Mainstreetmom made an interesting observation in the comments of my post yesterday about Disney Parks & Resorts closing the NYC store.
She noted this below:
Where the store is now it is amongst the highest of the high end designers about a block away from The Plaza Hotel. It is not necessarily where you would want a "tourist family" oriented store. I think that they hoped to attract a higher level clientele for this store but I think that they missed their mark.
Which got me to thinking more about all those high end rooms going in and around Disney World this evening. Does the fact that Disney is closing this store to move someplace else more in line with their clientele say anything about how they are holding up with the more 'well to do' visitors?
You've got the Four Seasons hotel and associated properties going up on the now de-annexed property on the northeast section of the property. And then in the mid-east part of the park you have Hilton company building a new Hilton and a Waldorf Astoria being built at the Bonnet Creek Resort. None of these are particularly cheap stays (one night will probably make all but the most expensive rooms at Disney properties look like a moderate in terms of price).
Of course there has been a lot of speculation about the Four Seasons project given that the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts is owned by Prince Prince Al-Walid bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (and Bill Gates), the same gentleman who owns 10% of Disneyland Paris's public stock. He has been reported to have made the restructuring that saved Disneyland Paris from bankruptcy by making that stock purchase possible.
The Bonnet Creek Resort is that 482 acres of land tucked in between Reedy Creek Improvement District and I-4 behind Caribbean Beach. That land is owned by a company named Bonnet Creek Venture, Ltd. which is a partnership between Brooksville Development Corporation of Orlando and the estate of the original owner, who I have seen referred to as Taiwanese investor Ling Kai Kung. Mr. Kung apparently did not like Disney, though it's quite possible that he just didn't think selling out to Disney was the best use of his money/investment.
Regardless, I guess the question is if Disney can't get traction for plush and other items at a store in the most swanky part of New York City, how does that bode for the swanky hotels in the Disney World area? I'd say not very well, but that's just me.
At first I thought 'Hey, Disney doesn't really care at this point I reckon, since neither of these hotels will be their problem. Likewise Disney continues to have high occupancy levels at their own hotels, with no current announced plans for expansion.'
But then I saw this on the Disneycareers.com web site this week within the Imagineering group (you might recall from the bottom of my home page that I want to work for Disney, so I watch this web site religiously to say the least):
Marketing Manager
City
Celebration
State
FL
Position Type
Full-time
Requisition ID
174323
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Manage the creation and implementation of marketing strategies for multiple residential resort communities including the Bonnet Creek/ Four Seasons project. Key responsibilities include developing a strategic marketing strategy using a variety of marketing channels including print advertising, promotional events, co-broker events, public relations strategies, and web site development to achieve sales and marketing objectives. In addition, the position will support sales activities through the development of sales collateral, sales center displays and other necessary sales center tools and applications. The individual will manage an external team consisting of a marketing consultant(s), research consultant(s), and a public relations consultant to achieve successful lead generation within a defined marketing budget. Strong coordination skills are required to interface with members of the project management team, development team, sales team, and concierge teams in addition to key internal stakeholders at Walt Disney World and Four Seasons.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: (These are the minimum qualifications you need to be considered for the job.)
- Bachelors Degree in Marketing or Business Administration or equivalent
- Minimum 5 years experience in marketing residential developments including luxury resort properties
- Demonstrated experience with international residential resort marketing preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to create strong relationships with brokerage community
- Demonstrated strong analytical skills and proficiency in evaluating research to inform the creation of actionable strategies
- Demonstrated strong verbal and written communication skills, including strong presentation skills
- Demonstrated interpersonal skills and ability to influence key stakeholders at all levels, influence others, and serve as a thought leader
- Ability to be comfortable working in an intense, dynamic environment
- Solid experiential base that includes business development and loyalty
So obviously Disney hasn't given up TOTAL ownership of that chunk of property on the NE side. I'm not certain what that deal is entirely, and we may never know publicly.
Which brings me back to wondering then if the shop in NYC was really maybe a trial balloon to see how Disney might do with these higher end customers? If you think about it, it's pretty brilliant if that's the case on even just a small level.
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3 comments:
A Disney store in New York is aimed at one thing only: tourists.
Being from Connecticut, I know that the World of Disney on 5th is very well-patronized, its just that few people actually buy anything at the store. There are two reasons for this: 1) most people, mostly from Connecticut, New Jersey, Westchester, or Long Island, or from the outer boroughs, who go here can buy the same things at the Disney Store in their local mall or online; and 2) most people who can afford anything at the store have already bought what they wanted during a trip to Disney in Florida.
I read the World of Disney will move closer to Times Square. This is a better move. World of Disney is currently located very close to Central Park, and is quite a walk away from the major tourist attractions in Midtown. Remember, the Plaza is half hotel/half condominium now, and no one really wants to see the St. Regis around the corner from the store, so anyone walking past this store is really only walking to see Central Park. For example, Cartier and Gucci are both closer to Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral, and so are in the center of the international tourist area, and thus they do quite well among tourists.
By comparison, a World of Disney in Times Square, an area despised by local New Yorkers and suburbanites who call themselves New Yorkers but beloved by tourists, would do much better business. This is the center of New York tourism, and is filled with Japanese, European, and provincial American tourists who would easily find the store more in the center of their explorations than they would on the upper 50s 5th. Also, rental space in Times Square (or on the side streets off of it where there are really only Broadway theatres or restaurants and not much retail) would be much cheaper than it would be on the Queen of the Avenues.
The closing of the 5th Avenue store is really no big deal; it's just good business. Disney is really beloved by poor and rich alike, but a store on 5th and 57th is no place to build a business that will simply be dependent on tourists rather than wealthy city dwellers or wealthy suburbanites. I'd say a store on 43rd through 50th, or even on 8th Avenue would do much better.
Besides, Disney (through icons like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck) represents American ideals of hard work, creativity, and business acumen, and is also (through the so-called affordedness of its iconic theme parks) as a representation of equality. Thus a store on posh 5th in the neighborhood of the Plaza, the St. Regis, Cartier, and Saks is kind of off-putting to many Americans who expect Disney to cater to more than only the wealthy.
This is how the Grand Floridian is successful, because there is always an All-Star Resort. The Four Seasons will not reflect on Disney at all, because middle-class Americans can still technically afford a vacation to Florida, especially if they save a little bit. Still, if they decide to take that trip to New York instead, Disney will still be there.
Good points!
Ctyankeeboy had great points. Boy do I miss New York. Anyway...about the high end stuff at "the World", I have to wonder if most of the hotels etc. aren't aimed at the international tourists. When we were at Disney in December, I have to guess that 65 - 75% of our fellow guests were not from the states, they were from all over the world. Perhaps it was just the time of year, or the great deals that Disney was having but I , perhaps naievely so, was surprised. Anytime we have visited there has been a large international presence but not the vast majority. With the shrinking value of the dollar, many US tourist based companies (and if you saw Trump on Letterman the other night - real estate too) are looking for folks from outside the US to pick up the slack.
Just a thought.
ps - let us know how the job search is going. Good Luck!!!
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