Does anyone know why they are dragging the Stores down. Do any of you even shop there anymore?

I used to love the stores but now they look like a bad rendition of The Childrens Place with TV screens. They don't even carry any merchandise that Disney fans would want.

How can we get the upper management to understand that they screwed up?

Originally posted by Rocketeer64
How can we get the upper management to understand that they screwed up?
Don't shop there.

Originally posted by Bill Catherall

Don't shop there.
Preach on, Brother Bill! :D Companies only speak the language of money.

I am also very annoyed at the stores, as well as stuff available at the parks. It's usually not stuff that I would want. I guess that's a good thing, though, or I'd go bankrupt. ;)

Much as we might lament it, the mainstream demand for Disney merchandise cannot go on forever at the levels needed to support a store in every mall in America.

Although Disney goods represent one of the most successful merchandising stories in history, the stuff is cyclical. Just as the Disney art has high and low points in time, the merchandising associated with that art has its own cycles as well. Disney Stores have had their day in the sun. I say its time to shutter most of them and wisely wait until the next (hopeful sigh) renaissance in Disney art recreates demand wide enough to support such a massive retail venture.

I agree with iS - the novelty is gone, those who are fanatics have bought most of the stuff they are going to buy or they can get stuff online now easier and sometimes cheaper ..........

It's over. Warner Bros saw the handwriting first. Time to close shop and get back to quality products that can compete in the general marketplace.

I'm not sure that the decline of the store is due to an idea that has run its course, but maybe due to Disney's paradigm shift. I will admit that they opened too many stores in too many malls, but they used to offer stuff that people wanted to buy. Whomever is now in charge of the stores seems to think that "Disney is for kids" as opposed to the previous "Disney is for everyone" attitude. The last store I visited was the one next to the El Capitan theater in Hollywood, and all it had was baby and young child stuff. I think that the stores could still work if they actually offered stuff that Disney consumers wanted.

The one thing I used to enjoy about the Disney Store is the quality of merchandise, from the dolls to the clothes to the snow globes. It seems like that quality has all really gone downhill... as if they're assuming the Disney name would be enough to sell the merch.

I'd rather not see the Disney Stores be run out of existence... pared down, definitely, but only if they return to selling the merch they used to sell as opposed to the crappy K-Mart stuff they've been passing off lately.

I honestly don't think the problem is oversaturation of themed merchandise. Rather, it's the quality of the merchandise itself and the diminshed enjoyment of the shopping experience that the new cookie-cutter Disney Stores provide. There is still a huge market for high-quality, innovative, interesting products tied to Disney trademarks, but instead they seem to be trying to force cheapo generic-type stuff on us. Making the stores look like Old Navy doesn't help, either. I wonder if they can move Paul Pressler back to being in charge of retail operations where he really seemed to thrive?