Disney Store Permanently Closed 2020

[DodgerGirl]

Why I also think Disney Stores closed was just like what happened to Toys "R" Us and I think Disney opened way too many Disney Stores in cities and they could not handle that many in the malls in all the cities. Take for instance when my mall opened it's Disney Store in the 90's it was a relief for my mother and I because when I was little my parents had to drive all the way to the Bay Area or San Jose to buy me stuff at Disney Stores and it was great when our mall's Disney Store opened because my mom and I loved to go there by ourselves and buy every Disney thing we could find. But as I mentioned before I think we will see the revival of The Disney Catalog "remember those?" and since ShopDisney is a huge hit maybe Disney Stores will launch a deal with HSN or QVC and have a Disney based shopping channel someday but had they not opened so many stores in malls Disney Stores could've had the chance to stay alive because like Build-A Bear Workshop and Kay-Bee Toys and Toys "R" Us stores for kids are not seen in malls today and have been replaced with teen oriented stores such as Hollister and Hot Topic and kids toy stores should return to malls today

 

[AurumPunzel]

Why I also think Disney Stores closed was just like what happened to Toys "R" Us and I think Disney opened way too many Disney Stores in cities and they could not handle that many in the malls in all the cities. Take for instance when my mall opened it's Disney Store in the 90's it was a relief for my mother and I because when I was little my parents had to drive all the way to the Bay Area or San Jose to buy me stuff at Disney Stores and it was great when our mall's Disney Store opened because my mom and I loved to go there by ourselves and buy every Disney thing we could find. But as I mentioned before I think we will see the revival of The Disney Catalog "remember those?" and since ShopDisney is a huge hit maybe Disney Stores will launch a deal with HSN or QVC and have a Disney based shopping channel someday but had they not opened so many stores in malls Disney Stores could've had the chance to stay alive because like Build-A Bear Workshop and Kay-Bee Toys and Toys "R" Us stores for kids are not seen in malls today and have been replaced with teen oriented stores such as Hollister and Hot Topic and kids toy stores should return to malls today

Well, I feel that the demise was brought upon themselves, given that I've seen a pattern of mismanagement and poor decisions that even goes back to just before the TCP takeover. Disney overexpanded their stores as their own animated films were flopping, and failed to rapidly update their estate, which has left many Disney Stores still retaining their 1990s fascias well into the latter part of the previous decade. Not to mention that their decision to go down the licensed store operation led to the stores losing a lot of adult-oriented merchandise, and becoming too skewed towards younger audiences. And even when Disney bought back the stores, they've been too slow to adapt, and by the time much of the adult-oriented merch returned, not all the stores carried it, and when they did, they tended to be exclusive to the larger flagships and not the high-footfall malls, which has led to the perception that the Disney Stores are still overglorified toy stores.

Had Disney adapted sooner and not made those short-sighted decisions, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing now, and even I still think the move to online is only going to backfire later on, not to mention that many Canadians are still mad that they've failed to deliver the promised .ca website they've been long calling for, and many are doubtful that they will, as much as shopDisney has recently launched in new territories including Mexico, which has also seen the rollout of Disney Stores-within-stores in the Liverpool department store chain.

 

[BuddyBoy600alt]

Let's hope we don't lose The Westfield Mall at Garden City Plaza.

 

[AurumPunzel]

Now the closures are getting to Europe

https://twitter.com/x/status/1389957684934422530

 

[BuddyBoy600alt]

Disney Store is closing in Europe. That’s sad. That means UK is closing as well.

Now the closures are getting to Europe

https://twitter.com/x/status/1389957684934422530

 

[AurumPunzel]

Disney Store is closing in Europe. That’s sad. That means UK is closing as well.

You're making assumptions again. Nothing has been said about the UK, but there's the general feeling that it'll be the same situation as the US: all except the most important cities. This is particularly because the UK is still an important market for the Disney Store, seeing as it's where the first ever international Disney Store opened - in 1990.

 

[BuddyBoy600alt]

Well, at Least 60 stores in USA and Canada.

 

[zanimum]

We're now at 63 locations in North America officially announced, as another 11 were marked yesterday. See DisKingdom for the complete list.

 

[BuddyBoy600alt]

We're now at 63 locations in North America officially announced, as another 11 were marked yesterday. See DisKingdom for the complete list.

Yup. We made it. Kentucky and Puerto Rico are out.

 

[AurumPunzel]

We're now at 63 locations in North America officially announced, as another 11 were marked yesterday. See DisKingdom for the complete list.

Surprised that Munich, Germany got culled last year. That was the sole P30 format Disney Store in Europe, having only opened in 2017. Not to mention that it marked a re-entry into the German market since they closed all their German stores in the 2000s. Also, there's already rumours of further cullings of Disney Stores throughout Europe, including France, which I posted about above.

 

[AurumPunzel]

More sad news: Disney Store Italia has been placed into liquidation, all stores in Italy to close, 230 jobs lost, according to unions representing the CMs in Italy. Source (in Italian): https://www.iltempo.it/attualita/20...oma-sindacati-dipendenti-licenziati-27315326/

This is definitely not looking good for Europe. They've already pulled out of Germany after their comeback in 2017, the French Stores are at risk of a near-total closure, and possibly the Spanish and British operations are also at risk. Rumour has it that the UK could be left with just a handful of stores in the most-major cities or even just Oxford Street, and with criticisms regarding shopDisney still running rampant, it's making me question Disney's real intent with the retail side of things. They previously said they'd just be cutting 60 stores across North America and leaving the Outlets as they are, but they ended up closing down more than 60, and that included Outlets. Are Disney not telling the truth about the Stores? Are they going to admit that their entire retail operations bar the flagships and shopDisney are dead?

 

[Lewisc]

Disney stores predated large scale internet usage. Guests were able to buy theme park tickets and even book vacations, in at least some stores. Wasn't there some kind of promotion if you bought your Disney VHS tape in a Disney store? Mail order sales weren't really online,. Catalogs and toll free numbers.

Adult merchandise? Not as much as in the past. Unlike kids adults are less likely to outgrow or wear out their Micky Shirts.

A significant number of malls are, or will be, closing in the next few years.

It's easy to make a list of things Disney could have done better but It probably wouldn't have changed much.

 

[AurumPunzel]

Disney stores predated large scale internet usage. Guests were able to buy theme park tickets and even book vacations, in at least some stores. Wasn't there some kind of promotion if you bought your Disney VHS tape in a Disney store? Mail order sales weren't really online,. Catalogs and toll free numbers.

Adult merchandise? Not as much as in the past. Unlike kids adults are less likely to outgrow or wear out their Micky Shirts.

A significant number of malls are, or will be, closing in the next few years.

It's easy to make a list of things Disney could have done better but It probably wouldn't have changed much.

I put it down to numerous factors, mostly poor decisions. When Disney's own animated films flopped in the 2000s, the stores struggled to shift merch, and despite a rebrand, they ended up cutting back on many of the ranges that made the Disney Stores popular with adult fans, and that wasn't helped when they got bosses in from the retail industry who didn't understand the Disney way of doing things. The loss of those products, coupled with cinema box office failures, led to their initial decline, pulling out of Australia and Germany in the process. Even after the Disney Revival comeback, the Stores continued to be underinvested in, and despite many of the adult-oriented ranges being reinstated following the shopDisney rebrand of the online store, very few stores carried those ranges, and ended up becoming a postcode lottery, where the flagships were likely to carry them, while the mall-based stores ended up getting a raw deal in terms of merch. Then of course, the pandemic hit, and is accelerating a consolidation of malls. Although many say that online retail is contributing, it still makes up a smaller percentage of all retail, with physical still continuing to have a lion's share.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

The only Disney store within an hour of me just got axed .

 

[BuddyBoy600alt]

The only Disney store within an hour of me just got axed .

What location?

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

What location?

Destiny USA mall in Syracuse, NY.

 

[BuddyBoy600alt]

Oh yes. That’s on the list. We lost The Mall at Palisades Center in West Nyack NY. (The location closed on May 19, 2021)

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Oh yes. That’s on the list. We lost The Mall at Palisades Center in West Nyack NY. (The location closed on May 19, 2021)

I don't get it. The store was always packed when we went. Since Covid restrictions there was always a line to get in. People were definitely buying things too because there was always a line to pay as well.

 

[BrotherCraig]

We went to one in Houston the other day and bought some stuff. Store was crowded. It was an outlet and it is a mile from my house. We love the Houston Galleria one but I am sure that will be axed next although they do great in sales there. They closed our Memorial City Mall location recently as well as the outlet one south of Houston - which didn't do well. I am guessing the one by me will close soon so will keep visiting to check for deals. Sad.

 

[Tinkerbell58]

A store close to me in Cherry Hill Mall, NJ is set to close on or before June 16.