Children's Place, Disney May Tweak Licensing Deal

[crazy4wdw]

Children's Place, Disney May Tweak Licensing Deal

February 01, 2007: 07:57 AM EST

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. (PLCE) on Thursday said it recently started talks with Walt Disney Co. (DIS) regarding potential modifications to certain terms of the company's long-term license agreement to operate the Disney Store retail chain in North America, some of which may be material.

The Secaucus, N.J.-based retailer said talks are still at an early stage and it can't predict modifications to the license agreement. If Children's Place is unable to reach agreement with Disney on the modifications, Disney may assert that certain defaults exist under the license agreement and Disney may reserve its rights and remedies under the agreement, the company said.

 

[raidermatt]

So, apparently TCP is doing something Disney doesn't like and that Disney believes is a violation of the agreement. TCP wants to change the agreement so whatever it is doing becomes ok in Disney's eyes, which of course would require some other concessions.

If nothing is agreed upon, Disney may sue, attempt to pull the license, request compensation, or insist TCP writes "We will not cross the Mouse" 100 times on a blackboard.

 

[Another Voice]

Or now that Children's Place has turned around the ruined Stores unit and got them growing again, Disney wants to swoop in and take them back?

 

[raidermatt]

Or now that Children's Place has turned around the ruined Stores unit and got them growing again, Disney wants to swoop in and take them back?

Yeah, that's the "pull the license" option. Of course they could also sell it again (for more this time).

 

[Magic Fanatic]

Or now that Children's Place has turned around the ruined Stores unit and got them growing again, Disney wants to swoop in and take them back?

Up and growing again? The stores have not improved at all. New merchandise arrives over priced and then 2 weeks later its put on sale at 30% off retail. It is amazing to me how much junk is in these stores. At least when Disney owned them there was an occasional adult shirt that would make it onto the shelves.

 

[raidermatt]

Up and growing again? The stores have not improved at all. New merchandise arrives over priced and then 2 weeks later its put on sale at 30% off retail. It is amazing to me how much junk is in these stores. At least when Disney owned them there was an occasional adult shirt that would make it onto the shelves.

Not that I personally like the current version of the Disney Stores, but apparently sales are up:

Children's Place 3Q sales rise 25% to $550.4 million
Last Update: 7:20 AM ET Feb 1, 2007
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Children's Place Retail Stores (PLCE) said it earned $38 million in the third quarter as sales rose 25% to $550.4 million, according to preliminary data. The figures may be revised as the company continues to work on a restatement of past results to correct the accounting for stock option grants. Same-store sales rose 14% in the quarter, the Secaucus, N.J. retailer said in a statement. Thomson Financial was looking for sales of $548.5 million. The company said it now expects net income of $45 to $48 million in the fourth quarter. For January, same-store sales are expected to decline at a mid-single digit rate at its Children's Place stores and rise at a pace in the mid-twenties at Disney stores. For fiscal 2007, the company is expecting earnings of $3.55 to $3.65 a share. Shares closed Wednesday up 5 cents at $54.21.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

The Disney Stores have not been Disney Stores since TCP took over. They abandoned the entire Disney culture.

You either get Disney or you don't. TCP never got it & they never will.

One of the saddest days for me was the day the sale (or whatever you want to call it) was finalized.

 

[Tink10]

The Disney Stores have not been Disney Stores since TCP took over. They abandoned the entire Disney culture.

You either get Disney or you don't. TCP never got it & they never will.

One of the saddest days for me was the day the sale (or whatever you want to call it) was finalized.

While I agree that the culture has definately been abandoned I have to admit that the stores are doing fairly well.

 

[exDS vet]

The Disney Stores have not been Disney Stores since TCP took over. They abandoned the entire Disney culture.

You either get Disney or you don't. TCP never got it & they never will.

One of the saddest days for me was the day the sale (or whatever you want to call it) was finalized.

Why was that day sad? The Disney Stores haven't been "The Disney Store" in years. This goes way back before TCP bought them. Remember that Disney had the stores on the block for almost 2 years before TCP bought the dying chain.

Disney's Consumer Products division is/was responsible for the demise of those stores. After Paul Pressler and then Cynthia Harris left to go to Disneyland, the stores began to falter. Say what you want about Pressler and Harris' work at DLR. They were great for TDS. I guess it's not good business to put retail people in charge of theme parks.

Nobody after those two could help TDS. Not Fran, Mike, Peter, and certainly not Bob Bell. They were all disasterous for the chain. Well, perhaps Fran and Mike weren't that bad, but Peter and Bob were horrible.

When TDS first started out, it was a specialty store. It was a destination. It was an extension of the Magic of Disney. For the chain's first decade, it seemed that they did everything right. But Consumer Products dropped the ball with TDS when they flooded the market with licensed product that everybody could sell. They worsened it when they put Disney Stores in over 700 malls and shopping centers. And then they cheapened the product by saturating the market with too much princess junk, more Pooh than Mickey and then of course there's the never ending sequels to movies that were done fifty years ago. There, I said it. Disney's cheap DVD sequels are nothing more than extensions of the Consumer Products division. They certainly are not enduring classics.

I have been criticized on these boards before for being critical of TDS, but this is one subject that I never back down from. I worked there, I lived it. I saw the good, the bad and certainly the ugly when I managed my own Disney Store. In my opinion they should have just shut the entire chain down and let the Wal-Marts, K-marts, and everyone else continue to carry the product.

 

[YoHo]

It started out a specialty store and became nothing but a cheap pixiedust opium den for the faithful to get their fix. It should have died.