So much to say...
To all of you CM's, my sincerest wishes for you and your continued jobs. It is not your fault what Peter Whitford is doing to the stores. I am convinced that someone very high up is trying to make the stores fail. I feel that they would much rather sell through the catalog/online with the lower overhead.
In the DS I have frequented most... you know, the one where we knew everyone in the store...oh, I forgot they all left in the last 4 months and we don't know anybody there anymore... is in a high end mall and had a great collectable business. They removed the artwork. I tried to write letters, and so did several other high-spending guests. We did not get a reply. They were one of the stores that the decision was supposed to be made in 1/03 about the gallery items going. I was informed in 9/02 that the RM was told not to forward our letters to corporate as the decision had been made. No responses were to be sent. If you are trying to destroy a customer base, that is a great thing to do.
The new manager seems nice, but we haven't had a reason to go into the store to get to know her. There just isn't anything left in the store for us. I used to go into the store when I was having a bad day, and I never got out for less than a couple of hundred dollars. I went in two weeks before TP was released for a Birthday gift for a nephew who was turning 7 and loves pirates. There was nothing in the store he would have wanted; he is not into Buz. I was so upset I left the store empty handed.
My view is that even if TDS is not doing as well as they would like, it is still an advertizement for the parks and should carry a wide variety of merchandise for all ages to tease us into wanting to go to the parks.
I know that business was way down last x-mas in our store. The merchandise just doesn't fit the market. I was told OTR that CMs were encouraged to tell guests that sales were up even though that was stretching the truth a little. I think Upper Management is making sweeping changes to all stores without understanding the markets. In some stores the changes will really increase business. In my market...well lets just say I think the employees saw the writing on the wall. Again, this is a great way to make guests care less about stores closing.
Buzz Light Year...How much more are they going to invest in a several year old-market saturated character. They should be concentrating on new releases and keeping the merchandise fresh (IMHO)
Next, to anyone wishing any ill to CMs, Please take this personally...are you crazy? they are not responsible for corporate policy, They are afraid for their jobs and livelyhood. While it is true that recently I have met many disgruntled CMs, and several who I have felt do not represent the Disney spirit, They have a much higher turnover and lower training standards than they used to. Most of the long-term CMs care more than you can imagine. The disgruntled CMs are a symptom of many of the companies problems, including poor treatment from management. I can pass on lots of stories, mostly from the parks, that I have heard by simply asking why the CM was so upset. This is not the point, the point is that Disney is not training its CMs as well as it used to, and they are not being treated as well by the company as is apropriate.
I could rant on about this subject for several more pages, but I will stop now and go to bed. I think I will dream of TDS back to the wonderful happy place it used to be.
