Another Retailer Succumbs To Store Closures In 2021: Why Disney Is Closing 60 Locations

The number of Disney stores is about to get a lot smaller as The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) has announced that it will shutter at least 60 stores in North America in 2021.

The entertainment company said the decision was part of a shift as it looks to focus on its e-commerce business, reducing its brick-and-mortar footprint by a third.

Disney said the focus will help the shopDisney website better integrate with the Disney Parks apps and the company’s social media platforms, offering new assortment and higher-end merchandise throughout its brands, which include Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.

Consumers have steadily moved toward online shopping amid the pandemic as they look for safer ways to purchase goods while preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Disney is not the only retailer that has announced store closings this year. Stationary shop Paper Source said it was filing Chapter 11 and closing nearly a dozen stores this week, according to USA Today, while Family Video and Fry’s Electronics shut down their entire operations, closing all stores in the process in January and February.

“While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer,” Stephanie Young, president, Consumer Products Games and Publishing at Disney, said in a statement.

“Over the past few years, we’ve been focused on meeting consumers where they are already spending their time, such as the expansion of Disney store shop-in-shops around the world. We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected e-commerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises,” she added.

Disney has about 300 stores worldwide and over 600 Disney Parks stores as well as a series of third-party retailers and outlet locations globally. The store closures will not affect Disney shops within Target or its Disney Parks locations, USA Today reported.

A Disney spokesperson told Reuters that the company is also evaluating significant store reductions in Europe, saying that the closures would not impact locations in Japan and China.

The significant store closures come as some of Disney’s theme parks are still being hampered because of the COVID pandemic.

Currently, Walt Disney World in Florida is operating at a reduced capacity with some offerings closed, modified, or unavailable, while Disneyland in California has reopened the Downtown Disney District and Buena Vista Street but has kept the hotels of Disneyland Resort closed. Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park also remain closed.

Shares of Disney were trading at $190.42 as of premarket open on Thursday, down $1.84 or 0.96%.