Main Steet Gallery

[Cinderella37]

On our last trip (July 2-12) a CM at the Magic Kingdom told us that the powers-that-be were planning on re-opening the Main Street Gallery because they realized that they had made a mistake. I'm hoping that it will be open for our December trip; their selection of art was second to none, especially now that the DTD Gallery has such limited offerings. Is it open or has anyone heard anything? Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have not heard anything new on Main Street, but DTD one has limited things? When did that happen?

 

[Cinderella37]

In July, I was shocked that the Gallery had less than half of the selection of higher end art than they did last year. They had no Art of Disney Storybook pieces at all. They did have a large selection of posters, a decent amount of Harmony Kingdom boxes, and a moderate selection of sericels.

In years past, I never knew what to pick from. This year, I didn't buy a thing until I went to the Gallery at MGM. The CMs at DTD expressed their displeasure with the selection and one tried to tell me that there have only been one or two Art of Disney Storybook pieces released. I told her that I have seven hanging on my walls.

 

[mickeysaver]

This is a rumor that I really hope is true. I was so upset to hear they my favorite store at MK had closed. I want goodies!!!
Mickey

 

[disneysteve]

What is currently in the Main St. site? It was still the Gallery when we were there in November.

For some unfathomable reason, Disney has gradually chosen to turn away its very best customers with the deepest pockets ($$). For a while, they were really catering to the high-end collectibles market. Then they started gradually eliminating it. They removed all collectibles from the Disney Stores. They closed some of the Gallery stores. Then they went and closed the Main St. store. That didn't leave too many places to buy anything other than the run of the mill mass produced low end merchandise. Their theory apparently is that collectors could order from the catalog. But any decent collector would never order a high-end collectible based on a little photo in the catalog. We want to actually see and handle the item. Photos can be very deceiving and make an item look much nicer than it actually is. Also, many of these items are handmade and hand painted, so no two are exactly alike. I always closely inspect an item before I purchase it. I can't do that when ordering from a catalog.

I believe Disney has probably lost tens of thousands of dollars of collectibles business as a result of this. Hopefully for us collectors, they'll go back to the way things were.

Steve

 

[doombuggy]

Cinderella37, sounds like The Art of Disney did not have what you were looking for on your last trip. But I have to disgree with your comments of "limited offerings." That store carries quite a bit of various items that can appeal to people. They have a large section where the sericels hang (between the 2 front doors), and the largest section of the room is deicated to LTD cels and pin sets (plus the animated art ~ you know, the ones that move & talk 7 light up). When I was down in May, the first thing i did was go over there and buy the complete set of Robin hood WDCC. I am not harping on you or anything, just trying to show that while they did not have what you wanted (or that you felt the selection was not good), they had quite a selection for someone else (me, for example). A couple of weeks ago, they were doing gang buster business, so they have something that people want.

OK, I have a bit of inside info, so to speak, b/c I am friends with the manager there, and have been waiting for the WDCC 5 yr. Steamboat Willie piece to come in so I can order it from her. I have printed out your comments and will try to get in touch with her on the phone this weekend to pass them along. Please keep in mind that while she has some say, there are others above & around her that make the decisions as to what goes to that store.

As to the Main St Gallery, I always thought it was in a bad spot (ie people did not know it was there). Maybe if it was on Main St, it would do better. BTW, they closed that one in April I think, and opened one at the Animal kingdom, where they were supposedly getting more business for this kind of stuff.

 

[doombuggy]

disneysteve: I think you are right on the money there, but what you are saying goes more to the Disney Store (Consumer Products division) of the company and not the parks, per se. I have been working at TDS for almost 7 years (anniversary in 2 weeks), and always bought my WDCC, sericels and stuff at the store. My 2nd store was the gallery store at The Court of King of Prussia (The Court & The Plaza make up the 2nd largest mall in the US). I used to renew my membership right at my home store, and walk home with the piece. I moved to another store in 2000 (the last new store to open, btw) and continued to get my WDCC at my old store. Last September, the gallery was pulled, and the nearest gallery store is in NYC on 5th ave. So, this year i ordered my membership directly from the Society, and as previously mentioned, had teh 5 pieces i bought in May shipped home. We CMs at TDS are just as upset about the collectables situation as you are. When I get a guest who mentions this to me, I give them the following address and tell them to write a letter:

Disney Store, Inc.
Attn: Guest Services
101 N. Brand Blvd, Suite 1000
Glendale, CA 91203

You can make a difference! People have been complaining about us not having adult & infants in the stores, and they are coming back! Please write!

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by doombuggy
the nearest gallery store is in NYC on 5th ave.

Have you been to this store lately? It used to encompass the entire 3rd floor of the store. Little by litle, the space devoted to Gallery merchandise contracted. The whole left side (behind Cruella) was all baby items last time we were there. What a disappointment. The flagship store can't even keep the nice stuff. No wonder the company is doing so poorly.

Steve

 

[LoriR]

DD and I were chatting with the sketch artist in MK in the shop that sells watches. (can't remember the name right now!) I was commenting that I hadn't realized they had moved the sketches and a few other pieces into this store. He said that they were planning on reopening the old store and bring the former CM's back to work there. He didn't give me a date, just that plans were to reopen.

Lori

 

[Safari Steve]

I have no information on the status of the rumor mentioned in the original post.
Much of the collectible merchandise, however, was moved to Uptown Jewelers a bit further up Main St. The merchandise was not made unavailable, it simply changed locations.
The Gallery sign has been removed, and there has been no activity in the building since mid-summer.
Most of the collectible business was/is a function of Consumer Products and not of Parks/Resorts, and that division decided to shift emphasis to the catalogue and online areas of their business. From what I have seen and understand of the workings of the gallery stores, the merchandise that is now available at Uptown Jewelers is pretty much all that would be available if the Gallery were still open.
The decision to close was based on staffing needs and not on anyone in parks merchandise "deciding to cut-off guests with deep pockets."

It's A Wonderful Shop at Studios was recently shuttered as well, but the merchandise they sold is still available in a more frequently visited area of that park (sunset blvd near Tower of Terror). Similar situation, and I'm sure that there are people who saw IAWS closed and assumed that someone had decided that they cared less about the guests who like to purchase christmas ornaments.

 

[Cinderella37]

The selection is limited, in my opinion, due to the fact that a wide range of collectibles is not offered anymore. A wide variety of artists were available and in July, the area that contained the higher end art had many framed posters and not too many hand painted cels and the like. While I appreciate the selection of Lenox, WDCC, and Harmony Kingdom, much of that is available through the Disney Catalog. I always enjoyed shopping in WDW and finding things not available anywhere else, especially since, as DisneySteve has mentioned, the stores (except for 4 gallery locations) do not carry collectibles.

For me to walk into a gallery at WDW and not buy anything is a rare thing - the gallery at MGM had much more of a selection so that's where I purchased. I did love the DTD one though, and hope that the merchandise division sends some more merchandise their way (I have written in response to the extinction of collectibles at the Disney Store,as well as the change in merchandise at the DTD gallery).

It's good to see other collectibles fans on the board!

 

[MickeyCrazed]

How did I miss that the Main Street Gallery closed??!!
I am soooo depressed.

 

[doombuggy]

I spoke with the manager of the Art of Disney the other day and specifically asked her about the Storybook pieces you mentioned, cinderella37, in your earlier post. Apparently, they have been discontinued.

The manager was calling to tell me that the WDCC 5 yr anniv. piece (Steamboat Willie) was in. I got a call from one of her cast members with more info (I had the piece shipped here), and I asked him about their stock. Like I mentioned before, they were doing gang busters this summer, and they have started to get some new stuff in.

Cinderella37, if you want the manager's name and some store phone numbers, please pm me.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Art of Disney Store that exists at Epcot. I also am very dissappointed that the one in MK doesn't exist right now (hope the rumors about it coming back are true). However, there is one that I liked in Epcot, to the right of SE as you face into the park.