Pressler is leaving!!!!

[tfc3rid]

Thank God...

Pressler is out as head of Theme Parks.... Maybe things are going to finally get back to where they used to be!

Best of luck at the Gap Paul.... Don;t destroy them...

 

[wdwguide]

That's great news

 

[karensi]

Who the heck is Pressler

 

[Peter Pirate]

He was the head of dry-cleaning...

 

[DisneyKidds]

Originally posted by Peter Pirate
He was the head of dry-cleaning...

..............and by dry-cleaning you mean cleaning the parks dry of what made the parks successful . Seems he pressed his luck a bit too far at Disney. At least disney is trying to clean up the mess .

 

[PatriciaH]

Whoo-Hoo! Thanks for the news. As a stock holder I can't say I am sorry to see him go...

 

[larry_poppins]

Now I can Boycott the GAP!

Larry Poppins

 

[WDWHound]

Originally posted by tfc3rid
Best of luck at the Gap Paul.... Don;t destroy them...

Actually, Pressler should do a great job for The Gap. The man knows retail. The Disney Stores florished under his leadership. The big mistake was moving him from being in charge of the Disney Stores (they have been mismanaged ever since) and putting him in charge of the parks (a position he has no apptitude for).

 

[larry_poppins]

I agree that his talents are well suited for The Gap.

I am still planning on my boycott.

I only wish I could boycott Eisner.

Larry

 

[Another Voice]

A very scary thought....

Knowing the ego's involved, I half expect to see Paul Pressler dancing around in his loose fitting jeans on my televisions set very soon.

I may have to give up cable.

 

[meowthew2]

"Hey honey, that guy that did America's Funniest Home Videos and that show with the Olsen Twins is doing Gap commercials now!"

 

[Mr D]

I AM boycotting Disney, that is until Eisner leaves. No annual WDW family vacation, no passport renewels, no Disney toys at Christmas even.



But theres still Japan.....

 

[roymccoy]

That's hardcore Mr D.....hardcore

Roy

 

[Luv2Roam]

Yep, like someone said in chat last night -- Gap will have plushes in every aisle! LOL

Probably no adult clothes -- just lots of kid's costumes and plushes!

 

[Mop]

Just read the news this morning and wanted to drop by and join in the celebrations.

Mop

 

[Mop]

Some speculation here...

Is it possible that the recent changes - improvements - we've seen at WDW (revamped shows, return of early opening, etc.) was an indication that Pressler had already turned over the reigns to someone else dedicated to improving things, or was it a last ditch attempt by Pressler to save his job?

Mop

 

[Another Voice]

The recent changes we've seen at WDW and Disneyland were the result of local management regaining a little bit of control over their own businesses. With Eisner and Pressler distracted from their micro-management, a few enterprising people were able to sneak a few budget tricks through.

 

[Mop]

Another Voice, if that's true, then it's another indication that Al Weiss would be the savior of Disney Parks, even with Eisner trying his best to screw things up.

Mop

 

[cindyfan]

quote: .......Gap will have plushes in every aisle!......
uh...NO......
Pressler is not the one that created this monster plush disaster at the Disney Stores!! If that is what you are referring to.
The stores fell apart after he left!
Pressler knows retail and IMHO will do well at Gap.

I think it was Bob Bell that succeeded Pressler and he is the one that destroyed the Disney Stores.
And I am pretty sure he left last year!!! Thank Goodness!
But it will take a miracle.....or lots of Pixie Dust to bring the stores back.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

This was on the WDWBLUES news group site. I was a little unsure where to post it so I did it twice!! Once one the Pre$$ler is leaving thread and once one the debate regarding merchandising.

Anyway, ParrotHead wrote it and rather then paraphrase it I’m going to re-print it exactly as written. After all he stated it soooo well!! Hope you don’t mind Mr. Head! (Oh-oh! Confusion.) I mean Parrot, not Frozen!!

This was in the Wall Street Journal:

"In an interview, Mr. Pressler said Gap's stores could benefit from the marketing approach he learned at Disney. 'In some ways, our Disney theme parks are just gigantic retail locations,' said Mr. Pressler, who ran Disney's retail stores from 1992 to 1995."

Now, I don't think it's any secret that upper management at Disney views the theme parks as little more than giant shopping malls. It's just interesting to see Pressler admit this in public. Remember that Michael Eisner is the one who put Pressler in charge of the parks after he ran the Disney Stores, which made it pretty clear that Eisner viewed the parks as "gigantic retail locations."

Disney's mission statement says that the "Walt Disney Company's key objective is to be the world's premier family entertainment company." I hope that whomever is put in charge of the parks is more committed to that goal. Focus on entertaining guests, and the profits will follow. Focus on profits, and disappointments like DCA will follow.

I agree ParrotHead. I couldn’t agree more!