For the people that shop at DisneyShopping Catalog

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Disney Retail Announces New E-Commerce Strategy (24 Jan 2006)

We are excited to announce that Disney Shopping, Inc. will move from the current multi-channel strategy of catalog and online to a 100 percent e-commerce focus. The last traditional catalog will be mailed in April 2006, though targeted print contacts may be used periodically to drive online traffic.

Disney Shopping, Inc. manages the Disneyshoppingcom , DisneyAuctionscom and DisneyOutletcom online brands. The division has also realigned its marketing, merchandising and technology teams to grow and develop the e-commerce strategy.

We view the online focus as a way to simplify the business model and support DCP and TWDC as the e-commerce solution for physical goods. Disney Shopping will continue to focus on innovative product development and creative online marketing strategies, and will increase its focus on expanding and leveraging licensed merchandise and developing new properties.

Paul Gainer, newly appointed vice-president and general manager of Disney Shopping Inc., will work closely with DCP LOB heads over the next several months to explore opportunities to collaborate.



Jim Fielding

EVP, Retail Sales and Marketing


Steve Finney

SVP, Disney Retail

 

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Disney plots out the ending for unit's local call center

By Stephan Roth
Kansas City Business Journal

About 250 area employees of The Walt Disney Co. soon will have to whistle while they work somewhere else.

Disney Shopping Inc. will close its Overland Park call center by the middle of next year. According to an Oct. 27 letter the Disney subsidiary filed with the Kansas Department of Commerce, the company will lay off most of the facility's 250 employees by Jan. 31, though a few will remain through May.

The letter said the Overland Park employees have been notified of the layoffs. A spokesman for Disney Shopping was unavailable for comment. Steve Reed, human resources manager for the call center at 11200 W. 93rd St., confirmed that the center will close next year.

Disney Shopping filed the letter to comply with a federal law requiring employers to give public notice of a layoff of 50 or more workers.

Ann Smith-Tate, director of existing business programs for the Overland Park Economic Development Council, said Disney Shopping informed local officials that it would relocate some of the call center jobs to a facility in Utah. Smith-Tate said the company had operated the Overland Park call center since the early 1990s.

Disney Shopping, formerly called Disney Direct Marketing Services Inc., operates the catalog, direct-mail and Web site (disneyshoppingcom) channels that sell merchandise from Walt Disney Co. and Disney licensees. It's part of Disney's Consumer Products business, which in fiscal 2004 reported consolidated revenue of $2.5 billion, according to the company's annual report