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[Luigi]

i think it's really good idea to change it a bit to draw more attention, i first didn't notice the shop too, only when i looked at my made pictures in the evening, so i visited it the second day.

[pussinboots]

Well, this is kind of on topic...

Apparently, the average guest spends €10 on souvenirs at the Disneyland Park, and only €5 at the Walt Disney Studios.

I'm not surprised. Although the park had an expansive, distinct line of merchandise in its first few years, that's no longer the case, and the entire park only has two stores that you really can't miss (Legends of Hollywood and the Tower of Terror gift shop). And Legends is hardly the kind of store you walk into for the scenery. I imagine €3 of those €5 is spent at the Tower of Terror gift shop, the park's current little shopping oasis.

I wonder what all this means from a business point of view, though. Does the park have too few stores or perhaps too many already?

In any case, as Kristof pointed out... There isn't a doorway inviting enough for the Studios Store to really raise park spending unless it carries a line of merchandise that can't also be found ten feet away in the Legends store. It might just move some business away from its neighbor.

[phantom247]

I bring you back to my comment re reelection of Jay Rasulo to the supervisory board feb 09.
When you look at things like Merchandising the more shops that have identical products do not increase sales as Guests will only buy a product once if your talking about the Disney Stores this policy would work but not in Parks where people look for something different which reflects the overall theme of the Park.
Don't always take things from the company line talk to industry insiders and reporters such as Jim Hill and Mouseplanet who covered the departure of the last CEO of Disneyland CA and the real reasons why he departed from the Company and took a possition with a large hotel chain ask them both if they can give you a link to these old articles you will find it very intresting.

Thank you for bringing up the discrepencies in Sales WDS Park I will try to address this with the company over the next year.

[Anthony]

I wonder what all this means from a business point of view, though. Does the park have too few stores or perhaps too many already?

I'm guessing in that wonderful Jay Rasulo era they looked over to DLP when planning WDS and noticed "hey, most people only go in the shops near the entrance/exit". So then they piled 99% of the Studios' retail into that single area, not realising that the only reason people only go in Main Street's shops is because the ones in the rest of the park had already been watered down by all selling the same merchandise. Anyway, just so happens that two Emporium-style general merchandise stores doesn't work, especially when one is quite bland.

So wouldn't the best thing be to split WDS Store into several (2 or 3) smaller, distinct units? Maybe keep a route through inside, like the routes between Disney & Co. and Lilly's in Main Street, but drop the generic name and have say a specifically-named clothing shop, a Harrington's-type shop, etc...

I'm not entirely sure a few doors will solve the problem.

[phantom247]

Really love your idea of having another Harrington's-type shop in WDS Park, they could use the other half as a cafe adding more life to the area which is seen by most guests as a pre show Experience and not properly connected with the main Park.

[Anthony]

they could use the other half as a cafe adding more life to the area which is seen by most guests as a pre show Experience and not properly connected with the main Park.

Funnily enough, I almost said that myself. The section closest to Studio 1 would make a great little place to get a drink, much better (and actually bigger) than Café Cafés. There's plenty of space for a terrace in Summer too.

The small "boutique" section Kristof mentioned would be perfect for a higher-end boutique like Storybook Store or Harrington's ('Hyperion Collectibles', perhaps?). The middle section could then exclusively sell proper "Walt Disney Studios" branded merchandise ('Disney Bros. Store'?). This is where you'd expect to find that, but currently it seems to be mostly in Studio 1. Maybe a few items from each attraction too, and no Princess dresses or such...

Studio Photo seems to be overrun by generic merchandise too, with very little actual "photo" stuff...

[The Butlin Boy]

So wouldn't the best thing be to split WDS Store into several (2 or 3) smaller, distinct units? Maybe keep a route through inside, like the routes between Disney & Co. and Lilly's in Main Street, but drop the generic name and have say a specifically-named clothing shop, a Harrington's-type shop, etc...

Ahem....'The Costume Department'! :lol:  

[pussinboots]

I'm guessing in that wonderful Jay Rasulo era they looked over to DLP when planning WDS and noticed "hey, most people only go in the shops near the entrance/exit". So then they piled 99% of the Studios' retail into that single area, not realising that the only reason people only go in Main Street's shops is because the ones in the rest of the park had already been watered down by all selling the same merchandise. Anyway, just so happens that two Emporium-style general merchandise stores doesn't work, especially when one is quite bland.

So wouldn't the best thing be to split WDS Store into several (2 or 3) smaller, distinct units? Maybe keep a route through inside, like the routes between Disney & Co. and Lilly's in Main Street, but drop the generic name and have say a specifically-named clothing shop, a Harrington's-type shop, etc...
[...]
Really love your idea of having another Harrington's-type shop in WDS Park, they could use the other half as a cafe adding more life to the area which is seen by most guests as a pre show Experience and not properly connected with the main Park.
[...]
The small "boutique" section Kristof mentioned would be perfect for a higher-end boutique like Storybook Store or Harrington's ('Hyperion Collectibles', perhaps?). The middle section could then exclusively sell proper "Walt Disney Studios" branded merchandise ('Disney Bros. Store'?). This is where you'd expect to find that, but currently it seems to be mostly in Studio 1. Maybe a few items from each attraction too, and no Princess dresses or such...
[...]
Ahem....'The Costume Department'! :lol:

All excellent ideas. The park is obviously full of unexplored retail potential. Which is strange when you realize that a store is the attraction that makes money! (They sure knew this when they built Disney's California Adventure, a rather similar park in most other areas, which when it opened had about fourteen stores to every ride.)

Think of how much Toon Studio could be improved with a lavish store that pays homage to Disney's rich animation history. Imagine something loosely related to the Animation pavilion at Disney's California Adventure, with different, dramatically lit rooms based around themes like the Sorcerer's Workshop, the Beast's Library and something involving villains, each offering a different genre of merchandise ranging from clothes to Christmas ornaments. And what better place for overpriced collectibles than a store like this in a land like this?

(Yes, I realize the shop in the Sorcerer's Hat lives up to some of those criteria, but honestly, in Disneyland Park terms the place is about equal to that corner in the Discovery Arcade where they sell the things they can't fit into Harrington's.)

But there's obviously something stopping them from investing more than petty cash on stores in this park, which is why I asked whether perhaps they've figured that two stores make more money than ten.

[Anthony]

Photos by Vrogui on Disney Gazette forum via Disneyactu:





So much better!

This corner of the store used to be so dead and boring, now it's all fresh and bright and open. Or some other antonym. Good job!

Edit: Although I still hate how they put all these clothes racks outside boutiques, like they're scruffy market stalls...

[The Butlin Boy]

I had my doubts about this at first, but I have to agree that from an interior point of view it does look a lot more welcoming. I wonder what the exterior looks like though... :wink:

[Riebi]

I had my doubts about this at first, but I have to agree that from an interior point of view it does look a lot more welcoming. I wonder what the exterior looks like though... :wink:

Same here! Nice job!

[Aaron]

I had my doubts about this at first, but I have to agree that from an interior point of view it does look a lot more welcoming. I wonder what the exterior looks like though... :wink:

[The Butlin Boy]

I had my doubts about this at first, but I have to agree that from an interior point of view it does look a lot more welcoming. I wonder what the exterior looks like though... :wink:

Thanks Aaron

Hmmmmm... It's not bad; not amazing, but not bad. I could live with it :wink:

[RnRCj]

It can't be just me who wouldn't have noticed the change? :lol:

[Anthony]

What are those black things to the left of the doors and right of the window? Drainpipes? Have they always been there?

It looks great from this angle anyway, ignoring those. Although after all that work they've shot themselves in the foot by filling the outside with the same balloons and "I heart MK" t-shirts you can find anywhere. If they want people to walk into more of the shops in the parks, surely they need to put different and interesting stuff outside? I think this would just flag in peoples' minds "oh, generic shop, no need to look in there..." :?

This really would make a wonderful little café now.