Disney to Close At Least 60 U.S. Retail Stores
Posted on March 24, 2021
Disney has announced plans to close at least sixty brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S. The store closings will take place this year.
Stephanie Young, president, Consumer Products Games and Publishing for Disney, says in the announcement, "While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer. Over the past few years, we’ve been focused on meeting consumers where they are already spending their time, such as the expansion of Disney store shop-in-shops around the world. We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected ecommerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises."
Many of Disney's locations are located inside malls which have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Godiva also recently announced plans to close all of its stores.
The store closings are bad news for malls which are likely to deal with a growing number of pandemic-related closures.
A USA Today report says 38 of the closings will happen by the end of the March.
Here are a couple local reports of Disney Store closings at Galleria Mall in St. Louis and at the West Town Mall in Knoxville.