The Disney Store

I went into this store to find something for a 2 year old who LOVES certain disney movies and the disney channel. I was disappointed to find that there was very little for someone that young, other than stuffed animals, an occasional t shirt, kitchen utensils, and maybe a book. For the older girls (toddler size) they have pjs featuring Frozen. I would have loved to find her a little nighty, but nothing was there for someone who is her size/​age. I was only able to get her a stuffed animal and had to go elsewhere for other gifts.
I think this store should have more variety of characters. If something is «in» such as starwars, that’s what the store seems to devote to – but what about snow white and 7 dwarfs? or beauty and the beast… as a «disney» store i think it should have most of the old movies!

We visited this store on a whim today. It seems Star Wars is quite popular at the moment as about half the store is filled with Star Wars merchandise. While browsing, we came across some good deals on figurines. Both sales people were unusually cheerful.

I went into the new Disney Store in Burlington tonight with my 11-​year-​old daughter. The store is split approximately into ¹⁄₃ «the boys’ side» and ²⁄₃ «the girls’ side». The Star Wars and Marvel super hero merchandise is on the boys side and the girls side is exclusively devoted to the Disney princesses. Inexplicably, the merchandise for Inside Out, the most recent Pixar movie, which is about the emotional changes of Riley, an 11-​year-​old girl, is on the boys side. I guess Disney doesn’t know what to do with a girl’s story that is not about a princess.
Credit where credit is due. At least on the girl’s side of the store they did keep Merida brave.
If you have seen either of the Avengers movies, Ironman 2, or Captain America The Winter Soldier, you know who the Black Widow is. She is the embodiment of a female superhero — she’s smart, she’s a leader, she’s a strong female presence who more than holds her own against her male counterparts, and she kicks ass in a fight, whether on her own or as a member of a team. There is not any Black Widow merchandise in the store, action figures or otherwise.
This is the background to why the Disney Store gets 1 star. It’s because the store pushes gender stereotypes, and as a result, has a poor selection of products. Girls get princesses. Boys get action heroes. If this was three years ago, when my daughter was 8, the store probably would get a higher rating, because back then she was still into the princesses. But she, and her sensibilities, have moved on. To bad the Disney Store hasn’t moved on with her. And, attention Disney, my daughter noticed these things, too. While it goes counter to the thinking of the «experts» in your marketing and merchandising department, your backward thinking is causing you to miss out on big time sales opportunities.