F1Julie, how is Disney "selling out"? They are not great at running retail stores. They lose a ton of money each year. It's a business & if business is that bad, something has to be done. The other option is to close the Disney Stores all together. Is that what you'd rathher see happen? Not me.
Hannahryan, whether you like TCP or not, to say the Disney Stores won't last if they buy them is crazy. Have you looked at TCP's financials recently? They've performed above & beyond market expectations. You & others may not like their stuff{I don't shop there}, but they're obviously doing something right, as is evidenced by their strong market performance. I personally would rather have Disney sell the stores to a solid, performing company who will use the stores to increase their profits. This means doing what they can to make the stores better. They won't close them or change them to TCP stores because the Disney brand is way too powerful & advantageous. They know this. My belief is that there will be changes to some extent, but basically the Disney Stores will just be run by a different corporation at the top. I think the cast members will experience the biggest changes, not the guests. The cast members are the ones who may see certain benefits change or disappear completely.
I could be wrong. But I'm not that worried. If the Stores were bought by a "head to head" competitor like Warner Bros or Universal or some company like that, then I'd worry about them buying the Stores just to close them to eliminate the competition. But TCP doesn't fall into that category. They're looking to improve profits through additoon, not subtraction.
