[dab]

I can't seem to find the newspaper article I read about the closing of the Disney Stores. Can someone help. I searched the threads but now think it was on of the news stories on the front page. Can anyone help!

[mickey]

Dab

Here is the original article from the Orlando Sentinel. I am sure there are other that may be more complete, like in the Wall Street Journal, but I didn't search for them.

Disney to close 100 stores, sell others

Disney to close 100 retail stores, sell off the rest
By Richard Verrier

LOS ANGELES -- The Walt Disney Co. is getting off the retailing roller-coaster it has been riding for more than 15 years, putting its chain of signature stores on the block after a series of missteps and sharp turns in the economy.

Executives of the Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment giant said Thursday that it plans to close more than 100 Disney Store outlets during the next six months and wants to sell remaining stores to one or more buyers who would continue to operate them under a licensing agreement.

Two Central Florida stores -- at the Altamonte Mall and Orlando Fashion Square -- already have closed while the shops at Florida Mall, Seminole Towne Center and West Oaks Mall remain open. It was not clear Thursday whether these stores would be among those closed.

To prepare the way for a possible sale, the company also announced a management shake-up. Disney Store Inc. President Peter Whitford will be replaced temporarily by Andy Mooney, chief of Disney's consumer products unit.

The actions announced Thursday culminate several years of attempts to revamp the stores, which have been a drain on Disney since the late 1990s. Founded in 1987, the Disney Stores have struggled from overexpansion and a failure to respond quickly to changing retail trends, analysts said.

Industry analysts were not surprised that Disney decided to exit from retail. They noted that two years ago, AOL Time Warner pulled out of its Warner Bros. stores and that specialty retailers have had an especially tough time weathering the current market conditions.

When Disney stores "started getting into every mall in the U.S., they became much less special," said Marty Brochstein, executive editor of the Licensing Letter, a New York-based industry newsletter. "They became overly expensive marketing tools."

Disney has been working in recent years to forge closer ties with big retailers such as Toys R Us, Target and Wal-Mart, allowing them to sell their own exclusive merchandise.

"Having someone who is singularly focused on retail, and for us to move onto brand management and a licensing model, is the best approach in the long run," Mooney said in an interview.

[dab]

Thank you Mickey!

[ilvminnie]

I was wondering why I could always find Disney clothes at Walmart when I couldn't find them anywhere else!!!