Has your Disney Store turned into a...

[MarkRG]

And I would counsel you now to not hold much hope for any stores that are 'moving'. The first store to go plush in my area was Woodfield Mall, where they had an expansive store with a lot of selection, then they 'moved' to another location in the mall with the signs of 'To serve you better' and such.. Gee, guess what opened up? The first princess/plush store, and it is easily 1/3 the size of the old store.

We used to go to Woodfield specifically for that store, and do any Chicagoans remember Chef Mickey's? Yes, as in a restaruant adjacent to the store. It, sadly, was never given a chance to establish itself at all.

 

[Jenzebelle]

All of TDS near me are horrible. I call them the Princess Plush store. I can't even buy snowglobes anymore, let alone any gift that doesn't involve obnoxious pastel Poohs or Princess clothes.

 

[eeyore0062]

Are other stores not selling the large snowglobes? We just got in 2 new beautiful ones last week.

Adult Clothing??? Sorry to say, but it just doesn't sell until it goes to 50-75% off. It sells well on the internet and in the catalog at full price, so it makes perfect sense that they put it in an area where it sells the best.

Plush and Princess do account for the vast portion of where the money in the stores is made, that is why you see so much of it. If it didn't sell, we wouldn't have so much of it.

Disney has done a nice job with the boys clothing and toys this summer, featuring the Adventurers (Hercules, Aladdin, Hook, Peter Pan, and Tarzan) as well as Buzz, Woody and Mickey. The whole middle portion of the store is dedicated to boys. Has anyone seen the new Adventurer action figures for boys? They are great, and selling very well. Maybe if guests really look when they go into the stores, they will see more than plush and pink. Unfortunately many potential guests just walk by, judge the book by the cover (plush and pink), so to speak, and don't come in to see the content.

Also, Disney is now doing Mickey Days, with specials every day of the week. They change week to week, but Mondays are Mickey Mondays, Tuesdays are Tarzan Tuesdays (today catered to... BOYS!), Wednesdays- Wish Wednesdays, Thursdays are Tiggerific Thursdays, Fridays are Fairytale Fridays and the Weekends are Goofy Weekends. I am sure that the guests will find something within a price range that will appeal to them, if they just stop in and find out what is going on.

Now, to address our costumes... they aren't sloppy, they are very functional. We have no control over what costumes are chosen for us to wear, but we all are neat and clean--- that is part of the Disney look that is required by all castmembers. We also have no control over the merchandise in our store.

We, as castmembers, all love Disney and take pride, not only in our stores, our company, and our appearence, but the fact that we are able to bring a bit of magic to our guests without them having to go to Florida or California... but we have to be allowed to do so. It is very aggravating to try and greet a guest only to have that guest turn and walk away, ignore you, bite your head off, or put their cell phone to their ear the entire time they are in the store.

I hope those who are unhappy with the state of the Disney Stores will take the time and effort to write and tell those who are in charge. It will take no longer to do that than it does to come to these boards and complain about it to others.

We want our guests to have the best experience possible... so please let your voices be heard, so that we can provide to you the best experience possible.

 

[PatMcDuck]

In my Disneystore, we HAVE been looking like "slobs" for the last 1 1/2 years. They gave us a costume of t shirts and jeans (both of which fade). We just heard we will return to the black pants and denium, and we are SO happy.......

Most of us in the stores agree with SOME of the changes made in the last 2 years, and disagree with others. They HAD to remove the Galleries, that is just reality..... and my store was a full Gallery store. We all miss it, but the $$ tied up in inventory, for years, was crazy. With the internet growing, it got worse, there was just too much competition with other dealers who did not have to pay the sort of rents we do...... Guests would LOOK at items in our stores, and buy elsewhere. Could they have improved it, yes, but not enough to save it. (Ideas we (OUR cast!) came up with were "loyalty" type discounts, exclusive pins when purchased at the store, artist visits with sigings, etc)

As for the plush thing, it is a disaster. 'Nuff said.

There IS $$ to be made in adult clothing, inexpensive figurines, salt/pepper shakers, cookie jars, simple stationery, etc. They just have to figure out how.

The kids CLOTHING we have right now, is VERY nice. I have not worked the new promotion yet, but thru last week, it was priced very reasonably.

 

[mickey4ver]

Originally posted by Toby'sFriend


yeah I know -- I should write. But quite honestly I have enough to do with my life without having to spend my time telling Disney Marketing how to do their job.

Not to be aurgumentative about your statement, but if you can take 5 minutes of your time to complain on these boards, you could take 5 minutes and tell Disney Marketing the same thing, and it just might help. I realize we all are busy, but change does not occur without the help of those it affects, in this case, those who shop at TDS and right now are unhappy with the lack of certain kinds of merchandise. Enough input from the public certainly might help in the future.

 

[jilljill]

People go the old-fashoined route: put the pens to paper, address an envelope, and lick a stamp (don't even have to that, just peel and stick). The USPS is looking for work and writing to Disney will help out everyone involved.

 

[AllyBri]

Denine writes:
Now they all look like slobs, with their big shirts untucked. No one even says hi to you anymore.

Denine, we TDS CMs have no control over the way you and some of the other guests dress and behave when you come into our stores. We can only perform so much Magic.

 

[kinlaw6450]

Nope all of the stuffed stuff is gone. It's all Princesses now.

 

[barbeml]

Just want to say that I have always been cheerfully greeted by CMs in Disney Stores and Catalog Outlet Store, and have had many nice chats with them. Anyone who works in a "child centered" place deserves to wear comfy clothes (and probably deserves sainthood!).

 

[sweetpea15]

As a former TDS CM I can say that all DS CM should be rewarded sainthood.

From the guest that grunts when greated to the child that is left in the store to be "babysat".

Everything is always "their" fault. Maybe if the guests bought the merchandise when it was in TDS it would still be there for purchase.
So maybe thinking along these line the guest could take some responsibility for the direction TDS is going in for merchandise.

Everyone always went into TDS to look at all the Gallery, houseware, adult clothing, etc., but how much of it wasn't not bought until it went to 75% off??

TDS is getting better and hopefully will keep imporving. So take pen and paper and let "the powers that be" know your feelings. Unless they know that a problem exists it will never change.

And to make a correction ...... Once a CM always a CM!!!

 

[mrsdon]

I just have to ask, how much can one store carry??
We need to carry watches, cookie jars, bedding, housewares, gallery stuff, snowglobes and adult clothing....
There has to be a limit to what we can carry
We also cannot make everyone happy.
I am friendly and greet the guests that come into my store.
And our stuff is selling.
I dont blame guests for waiting for a sale, because thats what I do at other stores. but I dont gripe and complain either.

 

[626]

TDS has never carried enough adult mens clothing. The women are finally starting to see how we feel now that TDS is carrying hardly any adult stuff anymore. I've always resorted to making my own Disney shirts using my scanner and printer. I always get asked where I bought my shirts too. (Especially at WDW!) The market for adult clothes is out there, Disney is just ignoring it.

 

[Iris]

Originally posted by PatMcDuck
There IS $$ to be made in adult clothing, inexpensive figurines, salt/pepper shakers, cookie jars, simple stationery, etc. They just have to figure out how.

Interesting topic. I believe the above quote hits the nail on the head. The Disney Stores have not learned how to market all the items that everyone wants.

The stores are full of plush, pink princess(yuk), and more plush because that is what people are actually purchasing if you can believe it.

When the stores were full of adult clothing, accessories, stationary, ties, etc. , all these items ended up selling for deep discounts-why? Because no one purchased them. Even though it seems that there is a huge demand for various products, the truth of the matter is that the sales did not reflect this. I truly believe that the reason they didn't sell is because they did not know how to properly market them.

I saw too many days of adult merchandise discounted to 75% off and even then, it was a difficult sale. Even when the snowglobes are on sale, it is still like pulling teeth to sell them.

I personally miss all those great items and would love to see them come back but I seriously doubt that it will happen. I agree with the comment by Msdon, "There has to be a limit to what we can carry.We also cannot make everyone happy."

As for the slob comment, I am not a slob and I personally do not care for the costume that I am required to wear. But I have no say in the matter.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

I just reread through this whole thread and wanted to add a couple more things.

First of all -- I love the Cast Members! When they closed the nearest Disney store I was bummed because I knew most of the CMs by face if not name. Now, the one I go to most often has a bunch of familiar faces. I was saddened to not find my favorite manager on my most recent trip. She was a sweetie -- always very friendly and nice. Hey Jess, where'd you go?

Disney store CMs are a hardworking bunch. They greet, they chat, they know the stock, the clean up the store (and I can't imagine keeping all that plush straightened) and the work the register. They do it with a smile.

There does seem to be a lot of plush in the Disney store. While I have two daughters, we could not possibly fit one more stuffed thing in my house. I swear the things multiply at night (let's not go there, ok?)

I miss the adult clothing. I can say that I didn't buy tons of it at full price because I thought the full prices were high. I know the stuff is good quality, but when I am pretending to be a grown up I don't want to spend tons on a shirt. I did buy t-shirts at regular prices however. I would love to see a rack of adult clothing. Maybe things that are unisex.

I also miss the art and the housewares. I bought towels, bathroom accessories etc in my Disney store. They were impulse purchases.

So to wrap up my meandering little post I will say {{{{hugs}}}} to cast members!

 

[DisneyFan09]

Thank you for the kind words Beth!! There is quite a bit more to being a CM at TDS than what most would think!! But I will say this, we all love our jobs and do the very best we can to make a little magic happen for people!