Another piece of the big Disney/Marvel puzzle will undoubtedly be a future Marvel presence in The Disney Store. The chain boasts hundreds of stores worldwide, with locations in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Japan, among other countries. The Disney Store has not only hosted Disney product, but affiliated merchandise based on programming appearing on Disney networks (such as Power Rangers).
Obviously, we should probably expect an influx of Marvel product as a result of the deal. Recall if you will the late, lamented WB Store chain. That was the homebase for many DC products in its time, including exclusive toys, clothing and art. It’s not difficult to picture Disney pursuing a similar route with Marvel items. This could give the stores a bit of a shot in the arm, considering the fact that their overall reached shrunk with store closures in 2008.
Another interesting wrinkle is the fact that the Disney Store is quite strong with young girls, particularly in the Princess brands. Might this be a way for Marvel to market to the elusive female market, by positioning strong female characters in a manner that’s appealing to young ladies that potentially wouldn’t be in the comic shop, but would be in the Disney Store? What do you think?
August 31st, 2009 at 12:06 pm
The Disney Store is pretty close to irrelevant. There isn’t one left in Manhattan, when there was once a huge one on Fifth Avenue (to compete with the Warner Bros. Store, of course).
I can’t really see sales of Marvel tie-in toys, etc., getting much higher. They are already everywhere without the benefit of Disney behind them. And at the same time, I can’t say I’ve seen much in the way of Pixar tie-ins lately.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I disagree on relevance; last year, Disney brought 220 locations back under their direct ownership, letting the other locations (like NYC) close. 220 locations is not bad at all, especially when they have markets like Tokyo and Australia in the mix.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Disney has bought out a lot of things, few of which are reflected in the contents of the Disney store. One doesn’t see ABC, ESPN, etc. materials there. And even when Disney had their own comics lines, one wouldn’t find the comics there. I’m not sure that Disney will want the characters to be seen as part of the Disney brand so much as it will want Marvel to be seen as a strong brand on its own.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Well, Simon, sentient life was recently discovered outside Manhattan.
Out here in the midwest, Disney Stores are still a staple in larger malls, and are often the only in-mall toy store to be found. Kids will go apeshit for recognizable characters if it means a break from the department stores. I think they’ll do fine.
August 31st, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Disney stores are good, but think about where Disney Adventures used to be sold; at toy stores, supermarket checkout. I think expanded markets means much more.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Nat, your point is well-taken. However, one *does* see ABC, ESPN, and lots of other Disney properties outside of the Mickeyverse and Pixarverse in the theme park stores. I would think that there will be a strong possibility that Marvel will now also have a presence on some of the shelves in the theme park souvenir stores.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:57 pm
“220 locations is not bad at all”
However, they closed another 98 at that time. So they did close 30% of the locations. That’s rather bad.
August 31st, 2009 at 6:45 pm
We can guarantee it would be overpriced and behind the high school musical merch
August 31st, 2009 at 7:29 pm
@silvanthalas
That was a consequence of restructuring when Disney reacquired direct ownership of the stores. They cut the underperformaing locations and focused on retrenching the others. It’s hard to say how that’s gone, as the economy basically went in the tank around the same time.
@Nat
I hazard a guess that there isn’t much ABC material there that isn’t Disney these days because the store mostly rebranded for younger audiences. Lost or Desperate Housewives gear wouldn’t be appropriate there, but Spider-Man and Hulk would.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Where did they reopen all these stores? Not one in Manhattan? That’s weird. The one where I live (Milwaukee) seemed to do pretty good business. It was in what is probably the most popular mall in the area, and right next to the on-site movie theatre (which seems like smart placement). But that’s been gone for awhile now.
My family was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, and there’s one on Michigan Ave. there. I stopped in got a sweet Wall*E action figure for my desk at work. I was miffed, however, that there was not one single Incredibles item in that whole store (believe me, I asked). There wasn’t much Incredibles stuff at Disney World in Orlando either. I was there almost a year ago, and I couldn’t find Incredibles action figures anywhere… Plenty of Cars stuff though.
I don’t get it. With superhero movies being all the rage, and I’m guessing Disney’s purchase of Marvel’s been in the pipeline for awhile (they’ve been loading up lots of old Marvel cartoons on Disney XD), why wouldn’t they merchandise The Incredibles more, let alone plan a sequel (yet freakin’ Cars is getting one)?
So anyhow, I don’t know how big a deal the Disney stores will be for Marvel. Aside from downtown Chicago, I don’t even know where any are. I assume they’ll have a presence though, as will the shops at Disney World. Their “Hollywood Studios” theme park in Orlando would seem a natural place for Marvel stuff.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:17 pm
@ Troy: “Lost or Desperate Housewives gear wouldn’t be appropriate there, but Spider-Man and Hulk would.”
Actually, my 10 year-old daughter would have loved to have found Lost stuff at the Disney Store in Chicago while we were there! But, yeah, you’re right about that. Most kids wouldn’t. Case in point, you don’t see an ESPN presence in those stores either.
That said, along with not finding much Incredibles stuff at Disney World, I was very disappointed that there wasn’t any Lost stuff there either. At the Hollywood Studios theme park, there’s a restaurant that had posters up from a bunch of ABC shows, including Lost, and I asked if they had an ABC shop there. The answer was “No,” and it seemed like yet another missed opportunity. I’d have bought a ton of Lost stuff if they’d had it, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
But there’s an entire shop devoted to Aerosmith, when you exit the Rock & Roller Coaster. Sheesh. I’d have preferred the Rolling Stones.
April 18th, 2010 at 3:07 am
@ Shaun – I agree with you fully. There should be merchandise avaialable when fans come to places like Hollywood Studios them park. Sadly the merchandising aspect of the business can often be lost on executives..
But talking about Marvel in Disney Stores. Why not? Your target audience is going to come there already, so you might as well cash in with some sideline items that will bring in some extra money you might not normally have received.
Opportunity abounds!
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