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View Full Version : Emporium Toy Store Open?



biolabetty
02-25-2005, 02:10 PM
Does anyone know if you can get in there yet? We would like to take a picture of the train that goes around the top. Thanks for your help.

Stupid_American
02-25-2005, 02:25 PM
Not as of last week.

Mukta
02-25-2005, 02:33 PM
Not as of Tuesday.

biolabetty
02-25-2005, 03:46 PM
That's what I was afraid of. Anyone have any photos of the train at the store?

MommyTo3Boys1Girl
02-25-2005, 10:07 PM
When is it scheduled to reopen? It is part of our tradition to allow our kids to pick one new stuffed friend at each visit and it has to come from there! I really don't want them to have to shop elsewhere!

Esmerelda
02-26-2005, 12:51 AM
When is it scheduled to reopen? It is part of our tradition to allow our kids to pick one new stuffed friend at each visit and it has to come from there! I really don't want them to have to shop elsewhere!


There are still some stuffed friends at the back of the store (in the kid's clothing section). Most of them have moved across the street to Disney Showcase, though. I don't know about an opening date...

stitchlvr
02-26-2005, 08:54 AM
As of yesterday morning, it was still closed.

cstephens
03-05-2005, 09:53 AM
It opened on Friday morning. It was funny to walk by on Thursday and see the walls up and not be able to go into the store (a friend had wanted to shop in there, so we had to look for stuff elsewhere), and then on Friday, it's open for business.

It's pretty nice in there. They've changed the fixtures a lot, as well as the merchandise in the toy store and the book store. They moved the register in the book store from the corner to where the entrance is, near the watch shop. There are all kinds of different shelving in there, as well as in the toy store, where instead of the register being in the middle, they've moved it next to the wall by the jewelry store. The mound of plush at the entrance has also been moved. There are two stands at the front (with little railings so that the plush doesn't fall off, which I thought was cute) with some plush in it, but the majority are in new shelving at the very back of the store. We noticed that everything in the book store and toy store was very bright and shiny. Don't know if it was just cleaned really well or painted really well, but all very pretty.

AVP
03-05-2005, 11:48 AM
The store looks FANTASTIC. I was in there last night, and was amazed at the transformation.

The "book" room has lost one of its two "wrap desks" (cash registers). The train is still there, untouched. This room is now devoted to all things Princess, including a new bead station.

There are some new custom fixtures in there, including a huge, three-armed, room-filling "gondola" fixture, which the cast members tell me can be reconfigured into different displays. It's a great fixture. The corner where the main wrap desk used to be has been refitted with display shelves.

The "plush" room has been gutted. The giant tiered oval plush mound has been removed. Instead, two sets of nesting tables at the entrance display a smaller selection of plush, and offer more room to navigate through the store. The front wrap desk was moved to the side wall; the 2nd wrap desk was removed entirely and replaced with another of the new gondola fixtures. The tiered display against the back wall has been replaced by display shelving.

The new fixtures are white, with inset panels that coordinate with the wallpaper used in the area.

The first thing I noticed was the lighting. Lighting is SO important to a store, and the Emporium is now its own case study. If you step from the newly-remodeled section into the main part of the store, you'll immediately notice the change in energy and atmosphere between the two sections. Customers are drawn like moths to the lighted areas. Some of the cast members working in the main room say that they wish they had the brighter lighting too. The lighting really highlights the stained glass panels which have always been in the plush room, and crystal glasses and cake plates added to the higher prop shelves make the whole room sparkle.

AVP

biolabetty
03-05-2005, 12:09 PM
Thank you so much for letting me know it has opened. I'm glad they left the train. I'll bring my camera next week for MA and take pictures. Thank you everyone for your help.