Now It’s Time To Say Goodbye | MOA Disney Store Closes
Back in March of this year [2021] we learned that Disney would be closing down 30% of its Disney Store locations around the United States. This decision from The Walt Disney Company didn’t come as much of a surprise, considering the record breaking year 2020 was. Companies and businesses around the world were struggling and The Walt Disney Company was no exception.
The official announcement came on March 3rd, shortly after which stores around the country [as well as around the world] started closing up shop. In some cases, stores closed rather quickly. Others had signs displayed that the stores would be closing in a matter or weeks.
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Just about as soon as we shared this information with you here on 2 Foolish Mortals we started to speculate about which Disney Stores in our area would be closing. Here in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, there were 2 Disney Stores locations that we would frequent. One was in a rather pedestrian shopping mall and the other was located in Mall of America.
There was no doubt in our mind that the first Disney Store location would be closing. The location was not only much less frequented, but it was also located in a shopping mall that very much felt like it was hanging on to the last threads of life. . . . and that was before the pandemic. On the other hand, the Mall of America location seemed to be more promising. With such a large mall with so much foot traffic, there was no doubt in our minds that this location would hang in there due to its well placed space in America’s tourist attraction of a mall.
. . . . . we were wrong.
On a bit of a whim, we made our way to Mall of America to see a pop-up display and check out some of our favorite shops. We managed to find almost everything with one notable exception; the Disney Store. To be honest, we walked right past it before realizing it was gone. With the large “Disney” sign taken down and white covers on the windows and doors, it was easy to walk straight past what was one arguably the most magical shop in the mall.
The fact that this Disney Store location is now permanently closed both comes as a bit of a surprise to us, but also doesn’t. On one hand, you’d think that of all the Disney Store locations [outside of Walt Disney World and Disneyland] this one would keep kicking. This mainly being because of its location in Mall of America, a massive shopping mall that doubles as a full on vacation destination in the Midwest.
On the other hand, the closure of this particular Disney Store location doesn’t come as much of a surprise at all. Not only is the Disney Store seen as a place where items are overpriced and unaffordable, it’s also located in close proximity to Nickelodeon Universe; an indoor amusement park that centers around Nickelodeon. The way we see it, the Disney Store had a lot of stiff competition just steps away from their front door. With other toy stores in the vicinity as well as a plethora of options from Nickelodeon Universe and The LEGO Store, guests finally arriving at the Disney Store likely aren’t planning on much more than window shopping.
Though we could absolutely tell you how much we’ll miss this Disney Store location and give you reasons that we wish it had stuck around, we get that it was a decision from The Walt Disney Company that many other companies and businesses have had to make. Though we’ll miss strolling through and getting some of our Disney Parks merchandise in person, there are lots of other great shops at Mall of America [as well as other malls in the area] that sell Disney merchandise!
Has your local Disney Store closed? Let us know about it and what you’ll miss, or what you won’t, by leaving a comment below.