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5/23
Disney Stores Being Sold ?
If an OFFICIAL Press release is released I will add it
Disney
Puts Its Stores Up for Sale Firm plans to close more than 100 shops and sell
the rest to a buyer that would operate them under a licensing deal.
Los Angeles Times (Home Edition) - May 23, 2003 - p C-1, Business; Business
Desk; Business
By Richard Verrier
Times Staff Writer
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-based entertainment giant said Thursday that the company planned to
close more than 100 of its Disney Store outlets during the next six months and
sell the remaining stores to one or more buyers that would operate them under a
licensing agreement.
To prepare the way for a possible sale, the company announced a management
shake-up: Disney Store Inc. President Peter Whitford, who resigned Thursday,
will be replaced temporarily by Andy Mooney, chief of Disney's consumer
products unit.The announcements came after 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 been among the most visible symbols of the company
but, according to analysts, have struggled from over expansion, a failure to
respond quickly to changing trends and a falloff in demand for merchandise
featuring its animated movie characters. The weak performance was underscored
when Disney recently reported that operating income in its consumer products
unit plunged 38% to $53 million in its fiscal second quarter.The decision also
comes at a time when Disney is under pressure to sell assets to shore up its
bottom line, which also has been hard hit by a downturn at its theme parks.
Disney recently sold its Anaheim Angels baseball team to Phoenix businessman
Arte Moreno for $180 million.Industry analysts weren't surprised that Disney
decided to retreat from retail. They noted that two years ago, AOL Time Warner
Inc. pulled out of its Warner Bros. stores and that specialty retailers have
had a 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."In an interview, Mooney acknowledged the problems of over expansion and
difficult economic times."It's a challenging environment in specialty retail,
no doubt about it," said Mooney, a former Nike Inc. executive.Mooney said it
makes more economic sense for Disney to let someone with expertise in the
retail industry run the stores so that the entertainment firm can allocate
precious resources elsewhere in the company and concentrate on its more
successful licensing business.Disney has been working in recent years to forge
closer ties with big retailers such as Toys R Us Inc., Target Corp. and Wal-mart
Stores Inc., 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.Disney began dismantling its retail empire in 2001, selling its Disney
Stores in Japan to Oriental Land Co., which pays Disney a royalty fee based on
a percentage of store sales. Oriental also operates Tokyo Disneyland.The
success of that deal prompted Disney to explore a similar arrangement in Europe
and North America, Mooney said, adding that Disney does not have buyers lined
up.Disney's retail chain has been steadily shrinking. It has gone from 700
stores in the late 1990s to 548 stores worldwide today, including 387 in North
America. Store closings will continue as lease agreements expire.The plan is to
reduce over the next six months the number of stores in North America to less
than 300 -- a level Disney believes will make the chain more attractive to
potential buyers, including private equity firms."I don't think they're going
to have any trouble finding buyers," said Richard Giss, a partner in the retail
services group of Deloitte & Touche in Los Angeles. "They've got premium
locations, and the Disney name is a good place to start out for any
enterprise."
Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times
Disney Store Magical Musical Moment Pins fro
12/14th
97 - When You Wish Upon A Star
98 - Fun and Fancy Free
99 - Toyland
100 - Jingle Bells
101 - Baby Be Mine
102 - This is Halloween
103 - As Long As There's Christmas
104 - Wonderful World of Color
11/9
Christmas Pooh Pins
These pins are being releases at the US Disney
Stores. Some stores are getting all at once and some stores are only getting 3
or 4 of the series in a shipment.
   
11/7
November 9th Magical Musical Moments Pins
These pins will be released this Saturday at the
Disney Stores
57 For He's A Jolly Good Fellow
58 Lullaby Land
59 Do You Believe In Magic
60 Everything is Right
61 Cruella De Vil
62 Right Back Where We Started From
63 City of Light
64 Heigh Ho
11/5
New Disney Store Christmas Pins
These pins officially went on sale Sunday at most us Disney stores
       
Compliments of Vince
10/24
 
10/4
New 12 Months of Magic Pin
9/27
Magical Musical Pins 9/28
# 9 Mickey Mouse March
   
# 10 You Belong to My Heart
# 11 Hakuna Matata
# 12 Lavender Blue
# 13 The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers
# 14 Just Around the Riverbend
# 15 The Unbirthday Song
# 16 You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly!
8/26
12 Months of Magic Pins
Soon you will be seeing these new pins
showing up.
Pooh ABC's of Me
Alice in Wonderland
Marie
Picnic
Mickey Mouse Choo Choo
Mickey Mouse Camping Out
Cinderella Castle
Minnie Princess
Tarzan and Jane
8/12
Disney Store Mini Lanyards & Pins
These mini lanyards & pins are sold at The Disney Store
for your dolls.
The lanyards are 7" long and 1/2" wide each set comes with 4 pins.
The pins are about 1/2". These sell for $10 each
  
Compliments of Vince
8/12
New Disney Store Cast Pin
This pin is given to Disney Store Cast Members. The
new pin is small, about a half inch. This is designed to go in the bottom of
the nametag.
It is the replacement for the old traditions pin.
 
Old Traditions Pin****New Traditions Pin
Compliments of Vince
8/8
Disney Store Pins Released week of 8/5
 
   
     
     
      
Compliments of Vince, Bob, John Boy, Mary Ellen, Jim Bob
8/3
Disney Store Getting New Pins
Stores will receive 27 new styles of pins!
These pin should be arriving to all Disney Stores
between now and
Aug. 13th
Sept. Pooh Birthstone, Toy Story 2 Logo, Rex, Stinky Pete, Bullseye, Jessie,
Woody, Buzz, Bo Peep, Herbie Rides Again, Goofy Vacation, September Calendar,
Mulan, Bambi & Flower, Pooh Logo, Christopher Robin, Kanga/Roo, Owl, Pooh,
Eeyore, Tigger, October Birthstone, TDS-France, TDS-UK, October Calendar,
Teachers Are People, Eeyore (2nd style)
The
buy on get one free offer for all Disney Store pins has stopped as of Aug. 3rd
6/28
New 12 Months Of Magic Pins
These pins were found at The Disney Store
yesterday
  
6/21
By June 21st the Disney Stores will be
releasing 4 Lilo and Stitch Pins. These will be available at all the stores.
Select stores will have two LE 2000 additional pins these pin will be sold at
the TOP pin selling stores.
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Lilo Hula |
Aloha |
Stitch Alien Light up |
Lilo and Doll |
And the two extra LE pins that select stores will get are:
Jumbaa
Pleakley
6/11
More 12 Months of Magic Pins
   
6/7
4th Of July 12 Months Of Magic Pin
Not sure if this was released to early but here is
what to look forward to.
More Releases
   
   
Also scheduled are three lanyards, described as
Standard Characters, Pooh, and Princess.
  
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