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Disney to open Disney Baby stores
As part of the company’s efforts to target younger children, Disney has announced the opening of special Disney Baby stores. These stores will specifically offer products for infants and highlight the best of its new infant line, including apparel, nursery items, and bath products.
The first Disney Baby store will open next year in the Americana mall in Glendale, Calif., according to Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products. The second store will also open next year, although the company has not settled on a location. New York City is one possibility.
Disney currently has no plans to build Disney Baby into a full-fledged chain, although Mr. Mooney left the door open to that possibility in a presentation to reporters on Thursday morning.
This announcement of the new stores comes as a larger push by Disney to market themselves to younger children. Disney Channel currently presents about 60 hours of preschool-aged children’s programming each week, and a dedicated channel for preschoolers, Disney Junior, will debut next year.
Additionally, Disney Consumer Products is working with the company Our365 to get their products into maternity wards and provide a free sample of their Disney Cuddly Bodysuit as part of the samples new mothers receive in the hospital.
“This is very much a test,” Mr. Mooney said. “Once we have some experience under our belt and look at the economics of it, we can decide at a later date if there is an ongoing viable business there.”
Mr. Mooney’s presentation was timed to the Licensing International Expo, which will take place next week in Las Vegas. Disney’s priorities at that event will include the “Cars” franchise; more merchandise will be tied to the release next month of “Cars 2” than any in motion picture history, according to Mr. Mooney.
Disney, which sold $9 billion worth of Mickey Mouse-related merchandise alone last year, is also pushing expansions of its Princess and Fairies retail franchises.
