Local Disney Stores closing

[soniam]

The first one I ever walked into...

Remember when there was a Warner bros store below it?

I'm feeling old...I miss Horne's and Kaufman's

My BFF from high school worked at the Disney Store. The insight into how Disney worked was interesting. This was before Children's Place. I really used like their products, but like you said, they are pretty cheap now. I still buy stuff online though. There is still one in town, way out in the burbs. The one that was nearest me closed about 10 years ago I think. Funny you mentioned the Warner Bros store. The same mall where my BFF worked had a Warner Bros store too. I liked those a lot. I still have a Marvin the Martian t-shirt from there. It has been relegated to the gym pile now though, since it's over... Well, it's older than some of the people on this board

 

[Accident]

I dont buy it, I know this store and buy a lot from them.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I dont buy it, I know this store and buy a lot from them.

???

 

[ktlm]

I feel your pain. Ours closed last year and it still stinks. We still really miss it even a year later. Ours actually lost their lease. The mall wanted H&M and they needed the Disney store's space. I think there was a store next to it that closed and they had to have both stores' space for H&M. There were no open spots in the mall where they could move the Disney Store at that time, so it got thrown out. I think it was a pretty high volume store too- it always seemed to have a lot of people in it and there was usually a check out line. We used to go to the mall all the time, but since that Disney Store is gone, we hardly ever set foot in it. (DD won't let us even walk into H&M- she blames them and the mall!).

We are lucky enough that we do have a Disney outlet in town, but it is a pretty good drive out of the way of everything. The thing we miss the most is that our Disney store had the collectibles, limited edition dolls and other nice things and the Disney outlet does not get any of that stuff. We do like the discounted parks items they get in from DLR (we don't get WDW stuff).

We have a few J.C. Penneys with the Disney store section, including the one in that mall- but they are pretty worthless. They are small and limited to stuff that appeals to, or fits, very little kids (mostly preschoolers) and they are strictly a kid section with none of the other Disney store stuff. They rarely even have the bigger kid sizes. Unless you are shopping for a child that is 5 or under, it really doesn't have much.

 

[Accident]

???

I guess that was out of context. The virginia beach store gets the largest tsum tsum supply. You can call them up and get anything released in the us to disney stores almost anytime.

 

[Lyricallie]

Our Disney stores over here in the UK is definitely aimed at younger kids. However I don't remember it ever being aimed at anything but.

 

[BigBlueWho]

I guess that was out of context. The virginia beach store gets the largest tsum tsum supply. You can call them up and get anything released in the us to disney stores almost anytime.

that is the one that closed.

 

[BigBlueWho]

Warner Bros stores were great.

 

[stitch 6 2 6]

That happened to us several years back, the store in our local mall closed, big bummer (though IIRC we had more notice). It came back years later... different place, same mall.

 

[hyzdufan]

Our local store at Carolina Place Mall (Charlotte, NC) closed without warning. We tried to go there the morning after it closed and it was covered in tarp behind the gate and the in-window fixtures had been removed. I called the number, and the worker simply answered - "Hello?" - and then told me the previous evening was their last night after I asked.

Sad - it was one of the neat looking original stored with the big screen in the back and the character sculptures strewn throughout the stores and in the front windows.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Our local store at Carolina Place Mall (Charlotte, NC) closed without warning. We tried to go there the morning after it closed and it was covered in tarp behind the gate and the in-window fixtures had been removed. I called the number, and the worker simply answered - "Hello?" - and then told me the previous evening was their last night after I asked.

Sad - it was one of the neat looking original stored with the big screen in the back and the character sculptures strewn throughout the stores and in the front windows.

Disney closed the Carolina Place store when the new Southpark store opened. There is also the Disney Outlet Store in Concord Mills.

 

[SorcererDonald16]

The VA Beach store didn't close due to lack of sales or them wanting to leave the area, it was an issue with the lease from what we were told. Letters and calls are important because there is potential (and interest) for a new store to be opened at the not-yet-built outlet mall that would straddle Norfolk and VA Beach.

I would say keeping up the requests for a store while the two cities sort out their drama will hopefully keep this area fresher in Disney's mind. Meanwhile, corporate Guest Relations is referring people to Potomac and Crabtree. Yes, because 200+ miles and a 3-4 hour road trip strictly to go to a Disney Store is oh so feasible for most of us.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The 2 Disney stores in our area , were totally revamped/designed last summer and are open and busy.

I agree with previous posters , we do miss the mixed inventory they had in the past.

AKK

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Disney closed the Carolina Place store when the new Southpark store opened. There is also the Disney Outlet Store in Concord Mills.

The new store looks great. It seems more effort was put into theming the store into developing quality merchandise to sell. It's about an hour and 20 min for us to get to but we'd rather go to the outlet in Concord Mills for a lot of the reasons mentioned earlier in the thread.

Like many others our interest faded in the stores when they stopped having cool merchandise. Not just the cells and watches but they had the cool houseware products from the parks. We have tons of lithographs from ordering movies from them still have our commemorative Animal Kingdom Grand Opening Disney Credit Card that was a special issue.

The thing that really fascinated me about the new stores though is we visited the one in Southpark not long after it opened and they had a lot of the kids books with the cut out covers and we thought about buying some but decided 20 bucks for a kids book wasn't happening. The next weekend we went to our local Ollie's and they had just gotten in boxes of the exact same books for $5 each. Apparently when they closed stores they sold off inventory rather than shipping them to other stores still open.

 

[OKW Lover]

We haven't found much at all of interest at the current incarnation of the Disney Store unless you are looking for something for a child. Going back many, many years ago they had merchandise that appealed to a broad range of ages. Clothing, collectibles, etc. Now when I visit a Disney Store its hard to find anything for an adult. This is true in the smaller mall stores and in the flagship stores like the one in Times Sq, NY or the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

 

[BigBlueWho]

The VA Beach store didn't close due to lack of sales or them wanting to leave the area, it was an issue with the lease from what we were told. Letters and calls are important because there is potential (and interest) for a new store to be opened at the not-yet-built outlet mall that would straddle Norfolk and VA Beach.

I would say keeping up the requests for a store while the two cities sort out their drama will hopefully keep this area fresher in Disney's mind. Meanwhile, corporate Guest Relations is referring people to Potomac and Crabtree. Yes, because 200+ miles and a 3-4 hour road trip strictly to go to a Disney Store is oh so feasible for most of us.

We talked to them a few times, and the cast members weren't sure why they were closed, other then the lease. I do know Lynnhaven Mall raised rent on everybody; that mall is starting to annoy me.

 

[MissMarceline]

The disney store was the ONLY reason we went to Lynnhaven. Ever since the big remodel, the mall has sucked!

 

[hyzdufan]

Disney closed the Carolina Place store when the new Southpark store opened. There is also the Disney Outlet Store in Concord Mills.

I wonder why they waited awhile to do it - especially if that South Park store opened in October - the Carolina Place store closed last week.

 

[SnackCredit]

The only time I've set foot in a regular Disney Store in the past 5 years was while accompanying friends. One of them picked out a Big Hero 6 shirt (I think it was adult size), but other than that, I couldn't find anything that wasn't kiddy. It's such a shame that only the parks and park-related outlets are the only places to find better merch.

 

[rteetz]

The only time I've set foot in a regular Disney Store in the past 5 years was while accompanying friends. One of them picked out a Big Hero 6 shirt (I think it was adult size), but other than that, I couldn't find anything that wasn't kiddy. It's such a shame that only the parks and park-related outlets are the only places to find better merch.

The parks don't even have everything they used to.