The Disney Store is a chain of specialty stores created on March 28, 1987 and sells only Disney related items, many of them exclusive, under its own name and Disney Outlet. It was a business unit of Disney Consumer Products with the Disney Experiences segment of The Walt Disney Company conglomerate.
Disney Store was the first "retail-tainment", or entertainment store.[1] The company had operated a number of store chains beyond its flagship Disney Store chain such as ESPN-The Store and the short-lived Mickey's Kitchen restaurant. Currently, the company operates the stand-alone stores, Disney Baby, Walt Disney Gallery and Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store. Disney Store was a partner for Disney at Harrods, which included a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique salon.
North America stores were owned and operated by The Children's Place's subsidiary Hoop Holdings from 2004 to 2008. The Oriental Land Company's subsidiary Retail Networks Co., Ltd. owned and operated the Japanese stores from 2002 to 2010. Since 2012, Disney departments exist in JCPenney in about 520 JCPenney locations.[2] In India, two licensed chains, Disney Jeans and Disney Artist, are owned and operated by Indus Clothing and Ravi Jaipuria Corporation respectively. At the 2019 D23 Expo, it was announced that Disney departments were opening at Target stores across the United States starting in October prior to the release of Frozen II. Disney Store items are also being sold on Target.com in addition to the Disney Store website (previously known as "shopDisney" from 2017 to 2024).[3]
Disney's Character Warehouse Outlet Store was licensed out to liquidator Asset Management & Sales LLC to sell overstock and discontinued Disney Parks merchandise. The Character Warehouses just have a few permanent locations while having temporary stores at times. Asset Management & Sales is owned by Janie and Gary Stump.[4][5]
The first Disney Store opened in the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California, on March 28, 1987.[ChWDC 1]
The first Disney Store outside California opened in Bridgewater Commons in Bridgewater, New Jersey, on June 18, 1988.[6]
The first overseas Disney Store opened in November 1990 in London, England.[ChWDC 2]
Doug Murphy was hired by Disney Store as manager of new business development in September 1991, then promoted to head business development in April 1993.[7] The first Japanese location opened in 1992[8] as did the first Australian store.[9] In 1992, Disney Dollars were available at Disney Stores.[ChWDC 3]
A showcase 11,000 square feet location was opened in the third quarter 1994 at the Post and Powell corner of San Francisco's Union Square.[10] On October 24, 1994, its Disney Store (Hong Kong) Ltd. opened its first location in a New Territories shopping center.[11] In 1996, Disney Store opened its flagship location in New York City.[12] A Disney Store location opened next to the El Capitan Theatre in its building in 1998.[13]
The first Walt Disney Gallery opened outside of the park next to the Disney Store at Main Place Santa Ana in California on November 4, 1994[14][15] and was operated by Disney Store.[14] Doug Murphy was appointed vice president of the Walt Disney Gallery for Disney Store in December 1994.[7]
In 2000, its store in Munich was closed.[16] In September 2000, Disney Store remodeled two stores, showing off prototype designs in Costa Mesa and Cherry Hill, N.J. These stores had more space and a high-tech look where theme park tickets could be bought via computer stations. When Disney indicated that this new model would be rolled out to 350 stores, they also indicated the closure of 100 locations worldwide. Analysts had indicated that Disney had overbuilt stores. By April 2001, 20 stores were redone in the high tech style when a new president, Peter Whitford, was hired.[17]
In late 2002, two new prototypes were rolled out in Canoga Park and Torrance. In March 2002, Disney Stores Worldwide announced that the chain would be split into two types of stores, Disney Play and Disney Kids at Home. They also continued closing stores to reach 350 by 2005. The Disney Play stores would stock Disney character toys, plush dolls and costumes aimed at young children, while Disney Kids at Home targeted parents looking to purchase home furnishings, clothing and bed & bath products for their children. Some were expected to be a hybrid of both concepts. This roll out of the two store brands was expected to take 3 years.[17] On March 31, 2003, its 16 Australian locations closed.[9]
With lackluster films, high-priced and high-margin items, sales dropped while continuing to overly open stores. The company closed hundreds of stores in order to make a slim profit. Whitford left in 2003.[25]
Even though the Disney Stores maintained strong sales, mounting costs of sales and operation, and the loss of key executives who had driven the Disney Stores to success led The Walt Disney Company to convert the Disney Stores into a licensed operation. The Japanese stores were sold to The Oriental Land Company in 2002,[8] while most North American stores were sold and licensed in November 2004 to The Children's Place.[20]
The Walt Disney Company decided to keep the stores in Europe, along with the flagship store in Manhattan, which was converted into a World of Disney store run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in 2004,[12] while The Children's Place got the Chicago flagship location.[26] On June 2, 2005, the Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store opened up in the El Capitan Building on the ground floor replacing a Disney Store.[13][27]
Disney sold the chain for the cost of inventory to the Children's Place's subsidiary Hoop Holdings and signed a 15-year licensing agreement.[25][28] Under the licensing agreement, a "royalty holiday" period existed until October 2006 to allow revamping of the stores. The royalty thereafter was 5% of store sales while online sales give Disney a 9% to 10% royalty. Hoop Holdings had to write off the cost ($48 million) of the equipment and property received in the purchase.[25] On the weekend of March 24, 2005, Hoop Holdings opened its first Disney Store Outlet location.[29]
The Children's Place intended to reinvigorate the Disney Store brand in the United States by expanding the number of stores, reducing initial selling prices. Previously, Disney Stores have been well known for inflated initial prices, which would be marked down substantially after just a few weeks. Also, The Children's Place opened Disney outlet stores, which have lower operating costs and typically have a high profit margin even though they have reduced prices versus mall stores. However, Disney's strict licensing agreement, which included the burden of being required to invest significantly in store remodels, contributed to the eventual decision by The Children's Place to exit the business.[21]
Hoops saw progress with its strategy as open stores in 2006 for 11 month saw 15% increase in sales assisted by a better Disney box office results, and the success of the Disney Channel's hit made-for-TV movie High School Musical. A store website would be up and running in April 2007.[25] Hoops Retail Stores, DBA Disney Store and a subsidiary of The Children's Place, commenced a 13-year lease of the Royal Laundry Complex in 2006.[30]
On June 8, 2007, Disney Consumer Products and The Children's Place settled a licensing agreement dispute, in which Disney indicated 130 unfixed breaches. The Children's Place agreed to have a new prototype store design approved by Disney by the end of June with the prototype to rolled out to 234 existing stores by January 31, 2012, while 18 new prototype store would be opened by early 2009. At the Chicago flagship and about 165 other locations, Hoops would get maintenance up to date by June 30, 2008. Restrictions on Disney to give direct merchandising licenses to other specialty retailers was loosened.[26]
In 2005, DCP has begun working with various Indian retail outlets to establish Disney Corners within the outlets to sell licensed merchandise.[31] On 26 September 2006, the Disney Jeans brand was launched under license to Indus Clothing, who planned to open 30 Disney Jean stores by the end of 2007.[32] In October 2006, DCP licensed the rights to Ravi Jaipuria Corporation for five years to set up 150 Disney Artist brand stores and wholesales under the Disney Artist brand, which sold Disney character-branded greeting cards, stationary, arts, crafts and party products in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives.[33]
Hoop Retail, The Children's Place subsidiary operating the Disney Stores, announced on March 20, 2008, that they were in talks to sell the Disney Store brand back to The Walt Disney Company. Hoop Retail filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March.[34] On May 1, 2008, 231 Disney Stores in North America once again became the property of Disney, operating under the Disney Consumer Products arm.[22] James Fielding was named president of Disney Stores Worldwide. In Europe at the time, the chain had 107 locations.[34] The San Francisco showcase location was closed in 2008.[35]
Furthermore, Disney announced in November 2009 that they were planning a massive "re-launching" and re-branding of all Disney Store locations, spearheaded by Apple's Steve Jobs, who pioneered the Apple Retail Store concept.[36] The new store look and feel was designed by New York-based design firm Pompei A.D.[37] and was referred to as 'Imagination Parks', which was under consideration as a new name for the stores. This model was to be high tech and have several interactive activities. $1 million was the expected outlay for converting to this concept. The first of these stores were opened in May 2010 in Long Island, Madrid and Southern California.[38] 40 more of this format were to open in 2011.[39]
With the shuttering of the Disney Parks and Resorts-run World of Disney store in Fifth Avenue New York City in January 2010, a Disney Store replaced it on Broadway and became the flagship store. It opened late in the year capping off a 20-store opening.[40]
The Oriental Land Company announced that it would sell its Japanese Disney Stores back to The Walt Disney Company. Disney took over Retail Networks Co., Ltd., an Oriental Land Company subsidiary owning the Disney Stores in Japan, beginning on March 31, 2010.[41] Ireland's first store opened on May 18, 2011.[42]
With president Fielding leaving, he was replaced by Molly Adams and Paul Gainer as executive vice presidents in charge of the global retail operation from their Disney Store senior vice president positions in May 2012.[23] On September 6, 2012, the first flagship Disney Baby Store opened in Glendale, California.[43][44] Regular stores were expected to add a Disney Baby section.[44] In November 2013, Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store replaced DeWar with Ghirardelli Chocolate Company operating the soda fountain half of the shop.[45]
In January 2012, Disney Stores indicated that the company would open 25 to 40 locations in China over the next three years, with the first store originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012.[46] On October 25, 2013, Disney announced that the first Disney Store in Shanghai, China would open in 2015.[47] On May 20, 2015, this Chinese flagship Disney Store opened.[48]
On September 21, 2012, Disney announced a partnership with JCPenney (JCP) to open a Disney department with 750-to-1,100 square feet in about 520 Penney locations.[2] JCP's online version opened on September 6 and the store within a store locations opened on October 4.[49] With the success of these Disney shops and its exclusive merchandise in 2014, Penney added 44 additional stores and add 116 more in 2015 for a total of 620. The JCP locations were also promoting the Disney live action Cinderella film. This actually marked the second time Disney and JCP had team up on promoting a movie, while the first was with the animated movie.[24]
A NY Attorney General inquiry into On-call scheduling in 2016 led Disney Stores to indicate in December that the retailer had dropped the practice early in the year.[50] In the UK, Disney Stores Europe opened nine Pop-up shops in October 2016 for the Christmas season.[51]
Disney Stores reopened in Germany on November 9, 2017, with a single store on Neuhauser Straße in Munich where Disney Germany is headquartered.[16] The store was permanently closed in June 2020. As a promotion for its sleep shop launch in August 2018, Disney Store operated, during the month, a bedtime hotline where Mickey Mouse and friends share a short bedtime message.[52] In mid-November 2018, the Disney Stores USA headquarters moved out of the Royal Laundry Complex in Pasadena to Grand Central Creative Campus, Glendale, California.[53][54]
With the announced closing of the only store in West Virginia in the Huntington Mall on May 26, 2019, family rallied at the store in an organized "cash-mob" event to save the store. However, The Herald-Dispatch reported that the mall rent was not the issue, but that the chain was systematically closing its stores.[55]
At the D23 Expo in August 2019, Disney announced that it would be partnering with Target to open 25 "shop-within-shops" inside of Targets on October 4.[56]
In early March 2021, Disney announced that it would close at least 155 Disney Store locations in North America (USA and Canada) and focus more on its e-commerce operations.[57][58][59][60][61][62] On May 5, 2021, Disney announced that it would close all the Disney Store locations in Europe (with the exception of a handful of stores such as the flagship store at Disney Village in Disneyland Paris).[63] On June 18, it was announced that the original Glendale Galleria location would close on July 14, 2021 (among other 16 stores).[64] On July 23, it was announced that most Canadian stores (with the exception of Toronto Eaton Centre, Vaughan Mills, and Scarborough Town Center) would be closing on or before August 18, 2021. The final 1990s "pink and green" location at Chicago Ridge Mall in Chicago Ridge, Illinois was also announced to be part of these closures. On August 23, it was announced that 59 stores would close on or before September 15, leaving only twenty-two stores remaining in the United States. It was also announced that the last three Canadian stores would close as well.[65][66][67][68][69][70] On December 24, it was announced that the Disney Store located in Bellevue, Washington would close on January 19, 2022.[71]
In July 2021, UBS Realty sued Disney for back rent at The Shops at Montebello location in Montebello, California, in the amount of $275,000.[72]
Disney Stores are located in malls and commercial areas in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines. A small number of stores were opened in Hong Kong however, the Australian stores were closed in 2003, and the only Disney Store in Hong Kong at this time is located in the Hong Kong International Airport, which was renamed The M