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View Full Version : Character Depot (formerly Disney Character Warehouse) going out of business



olegc
06-21-2013, 12:46 PM
Just got an email. Character Depot (formerly Disney Character Warehouse) is going out of business
Starting Sat 6/22 50-90% off. Everything must go.

While the selection used to be a lot better a long time ago - there still may be some Disney finds at the Fullerton location (watches, figurines, etc.). The location is in the Orangefair Mall off of Orangethorpe and Lemon in Fullerton.

MammaSilva
06-21-2013, 12:47 PM
I was just coming to share the news! I'm having a sad :(

DL Mama
06-21-2013, 08:19 PM
Not sure where this should go (so mods, please move to a more appropriate spot if needed) but I just got an email that all the AMS Character Depot stores (formerly Disney Character Warehouse...I think) are going out of business. Clearance sale starts tomorrow. We always looked to see what deals we could find. Looks like it is all the stores, not just Fullerton.

cookie7762
06-23-2013, 12:14 PM
So what does this mean for the out of date Disney merchandise? Super clearance sections in the park? Ship it to the Disney Stores?

currence
06-23-2013, 12:21 PM
So what does this mean for the out of date Disney merchandise? Super clearance sections in the park? Ship it to the Disney Stores?

For the past year (or longer?) Disney has been sending their surplus to their own Disney Outlet stores. This had lead to the decline of merchandise available at the [formerly] Disney Character Warehouse and likely what contributed to their going out of business.

olegc
06-23-2013, 12:53 PM
For the past year (or longer?) Disney has been sending their surplus to their own Disney Outlet stores. This had lead to the decline of merchandise available at the [formerly] Disney Character Warehouse and likely what contributed to their going out of business.

are there any outlet stores in southern california? i have not seen any reference but I wondered.

Karin
06-23-2013, 01:46 PM
I just cheked listings for the 4 outlet centers I know of (Pismo, Lake Elsinore, Cammarillo and Desert Hills) and none of them list Disney as having a store there.

olegc
06-23-2013, 01:49 PM
I just cheked listings for the 4 outlet centers I know of (Pismo, Lake Elsinore, Cammarillo and Desert Hills) and none of them list Disney as having a store there.

Ontario Mills lists a Disney Store Outlet (http://www.simon.com/mall/ontario-mills/stores/disney-store-outlet) - and I wonder if they would have any theme park merch (or figures) or only the Disney Store stuff.

jsilkey
06-23-2013, 01:59 PM
We are in Salem, Oregon. Our outlet mall (in Woodburn) has a Disney outlet w/ tons of park merchandise. We were told recently (by a San Jose disney Store employee) that in Northern California, the outlet mall in Gilroy has a Disney outlet w/ park merchandise.

If it is listed as a Disney Outlet, and is in an outlet mall, my guess is that it has park merchandise.

currence
06-23-2013, 07:35 PM
The two Disney Outlet malls that I have been to are Ontario Mills and Camarillo Outlets. They both have had varying degrees of Disney Store outlet and Disney parks outlet merchandise, as well as a decent section of the store dedicated to regular Disney store offerings.

cookie7762
06-24-2013, 09:26 AM
From what I have heard, the Disney Store outlets to not offer a significant discount like the warehouses did. Reviews actually say things are the same prices at the regular Disney Store as at the outlet. Thats definitely is not worth the drive from Rocklin to Gilroy! I was hoping to score some park perch cheap!

jonyyeh
06-24-2013, 09:38 AM
I live in Tx and the Disney Store Outlet in San Macros, Tx and Gulfport, MS both sell a significant amount of Disneyland (though not WDW) merchandise. The prices can be good (I bought a long sleeve Disneyland shirt for $16 including tax for normally would be sold for $40 or $60). However, normal sizes may be a little more difficult to find.

Yes, some of the regular Disney Store merchandise is at or near normal prices, but the Parks merchandise always has some sort of markdown at the Disney Store Outlets.

MidwayManiac
06-26-2013, 07:46 PM
The two Disney Outlet malls that I have been to are Ontario Mills and Camarillo Outlets.

I've been to both these stores and found the Disneyland merch relatively lacking.

Interestingly, once each year 'round this time I visit the N. Myrtle Beach Disney outlet and the Disneyland merch is pretty extensive. It's about a 4,000 square foot floor, a quarter of which is all Disneyland stuff. Great prices but a lot of odd sizes so I rarely come away w/ anything (was there last night and bought nothing).
Always strikes me as interesting Anaheim and Myrtle Beach are 2,500 miles apart ... this stuff would possibly sell better at Ontario Mills or some such SoCal store where there are droves of AP holders who don't necessarily load up on park merch but who'd definitely buy it at the steep discounts I see in the Myrtle Beach store. Just a thought.

olegc
06-26-2013, 07:53 PM
I've been to both these stores and found the Disneyland merch relatively lacking.
edit.... this stuff would possibly sell better at Ontario Mills or some such SoCal store where there are droves of AP holders who don't necessarily load up on park merch but who'd definitely buy it at the steep discounts I see in the Myrtle Beach store. Just a thought.

well, but since it is so close I believe Disney purposefully does not place a lot of merch in So Cal. If you want it - you'll have to go to the park and get it.

currence
06-26-2013, 08:08 PM
The outlet stores are definitely hit or miss. If I went to them often enough, I would probably try to find out when they get their shipments and go there after the new merchandise is put out.

I've been to Ontario Mills when there was so much merchandise that I was pretty sure the discount area was not ADA compliant. The last time I was there it seemed at least 1/2 of the racks had been removed and there was a lot less to choose from. I did still manage to find 2 dress-up dresses for my daughter for $20 and $25 (normally $40ish) They were Disney Store clearance though, not Disney Parks.

I also bought our team Turkey Leg shirts from the Oxnard outlet for ridiculously cheap. They seemed to have more Disney parks merchandise, but again that may have just been a factor of when I went.

I would agree that the outlet merchandise was primarily clothing & esp. t-shirts. When I would go to the Disney Character Warehouse I would usually focus on the non-clothing merchandise. That does seem to be significantly lacking at the two closest Disney Outlets.

AnotherJenny
06-26-2013, 09:02 PM
I saw those Turkey Leg shirts in October at the outlet in Vegas for $7.99. I got 2 other shirts, for $7.99 and $9.99, one of which I had bought in the park in July for $24. I also got a good deal on a picture frame, I think it was $4.99, and would have bought more but there was only 1. They were having a deal where you take an additional 30% off red tags, and red tags were park merchandise. And I got pins for $1.20, but they only had 1 Ariel pin and there was only about 5 of them. It was mostly t-shirts as far as park stuff, and the Disney Store stuff was barely discounted, so I didn't buy anything. I was happy with what I got, but from what others who have been to Oxnard and San Ysidro have told me, I may have been lucky, because they say pins and non-seasonal merchandise are rare.

Pammer
06-27-2013, 07:16 AM
We are in Salem, Oregon. Our outlet mall (in Woodburn) has a Disney outlet w/ tons of park merchandise. We were told recently (by a San Jose disney Store employee) that in Northern California, the outlet mall in Gilroy has a Disney outlet w/ park merchandise.

If it is listed as a Disney Outlet, and is in an outlet mall, my guess is that it has park merchandise. Gilroy...darn, I wish I had seen this sooner! We could have made a side trip over to check it out on Tuesday when we drove back from the central coast to Sacramento; oh well!

CariBelle
06-27-2013, 07:57 AM
I just cheked listings for the 4 outlet centers I know of (Pismo, Lake Elsinore, Cammarillo and Desert Hills) and none of them list Disney as having a store there.

Camarillo does have one, it's just not listed on their store directory for some reason. It does come up when you view their sales list though. The last time we visited there wasn't anything that interested me except for some still very pricey collectibles.
Pismo has had the travelling store before, but it's been a long time since I've seen them come through.

Pammer
06-27-2013, 08:00 AM
Pismo has had the travelling store before, but it's been a long time since I've seen them come through. I was actually at the Pismo stores on Saturday and can confirm that there was no Disney outlet, traveling or otherwise, in business.

currence
06-27-2013, 08:13 AM
The Disney Website (http://www.disneystore.com/disney-store-locator/mn/1001278/) does list all of the locations of their stores and identifies which ones they consider to be outlet stores. The only three in Southern California are San Diego (way south near TJ), Ontario Mills, and Oxnard. Gilroy is also listed as being an outlet store on the Disney website. I didn't check the rest of California.

olegc
06-27-2013, 10:35 AM
I saw those Turkey Leg shirts in October at the outlet in Vegas for $7.99. I got 2 other shirts, for $7.99 and $9.99, one of which I had bought in the park in July for $24. I also got a good deal on a picture frame, I think it was $4.99, and would have bought more but there was only 1. They were having a deal where you take an additional 30% off red tags, and red tags were park merchandise. And I got pins for $1.20, but they only had 1 Ariel pin and there was only about 5 of them. It was mostly t-shirts as far as park stuff, and the Disney Store stuff was barely discounted, so I didn't buy anything. I was happy with what I got, but from what others who have been to Oxnard and San Ysidro have told me, I may have been lucky, because they say pins and non-seasonal merchandise are rare.

thats a little of what Fullerton used to be like. The parks would unload a lot of stuff to the fullerton store. I think just after the 50th it started to slow down - and two years ago the flow of near-term (within 1 year) park merchandise really stopped.

AnotherJenny
06-27-2013, 10:43 AM
thats a little of what Fullerton used to be like. The parks would unload a lot of stuff to the fullerton store. I think just after the 50th it started to slow down - and two years ago the flow of near-term (within 1 year) park merchandise really stopped.

I figured out that they stopped sending park merchandise to Fullerton when it was several years after the 50th and they were still selling those "decades" souvenir mugs, particularly the 70s one with the ugly yellow top. It's like they had an endless supply, but everyone else eventually ran out. Even at the depot (or when I went to one of the pop-ups) I never found a park shirt for $7.99 or a pin for $1.20. Of course the difference is that the depot always had a selection of pins, and I would buy the ones I actually wanted for $5. The outlets are more hit or miss. Maybe it's because there's more of them, or maybe Disney just doesn't have the huge surplus of products anymore. Either because they're keeping items in the parks longer, or they're just not making as much stuff.

CariBelle
07-08-2013, 12:28 PM
We went to the Camarillo outlets yesterday and I stopped in the Disney store. They had some Christmas Disneyland merch (goblets and ornaments), a bunch of different park tshirts (mainly men's), and some random other items. Most of the rest of the store was Monsters U stuff and general Disney Store items. All park merch was an extra 30% off, plus I had a 10% off a $40 or more purchase. I got two Wall E and Eve vinylmation pin sets for $3.77 each, 2 women's short sleeves tshirts for $10.20 each, a monorail keychain for $1.30, a Halloween antenna topper for .60 and 5 Monsters University pins for $4.50 each! I got 4 of the frat/sorority pins and an extra OK pin to keep. For $5 these will make great traders!

olegc
07-08-2013, 03:16 PM
edit.... and 5 Monsters University pins for $4.50 each! I got 4 of the frat/sorority pins and an extra OK pin to keep. For $5 these will make great traders!

wow - they JUST had those in the parks for the Monstrous Summer Overnighter. that's when they were released. I guess they made way too many?

CariBelle
07-09-2013, 01:49 PM
wow - they JUST had those in the parks for the Monstrous Summer Overnighter. that's when they were released. I guess they made way too many?

I believe someone just posted they paid full price at the regular Disney Store as well. The CM at the outlet said they keep selling out and more come in every week.