I used to call them Outposts of Happiness. Now they seem more like Plush Outlets.

The Disney Store debuted 15 years ago this month. But guests of the retail chain may not recognize the stores they've frequented all this time after the company last week announced that those locations that have yet to be shuttered will be converted into one of two themed locations: Disney Play, stocked with toys, costumes and plush figures; and Disney Kids at Home, stocked with children's clothes, bedding and furniture. These changes are on top of the re-design that began over a year ago, which switched the look of the stores from a fantasy-based cartoon world to that of a local drug store.

Quite frankly, I think this latest strategy brings the Disney Store one step closer to the end. The Disney Store is dying and I'd be surprised if the chain reaches its 20th anniversary.

This news makes me more than a little sad. The 7 1/2 years that I spent working as a Disney Store cast member are some of the happiest times of my life. I met my wife while working at The Disney Store. I made lifelong friends while working at The Disney Store. And hopefully I made guests happy with a warm greeting or by helping them find that perfect gift for their loved ones.

It isn't like change is a new thing at the Disney Store. Things were always changing even way back when I worked there. Change for the sake of change, it often seemed. Retail is a cyclical business. Sometimes you can't keep things on the shelf and other times you can't give it away.

When the Disney Store first opened, it was a novel concept. The problem with novelty is that it either becomes a part of people's everyday life or it becomes cliché. The stores were so close to becoming the former but oversaturation in the marketplace led it to become the latter.

The Disney Store was once a destination of its own. People used to come into the stores to get their Disney fix. They'd watch the promotional video that was played on the large screen in the back of the store. They'd talk to cast members about their recent theme park vacation. They'd buy merchandise.

Once upon a time, the stores held two big sales a year with two smaller sales - once a quarter. Eventually, sales were ever-present. You couldn't walk past the store in a mall without seeing the big 40 percent off sign in front. People no longer came to the stores to buy merchandise at full price. They knew that it would eventually go on sale and they'd buy it then.

They'd no longer come and talk about their latest Disney outing. The company discouraged their cast members from doing non-sales essential activities like greeting guests into their stores. The screens for the promotional videos became smaller and less entertaining. People stopped hanging out. With stores in every mall, the Disney Store stopped being a destination. Guests stopped coming.

Disney Store management decided to do something about it. They decided to change. Instead of figuring out what their strengths were and playing to them, instead of figuring out why they were once successful and are less so today, the rotating management decided that the only way to save the stores is to destroy the stores. Unfortunately, splitting the stores into two will only hasten the decline.

This, of course, is the simplistic view of why the stores are going downhill. There are other underlying factors that have hurt the Disney Store. Too many stores. Product that's also available at K-mart and JC Penney. Lack of merchandise that appeal to adults. Animated features that didn't help synergistic sales. The fad of studio stores waning.

It will be interesting to see what kind of changes the Disney Store makes in the next five years or so as they try to right a ship that is headed for the bottom of the sea. Making the stores less emporium-style and more targeted is a risky change. If it fails to attract the attention and money of the buying public, no amount of pixie dust will be able to save the chain and a fun, unique shopping experience will be but a part of some cherished memories from the cast members who once worked there and the guests they used to serve.

In My Humble Opinion,
Matt

Posted March 12, 2002

E-mail Matt at matt@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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