Thomas's Profile

I have to chime in here. I worked as a tradition trainer with The Disney Stores for over 10 years, starting my “career” fresh out of high school by participating in the grand opening of the first store (4th in the chain) outside of California. As Gregory mentions, it was an event for all the guest that came to the store for the first few years, some even comparing it to visiting one of the theme parks for a day. The first original 13 stores each had its own theme relative to the area; Bridgewater, NJ had a beach theme (Jersey Shore), Paramus was set in a theatre (closet proximity to NYC), etc. Then each year after 1989 they had themed stores for those that opened in a 12-month period, and in the mid-90s it was limited to a generic theme. They originally touted that they would only be located in selective, upscale malls (I heard the original number was to be 100 worldwide), but that soon changed when the popularity of the stores took off. At one point they had over 500 stores domestically, and 160 overseas. Their demise was that they oversaturated the market with “magic”. Can you imagine if there was a Disneyland located in each state? What killed them wasn’t their product line/ merchandise, but the fact that it simply was not an experience anymore going there. Why not just go to Walmart and pick up the same thing at a cheaper price? I’m not too sure if the Apple Stores are going to have the same problem, but I agree that they should be very selective in which malls they locate themselves in, which by doing so still creates that “going to an event” feel.