Store Closing Rumour-Tennessee

[jfap]

Anyone on this board living in Knoxville or East Tennessee heard anything about the stores closing in Knoxville or Chatanooga?? I used to work at the West Towne Mall/Knoxville store and am hoping it is not them.

 

[DC7800]

According to one of the store CM's, the Chattanooga Northgate location will also be closing. The announcement was supposed to happen "after Christmas" (I heard this several weeks ago).

 

[DisneyOhio]

All Australian stores will close by March, I have heard. I don't live in Australia, though. My Disney store is really stinky because it only sells kiddy toys and plush animals.

 

[Another Voice]

There are growing "indications" that a final decision may be made about the future of the entire Disney Store chain in the very near future.

 

[grinningghost]

I almost hate to say it, but I'd rather see our local Disney store close than continue to morph into the junk store it's becoming. I don't even bother going in anymore, there's nothing for adults.

 

[bkcwilliams]

We had 2 Disney Stores in our Area (Albany, NY) and they closed one about a year ago. Said sales were slow. It bothered me because they kept the junky one open. THe CMs are friendly and all, but there really isn't anything for adults at all, but I have gotten great deals for my son. It fact, we purchased all of his souvieners for our WDW trip there before and "Mickey" left them in our room every day while we were at the parks.

 

[All Aboard]

I've got 3 Disney Stores within 2 and a half miles of my house and all seem to be doing decent business (just based on the number of customers in the stores and those in the check-out lines.) We primarily shop for clothes for our daughter and generally find something to buy most times we are in there. I also get my Disney DVD releases there and my wife periodically buys Disney sleepwear. Also, we get a few toys there. I don't ever wear Disney clothing, so the lack of it doesn't impact me. Nor are we collectors of expensive dust collectors, so that has no impact either. I guess the Disney Stores in our area are just fine for our needs.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I heard the DS in South Dakota and one in MA is closing too.

 

[KatRob]

December 26 was the last day the Chattanooga Northgate Mall Disney Store was open. Depending on who you asked the reason was either the lease was up or the area would not support two stores.

The cast members found out right before Thanksgiving that they would be unemployed right after Christmas.

 

[TexDis]

I've just found out the store in Beaumont,TX and one at First Colony Mall in Sugarland, TX have closed. Beaumont was no surprise to me, but First Colony sure was.

 

[elemusing]

Ours closed last October in Paducah, KY.

I heard rumors that they were not willing to pay the cost of the mall's rental fee vs. how much revenue they were pulling in at that particular store. I was very sad. That was my only "fix" in between visits to the World!

 

[cindyfan]

Alot of the recent closings is just a continuation of the "downsizing" that was announced 2 years ago. There intention was to close a certain amount of stores as the leases came due.
No one seems to know what they are doing!!! There have been so many changes to the merchandise and the total look of the store!
It is really sad to see it deteriorate like that !! It is dying such a slow death!!

DisneyOhio......ALL the stores are really stinky right now...that is all they have is plush and kids clothes.....of poor quality I might add!

 

[DisneyOhio]

Unfortunately, that's true cindyfan!

You live in OH? BUCKS WON!!

 

[maleficent1959]

Stores were told that the closings were over, but that is clearly not true. Add Riverwalk in New Orleans; Sioux Falls, SD; Austin, TX; Copley Place in Boston (End of February); and Regency Square, VA. The CMs have started another list of closings as we hear about them.

AV -- some CMs have posted that guests are coming in saying that Disney has made the decision to close all stores and move entirely to catalog and online sales. Do you know anything about that? The company never tells us anything.

 

[Luv2Roam]

maleficent1959 -- Ever since the discontinuation of the DC card, I have been thinking the same.... DC ends 2003. Also the end (or near end) of the DS?

 

[hopemax]

You can also add Anchorage, AK and Park Royal in Vancouver, BC to the closure list. Anchorage's last day was either yesterday or today, and the Vancouver's last day is ~the 20th. I also know of a couple more, but no formal announcement has been made.

 

[maleficent1959]

hopemax,

If the CMs in the stores know, than that is about as formal as it will get for folks outside of their district. Are AK and BC in your mom's district? What was the story on their closings?

 

[Another Voice]

Hmmm…..

The “rumor” why you’re not hearing about the latest wave of store closures is all for stockholder relations. It’s spun that the closings mentioned above fall under the closings announcement from last year. But what’s rumored happening (and it holds true for other areas in the company as well) is the “don’t nobody bring me no bad news” policy.

After five years of hearing promises that growth and prosperity are just a fiscal quarter away, Wall Street is getting rather impatient. Not only are they do they want results now, they aren’t really buying the line that “one more round of cuts” is going to be the solution that works when the last dozen haven’t.

So things are done quietly now. The situation at the Stores still haven’t improved at all as all the plans– new store designs, kiddie products, slashing inventories and staff – have failed. So Disney’s back to what it does best these days: cut. Again, in all areas of the company easiest and most proven way to make the profit goals is to cut expenses faster than the revenues are falling. The Disney Stores are no different.

Disney almost certainly will not close all of the Stores. That would be admitting defeat, that would be proof that things aren’t improving, and that wouldn’t return any cash to the company. The goal throughout the organization right now is draw money out of the company. You’ll see the euphuism of “reaping the benefits of all the years of investments” applied to the parks as well. In the park’s case that means no new investments and reducing expenses as far as possible to increase short term profits.

For the Stores, it’s “rumored” to be ether a sale or other outside investment relationship. Let’s just say one can imagine a relationship with the Stores that Disney has with the Oriental Land Company over Tokyo Disneyland. Disney dumps the operation of the Stores onto someone else and collects hefty fees for the use of The Brand and a cut of the sales. For Disney this essentially becomes free money – profit with no expense. Whether there’s anyone around stupid enough – er, I mean willing -- to accept such an offer has turned out to be problematic (discussions with Sears have been rumored to have been off-and-on for a decade).

These days however, “almost certainly” doesn’t really mean “impossible”. Disney’s finances continue to crater as losses are "rumored" now piling up at the studios as well as ABC. Huge debt, problems at the parks and “interesting” deals like the United Airlines leases are also hammering away at Eisner’s promised 20% growth for this year. A massive infusion of cash from liquidating the Stores isn’t as unthinkable as it once was.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

When our store here in Beaumont, TX closed, a CM told me that the original plan had been to go with a bigger store, but that now, the cast members were encouraged to "seek other means of support."

 

[ohanafamily]

I have said this before in other posts, I think that the stores need to go back to the original model. The plush doesn't work, and it doesn't encourage people to go into the stores. Originally the stores were a peek at the Disney Empire. A place to go for a breath of Disney Air, if you will. The have slowly removed all of that from the stores to try to add more profits. They neglected to realize that the stores were their biggest ads. IMHO.

I can go on and on about the problems at TDS, but it comes down to them using a bad economic model.

Oh Well, I guess I will just keep hafting to use my DVC and AA miles.....