Disney Plans Extensive Overhaul of Mall Stores

Disney plans to advise with Apple and Steve Jobs on revamping their Disney Stores.

The involvement of Mr. Jobs, the Apple chief executive who joined the Disney board with the 2006 acquisition of Pixar, is particularly notable. For the first time, Mr. Jobs’s fingerprints can be seen on Disney strategy, in the same way that he influenced the look and feel of Apple’s own immensely popular retail chain. While Mr. Jobs did not personally toil on the Imagination Park concept, he pushed Disney to move far past a refurbishment.

“Dream bigger — that was Steve’s message,” said Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products.

Having worked at an Apple Store and seeing how an Apple Store is run, I can only see this as nothing but a win for Disney. Now that Steve Jobs is the largest private shareholder in Disney, it’s great to see him directly influence one of Disney’s business decisions.

Mr. Jobs provided access to proprietary information about the development and operation of Apple’s highly successful stores, and Disney executives visited Apple’s research operation in Cupertino, Calif. Mr. Jobs, who declined to comment, also insisted that Disney build a prototype store to work out kinks, a costly endeavor that most retailers skip.

The company followed his advice, working for the last year on a full-scale, fully stocked store inside an unmarked warehouse in Glendale, Calif. The prototype was crucial to shaping an overall philosophy, Mr. Fielding said, noting that he discovered the shops needed more “Pixar-esque winks and nods.” To that end, one sales area is now labeled “WWTD: What Would Tinker Bell Do?”

Apple did the same thing right before they opened their first two retail stores in Glendale, CA and Tyson’s Corner VA. Apple now has 273 stores worldwide.

Via Daring Fireball.