I was talking about the Lincoln Nebraska one to huh. smallworld haha

 

[lovemickeyshouse]

The store in our mall (Lancaster, PA) closed a few years ago. But, the best thing is that we have a Disney Outlet nearby.... great prices!! I've bought many things there that I know I would have paid 3X as much in the stores.

Does this outlet sell park shirts and other things like the Orlando outlet store?Thanks for the info in advance

 

[Queenofspoons]

I was talking about the Lincoln Nebraska one to huh. smallworld haha

Wow! What are the odds!!

 

[pointybubble]

The Disney Store closest me closed right after the holiday season this past January. I loved walking in there but the only merchandise they had was children's...you'd be hard pressed to find an adult shirt, a tote, a kitchen item, or anything that wasn't a toy, stuffed animal or children's clothing. I rarely bought anything- which is strange because I could spend a small fortune at the World and have an ongoing wishlist on the website.

Meanwhile we have a Disney Outlet Store only about 5 miles away...it gets merchandise directly from the parks. So you have a huge variety of things, much like a Marshalls or similar where it is hit or miss if you will find what you are looking for since the merchandise changes so much, but it is all at a significant discount. You can still buy park tickets and gift cards like a regular Disney Store. Since I have the Outlet, I don't really miss the regular store.

 

[disneydreaming92701]

Didn't disney sale the stores to childrens place for a few years then took them over again?

 

[doconeill]

Didn't disney sale the stores to childrens place for a few years then took them over again?

Yes, and then they started dumping the underperforming stores or those that were under expensive leases, etc. Theoretically to correct the "overexpansion" mentioned earlier.

As for the most recent closing, like any other small shop retail chain they are probably constantly evaluating performance vs. overhead, and will close stored when appropriate and (potentially) open new ones.

 

[MidnightCat]

Shame to hear another Disney Store has closed in Jersey. I love those stores, since going to Disney is right now not possible for me. I agree about the older stores though, the ones from the early 1990's, they were much bigger and they seemed to have more variety. The new remodel isn't too horrible though.

 

[Friend of Figment]

Disney Stores are not what they used to be. The early concepts complimented the theme park experience. Unique merchandise for ALL ages (not just kids), artwork, time pieces, clothing, etc. Today's Disney store is for kids only, contains items not unique to Disney (many can be found cheaper at toysrus or Wal-Mart), and leaves me and other guests wanting the real thing that much more. Recently theme park merchandising seems to be heading back to this concept (t shirts unique to a hotel, attraction, etc.) Hopefully in the near future the Disney Stores will start to embrace this concept again. I have gone to the store in Mays Landing since it opened and it was one of the lesser performing stores. Head to Cherry Hill for the new store concept or Atlantic City has a decent size Disney Outlet.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Disney Stores are not what they used to be. The early concepts complimented the theme park experience. Unique merchandise for ALL ages (not just kids), artwork, time pieces, clothing, etc. Today's Disney store is for kids only, contains items not unique to Disney (many can be found cheaper at toysrus or Wal-Mart), and leaves me and other guests wanting the real thing that much more. Recently theme park merchandising seems to be heading back to this concept (t shirts unique to a hotel, attraction, etc.) Hopefully in the near future the Disney Stores will start to embrace this concept again. I have gone to the store in Mays Landing since it opened and it was one of the lesser performing stores. Head to Cherry Hill for the new store concept or Atlantic City has a decent size Disney Outlet.

Thee cherry hill store - or beyond nj the "new" concept...is terrible in my opinion.

It's are contradiction in terms for Disney in my opinion - a rehabbed store that features far less merchandise.

If you look at it - there's actually far less in terms of stock/ variety than the "older" stores.

The merchandise is complete crap - we all
Can agree on that - but they don't even bother to carry a variety of CCI ( cheap Chinese imports) anymore...

I guess it got too bothersome to load the boat/ truck at different points of the sweatshop.

But we've seen it in the parks too...why bother with variety if people are stupid enough to buy the bulk? And by and large...they are.

 

[Ets80]

They just opened a Disney Store here last year in a new outlet mall. I hope it does well.

 

[dvc at last !]

A few years ago we had 4 Disney Stores now - none !
I loved going there. The merchandise was great and when the collectibles were there the store was always busy. It was great to get your park tickets there also. Loved when they had pre-sale for movies and quite often a gift for the pre-sale included. The adult and kitchen items were super !
I also liked being able to buy the Holiday merchandise - not just Christmas, but all the Holidays. The Disney Store is missed !

 

[Grog]

The Disney Store closest me closed right after the holiday season this past January. I loved walking in there but the only merchandise they had was children's...you'd be hard pressed to find an adult shirt, a tote, a kitchen item, or anything that wasn't a toy, stuffed animal or children's clothing. I rarely bought anything- which is strange because I could spend a small fortune at the World and have an ongoing wishlist on the website.

Meanwhile we have a Disney Outlet Store only about 5 miles away...it gets merchandise directly from the parks. So you have a huge variety of things, much like a Marshalls or similar where it is hit or miss if you will find what you are looking for since the merchandise changes so much, but it is all at a significant discount. You can still buy park tickets and gift cards like a regular Disney Store. Since I have the Outlet, I don't really miss the regular store.

We used to have a Disney Store at a mall just five minutes away, but it closed about ten years ago. At one point it carried a lot of adult items and collectibles, but at some point became nothing more than a "Princess Store". You couldn't find anything adult anymore and business dropped off. They closed about ten years ago. I recently found out we have a Disney Outlet at another mall here, but it's about an hours drive. I plan to check it out next time I'm in that part of town.

 

[North of Mouse]

We still have a Disney Store in one of our malls (Raleigh, NC) but I seldom go to it anymore. It's mostly clothing/accessories for small children. It used to have lots of fun kitchen stuff/housewares and adult clothing/shoes, etc. but no more. It's basically a children's store.