Stitch store news

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Disney takes over Disney Stores from Children's Place

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Walt Disney Co. said Thursday it has taken over the Disney Store chain in North America from Children's Place Retail Stores, and will close about 98 stores U.S. and two in Canada.

Specific financial terms weren't disclosed, but Secaucus, N.J.-based Children's Place said it will cost the company $50 million to exit the operations, at the bottom of its estimated range of $50 million to $100 million.

Walt Disney acquired about 220 Disney Stores in the U.S. and Canada. The deal was completed in conjunction with the bankruptcy proceedings Children's Place subsidiaries Hoop Retail Stores and Hoop Canada, which ran the Disney Store chain. The companies filed for Chapter 11 protection in March.

It's a crappy retail environment out there, so you can't totally blame Children's Place, but we thought the stores have taken a distinct dive downhill these past couple years. One little thing, but it was annoying, was that they stopped getting the widescreen versions of the DVDs when TCP took over. We used to be willing to pay a few extra bux to get our DVDs at Dizzney stores, 'cause they'd have little giveaway prints and suchlike.

Some great commentary from thedisneyblog....

It’s my hope that [incoming president James] Fielding will bring back some direction and some “Disney Magic” to The Disney Stores. Return to what worked. Highly themed stores are a must since that sets the stores apart from others in the mall. A decent collectibles area (with store exclusives), some nice watches, plenty of children’s clothes and toys for kids of all ages, and good promotions tied in with movies and theme parks. Some people would add Disney Pins to that, but I think that trend is on the way out.

You may also remember that The Disney Catalog was a casualty of this failed experiment. They definitely need to bring that back (perhaps combined with some new form for The Disney Magazine).

I would also like to see the return of The Disney Gallery concept (perhaps mixed with the new high end clothing and furniture lines). Las Vegas, Anaheim, Orlando, New York City and Chicago are the obvious places to bring those to immediately. The Disney Gallery is an important destination store for The Disney Fan. Even if they don’t have a Disney Store in their community, they’ll go out of their way to find and visit the nearest Disney Gallery.

Dunno what's gonna work for the stores, but we know they've been losing a lot of money from us, just 'cause there's been nothing to buy at The Dizzney Stores lately. If they had something like a mini version of the high end stores on Main Street in the parks, we'd be there every week.