Actually Children's Place owning the stores is going to turn out better than Disney owning it. Disney has been taking the stores in a wrong direction for some time now, and has pretty much been clueless how to get folks in through the doors. The internet has SO changed the dynamics of marketing "real" stores and Disney simply just has not caught on.
"The Children's Place" has. They offer very hip, and very inexpensive clothing that parents simply love. Their sales are real sales, and the stores are always thoughtfully laid out and kept very clean. The employees are also always very neat looking and helpful. Mrs. DaddyB and I will drive to the mall 15 miles away just to shop at The Children's Place. It's called being a destination store for us. Going to the other shops in the mall are secondary. This is what Children's Place is making the Disney Stores again.
These are all things that the Disney store has lacked the last 5 years or more. The closings that are still going on are trying to stem the flow from over saturating the market. I'm sure you will see a much larger "superstore" for Disney in Las Vegas within a year. A Disney superstore will also be opening in Southern California. ONE superstore for all of Southern California, making it a 'destination store' for many southern californians. All the other stores (or most of them) will have a simple upgrade.
I look forward to what Children's Place will be doing. I hope it's not ALL clothes, but it'll be nice to have clothes offered again, and not just costumes and toys.
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