New Cherry Hill Disney Store disappointing

[disneysteve]

DD and I went to the opening of the new Disney Store at the Cherry Hill Mall in NJ on Tuesday. The store is nice but I was disappointed. It is still all the same kids junk that they sold when owned by Children's Place. I was hoping that they would bring back the better quality merchandise that the Disney Stores used to sell when they first started. There was virtually nothing in the way of collectibles, no artwork, no jewelry, nothing high end at all. Just lots and lots of kiddie items. Oh well. Saves me money. I was really hoping for an old-style Disney Store, though. I really miss those.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Sorry to hear that the store has not upgraded their merchandise.

 

[bicker]

People are still not buying high-priced stuff like the old days. I don't know if that market will ever recover.

 

[Dorisk3]

I don't know if they really ever had that market to begin with. Years ago our Disney store was huge and had the "print" "cell" "lithograph" room, with the thousand dollar photocopied cells and they closed that down because no one ever bought anything. I agree though most of the stuff at the store now is a pretty big disappointment.

 

[bicker]

I think there was a market for a short while - even Warner Brothers had a similar store - but it wasn't for long, for sure.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I don't know if they really ever had that market to begin with. Years ago our Disney store was huge and had the "print" "cell" "lithograph" room, with the thousand dollar photocopied cells and they closed that down because no one ever bought anything. I agree though most of the stuff at the store now is a pretty big disappointment.

One of Disney Stores here had a Disney Gallery store next to it. I loved going there, but I didn't buy any of the $1,000 cells either. I always used to say they should have things in between the kid's cheaper stuff and the $1,000 cells. I did buy some nice adult clothing there though. Really nice embroidered sweatshirts and t-shirts, jackets, ect. Those are looooooong gone everywhere though, even at WDW. Everything is cheap screenprint now. I don't even wish for "high end" anymore, I'd be happy with some better quality items, the tshirts now are paper thin. I hate that.

 

[wdwscout]

DD and I went to the opening of the new Disney Store at the Cherry Hill Mall in NJ on Tuesday. The store is nice but I was disappointed. It is still all the same kids junk that they sold when owned by Children's Place.

I am so sorry to hear this.
We haven't had a chance to get there yet- maybe this weekend. But I, too, was hoping for more adult, more "classy" maybe merchandise- like they use to have.
While the artwork was fun to admire, I loved when they had nice adult clothing, watches, jewelry, and even business items. I still have a great leather portfolio with a white Mickey Hand as the closure.
All of that is gone- and the store has been all plush, all toys, and kids clothes/costumes.
I was hoping the redesign would bring some of that back.
We'll be in NYC this weekend for the D23 event at the Times Square store- if not Cherry Hill, maybe NYC can restore some of the old "magic" of the Disney Store.

 

[topolino]

This is what I was afraid of, and honestly, I'm not surprised. The Disney Store has been depressing for a long time. I'm still holding out hope that this new re-branding will improve the stores, but the OP's comments confirm what I feared.

I never understand it when people say they go to the Disney Store to get a Disney fix. To me, it's depressing and makes me miss WDW or DLR even more. Walking into the store and seeing plastic Hannah Montana toy cell phones and Jonas Brothers t-shirts does nothing for me but make me wish I could shop for quality Disney merchandise at WoD at DtD.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I originally thought this, but upon closer inspection (at the Freehold Mall new store during opening day) I did notice quite a bit of a difference. They had collectible porcelain/Lenox pieces, figurines, pens, etc. I was pleased with what I saw.

 

[brergnat]

make me wish I could shop for quality Disney merchandise at WoD at DtD.

What section of the WoD store is the part that carries the quality merchandise? I must have missed that part...

They sell the same junk at the Disney stores in the mall that they sell in the parks. Period.

 

[wdwscout]

What section of the WoD store is the part that carries the quality merchandise? I must have missed that part...

They sell the same junk at the Disney stores in the mall that they sell in the parks. Period.

I disagree. While WoD does indeed sell all of the junk they have in the mall- the WoD also has large sections of adult clothing, designer handbags, better jewelry, items for the home (mainly the kitchen), food, scrap-booking & photo supplies and more.
The local mall stores don't even come close. And while they cannot be as large and diverse as the WoD, they should at least offer some more varied merchandise- and not just Disney Channel or the latest feature film paraphernalia.

 

[topolino]

What section of the WoD store is the part that carries the quality merchandise? I must have missed that part...

They sell the same junk at the Disney stores in the mall that they sell in the parks. Period.

Even though your response was laden with sarcasm, I'll show you the respect of answering your question without same.

The housewares section, the men's department and the media section to name three.

 

[dmwang9]

I swung by the Disney store here in San Francisco (near Union Square) when it re-opened a few weeks ago. Similar story re: merchandise -- lots of stuff for kids, only 1 - 2 adult-sized items of clothing, and nothing in the way of housewares, office supplies, or anything else. I had gone there hoping to get some Disney stuff for my kitchen, but no luck. Perhaps the online store ...

 

[CrazyChristie416]

Sorry to hear you were disappointed, I still need to take a drive out there and check it out for myself.

The new Times Square store does have a whole couture line for women and some lenox and swarovski Crystal stuff, not as much as the old Disney Gallery in 5th ave used to have, but still something. They also have this lenox looking replica of chip and Mrs Potts, and a real functioning Cosgsworth.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I went to the new Disney Store again today to pick up my reserved copy of TS3. I thought they had some great Christmas items and awesome new types of toys. The Cars die cast cars looked very cool, and I thought the clothing for adults (pajama sets, robes, t-shirts, etc.) was nice as well. I found a few items that I took pics of and thought I'd share.

Mugs with Old Logo

NBC Collectibles

Beautiful Gold & Black Fantasia Journal, Alice in Wonderland Journals and Pens

Beauty & the Beast Porcelain Collectibles


With all of this being said, I am hoping that they do add more adult and collectible items over time. What I have seen so far is good and I think they are really just testing the waters right now before committing to anything else.

 

[pklein09]

I managed to get to Freehold on the second day of soft opening. While it is very nice, I wasn't terribly impressed. My youngest is now 10, and the store definitely seemed geared to younger children. I will say, the coloring area for little kids could be a nice distraction while trying to shop. There is a large video screen that played music video while I was there. I was just surprised that it was playing Selena Gomez and Demi Lavato stuff instead of music from cartoons. The ages of the kids watching the videos was definitely toddler-age. No need to expose that group to the older stuff yet, IMHO. I did manage to get some Vinylmation for stocking stuffers and 2 t-shirts for my girls (adult size), but that was it. I was hoping for some DVDs and music CDs and they don't stock them (there's a new Phineas and Ferb Christmas album I was hoping to get there).

Also, I managed to get there early enough to see the key ceremony. The little girl they chose didn't quite seem to get what was happening. The CM seemed overly enthusiastic, and the whole thing just seem contrived. I can't see them keeping up that level of excitement every single morning. I also think nearby stores will tire of it quickly.

It's not some place which I will purposely visit, but I would probably stop in to get my Disney-fix if I was in the mall for another reason.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

I went to the new Disney Store again today to pick up my reserved copy of TS3. I thought they had some great Christmas items and awesome new types of toys. The Cars die cast cars looked very cool, and I thought the clothing for adults (pajama sets, robes, t-shirts, etc.) was nice as well. I found a few items that I took pics of and thought I'd share.

Mugs with Old Logo

NBC Collectibles

Beautiful Gold & Black Fantasia Journal, Alice in Wonderland Journals and Pens

Beauty & the Beast Porcelain Collectibles


With all of this being said, I am hoping that they do add more adult and collectible items over time. What I have seen so far is good and I think they are really just testing the waters right now before committing to anything else.

Thank you for posting those pictures. I have worked at the Disney Store since 1999 and I have seen the changes the stores have gone through. I was there when we had the collectable/watch cases as well as the cels on the walls and then they all went away because frankly, they just didn't sell. As far as the adult clothing, people loved to come in and look at it, but wouldn't even think about buying it until it was on sale. Although I miss that merchandise, I can understand why Disney chose to stop carrying it.

The Beauty and the Beast collectables that we have right now are beautiful! If I had the extra cash, the Mrs. Pott's tea set would be mine - it would be a splendid piece for all collectable fans to display. The Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise is extremely popular, despite the price, people still come in looking for it and buying it. Not to mention the fact that select stores are starting to carry Vinylmation, I think that is a wonderful first step to carrying collectables.

The collection of mugs the stores have now are wonderful. Fantasia fans are hard-pressed to find any merchandise anywhere and right now, we have four different pieces of Fantasia product.

I will say there are a lot of toys right now, but it's holiday season and they sell very well. Both adult and kid shirts are also flying off the shelf - because the shirt styles are changing quite frequently.

Even though I work at the stores, I often visit stores as a guest. My DH laughs at me, but I love visiting other Disney Stores. I think the Cast also plays a huge part in the store's overall experience. If the CMs are excited about Disney as well as the product, it makes me feel very much 'at home'.

I realize that a trip to the Disney Store isn't the same as the parks. However, there are many kids who come into our store who have never and may never have the chance to visit WDW, so this is 'Disney' to them. Before I got my job at the store, I would visit at least once week. When my grandmother died suddenly, I went to the store for comfort and to have a little Disney magic to take the pain away for just a little while.

I sometimes think that people have written the stores off because of the fact that they don't carry what some people want/wish they did. Sadly, just like everything in life, the stores can't please everyone. We can possibly carry every single product that people want us to carry, it's just not possible. However, as a CM, we do our best to make it a magical experience for everyone who visits.

*The views in this post are my personal views only and doesn't reflect the views of the Walt Disney Company/Disney Stores.

 

[disneysteve]

The Cherry Hill store did have the NBC collectibles but not the other stuff mentioned (Lenox, Beauty and the Beast, Swarovski).

I used to love going to The Disney Store of old. I did buy watches, jewelry, Ron Lee sculptures and other mid to higher end merchandise as did many of my Disney-collecting friends. Now, the only place to get that stuff is at the Art of Disney stores in the parks.