Disney Store Make-Overs

[TheRustyScupper]

The Business Journal of Milwaukee
Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 2:09pm EDT

The Walt Disney Co. is giving its chain of Disney Stores an extreme makeover, with the concept being led by Apple executive and Disney board member Steve Jobs, according to The New York Times.

The remake of the company's 340 stores in the United States and Europe will shift the store from a typical retail store to where customers have more of an "experience."

Southern California will be one of the first areas to see the new Disney Store concept. Disney is looking to have a flagship store in Times Square in New York, and is close to finalizing a lease agreement for the store, the Times report said.

The stores, which might even experience a name change to Imagination Park, according to the report, will have many interactive elements, such as theaters for children to watch Disney programming.

Jobs has taken cues from the development of Apple's highly successful Apple Store franchise in the refurbishment. The report says that at Jobs' insistence, Disney build a prototype to work out problems.

The report says that the prototype has been developed in a warehouse in Glendale.

It also says that Disney will spend about $1 million per store in the process.

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1) Yippee!
2) The Disney Stores are going back to customer service.
3) And, the "shopping experience".
4) The change to just-selling almost killed the stores.
5) Now, it looks like fun again, plus added attractions!
6) This could easily win back my business.

[Ian]

Wow ... I have to say, this would be outstanding if it actually happened!

[BMan62]

$1 million per store? Wow! How much could be done in the parks for $340 million? Some much needed maintenance on some older rides/attractions perhaps?

No, I am not complaining, but the stores I have seen are way too small for the kinds of 'make overs' that seem to be called for. Does this mean more closures?

[GrumpyFan]

Sounds good, and needed! The stores have been declining for a while, and in desperate need of something to spruce them up. I get irritated every time I go in our local store because the projection screen hasn't worked in over 2 years, maybe more. They still play the audio, but no video, and it just gripes me.

I don't know what all this change will entail, but I've always thought that Disney missed out on a huge opportunity by not having more park-related and travel-related links in the stores. It would take nothing really to set up a simple kiosk that showed the Disney parks and cruise lines and allowed visitors to enter their email and/or home address to receive more information.

[Mufasa]

$1 million per store? Wow! How much could be done in the parks for $340 million? Some much needed maintenance on some older rides/attractions perhaps?

No, I am not complaining, but the stores I have seen are way too small for the kinds of 'make overs' that seem to be called for. Does this mean more closures?

$1 million sounds like a lot per store, but consider the sales figures for the benchmark- Apple stores that generate an average in sales of about $4,700 per square foot.

There are negotiations ongoing with mall operators about the new store designs and securing new locations and leases because the new concepts are so different and they want the Disney stores to be a destination (or as Jim Fielding the new president of the Disney stores likes to say "the best 30 minutes of a child's day")

[senderella]

Sounds good, and needed! The stores have been declining for a while, and in desperate need of something to spruce them up. I get irritated every time I go in our local store because the projection screen hasn't worked in over 2 years, maybe more. They still play the audio, but no video, and it just gripes me.

For a minute there I thought we might be shopping at the same store (until I realized you are in TX). That is a huge pet peeve of mine to hear the audio but not be able to see the video."

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I say baloney, since after the wave of store closings, I don't have a Disney store less than 120 miles away.

[alicefan76]

I'm excited to see what they can do. Maybe they'll also start carrying more collectibles, home decor and adult clothes again. Our store only has a tiny corner for that stuff ... People older than 5 like to buy Disney stuff too :-)

It would be really cool if the store could have a broader appeal and have something entertaining for everyone.

[Kathy Jetson]

I love this idea. I have 3 stores in my area 1 is 10 min. from my house, and the other 2 are 20 min. in opposite directions. I have to go there all the time to get a little disney fix!

[lostmytail...again]

I agree alicefan76 - I used to go in there and could buy everything from writing paper to teapots - there is nothing like that in any of the stores now (near me anyway) - I miss it....

[Buttercup]

We're in Ontario Canada - the store in Hamilton hasn't had a working projection screen in forever! I wonder if it's not a technical glitch but some kind of copyright thing where they're not allowed to show the video footage publicly anymore? It can't be coincidence that all the stores we shop at have broken screens!

Anyway, I hope they spruce up the stores! That would be great!

[DizneyRox]

Considering the Disney Stores have/had higher attendance than the parks overall, I find it amazing they are neglected as much as they are. For many folks, it's as close to "Disney" as they will ever get. They are an opportunity to exercise an amazing amount of synergy for the entire company, instead most are run down toy stores.

It would be nice to see them brought back to life, but I'm worried the bean counters haven't gotten wind of this yet.

We're in Ontario Canada - the store in Hamilton hasn't had a working projection screen in forever! I wonder if it's not a technical glitch but some kind of copyright thing where they're not allowed to show the video footage publicly anymore? It can't be coincidence that all the stores we shop at have broken screens!

It's not a coincidence, just poor maintenance. I suspect store performance is a little low and they don't want to foot the bill to fix them. Those screens aren't cheap to fix/replace. Actually, if it's one of the old style 9 panel screens, I would wonder if parts are even available anymore for those.

[Polynesian Dweller]

The Disney Stores went down hill after they were initially sold to 'The Children's Place" in February 2004. Disney bought them back May 1, 2008 when the parent Hoop Retail hit bancruptcy because the stores really weren't living up to the brand name. There has been a period of closing some and getting the chain to a more manageable size.

So this is actually what we've all wanted them to do, rethink the stores and revitalize. So this could be really good news and it looks like with Jobs helping now that he is able to work again they are taking the time to get it right, I hope.

[SurferStitch]

I think this is wonderful. It will be nice to have stores that are fun to visit again, instead of just another shop in the mall.

And, with Steve Jobs at the helm, I think the makeover will be incredible. If the revamped Disney stores are half as popular as the Apple store in our mall, the place will be very busy. I have full faith and trust in what Jobs can accomplish.

[Dsnygirl]

I think this would be fantastic... I love our Disney store, but it has been "same old, same old" with merchandise for years now. But, I still enjoy going, even if it's just to load our Disney card before trips... something about that smell, seeing all the loot and watching the videos for just a few minutes gives me a much-needed Disney fix, however small it is...

[lockedoutlogic]

The problem with this is Steve Jobs.....

Let's face it: he's not long for the road. He has been traveling out of the country for experimental treatment for his pancreatic cancer for years....and obviously has had some success with it....

But there are limits to that....and if Jobs is not with Disney any longer....for whatever reason...then i think this could be a disaster waiting to happen.

He carries tremendous power...and if anything in his tenure at Apple has shown: he's willing to produce higher end product and sacrifice volume of sales for what he perceives as quality of sales....

That would be a great take on the Disney Stores....because Disney is not a budget franchise...it hasn't been since right about the second Disneyland opened its gates in soft asphalt....

So they should put money into it....and should bring higher end product back into the fold....

I just worry that the beaners might get to this before it is implimented...or after it is in place and the result is a slashing of funds and budgets and the stores go into decay.....

The Disney Stores are not looking good...nor have since Paulie Boy Pressler dimed them into oblivion....so it would be nice if something is done....

But alot of "ifs" on this one

[BrerGnat]

Test stores will be in Southern California, they say?

Bring it!

It's VERY hard to get me into the Disney store these days...what with the World of Disney at DLR literally a few miles down the road from the closest Disney store. The only thing they have going is that they actually put their merchandise on SALE, which sometimes brings me in to shop around.

[Ian]

There are negotiations ongoing with mall operators about the new store designs and securing new locations and leases because the new concepts are so different and they want the Disney stores to be a destination (or as Jim Fielding the new president of the Disney stores likes to say "the best 30 minutes of a child's day")

I'm excited to see what they can do. Maybe they'll also start carrying more collectibles, home decor and adult clothes again. Our store only has a tiny corner for that stuff ... People older than 5 like to buy Disney stuff too :-)

Based on the above quote, I wouldn't count on the stores becoming more adult-friendly.

Rightly or wrongly, I don't think Disney considers adults a prime demo for the Disney Stores.

Considering the Disney Stores have/had higher attendance than the parks overall, I find it amazing they are neglected as much as they are. For many folks, it's as close to "Disney" as they will ever get. They are an opportunity to exercise an amazing amount of synergy for the entire company, instead most are run down toy stores.

I totally agree with this. I think the Disney stores are a huge missed opportunity for them.

And what's funny is this is from a company that hypes up all the "synergies" they're able drive out of their intellectual property, but they do it in these ham-fisted, pathetically obvious ways that almost always end up either backfiring or burning out the product.

In other words, they seem to equate the word "synergy" with "milk every nickel of profit out of anything even modestly successful until people become so sick of it that they vomit."

And yet ... they miss such an obvious and legitimate synergistic opportunity with TDS.

The Disney Stores went down hill after they were initially sold to 'The Children's Place"

Actually, IMO they started going downhill loooooooooooong before that.

I think the initial decline started when Paul Pressler took over as President back in 1993.

[Granny Jill A]

I'm excited to see what they can do. Maybe they'll also start carrying more collectibles, home decor and adult clothes again. Our store only has a tiny corner for that stuff ... People older than 5 like to buy Disney stuff too :-)

It would be really cool if the store could have a broader appeal and have something entertaining for everyone.

I totally agree with you. That's the main reason why I stopped shopping at TDS.

[big blue and hairy]

Based on the above quote, I wouldn't count on the stores becoming more adult-friendly.

Not necessarily, while Disney may add more adult-friendly stuff to the stores, I hope so, if you're not extremely child friendly, you're going bankrupt. We'll have to wait and see.

Actually, IMO they started going downhill loooooooooooong before that.

I think the initial decline started when Paul Pressler took over as President back in 1993.

I agree, but the hill got steeper faster when The Children's Place took over.