Disney to close one store, remodel others
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Walt Disney Co. will close one of its four retail stores in Hawai'i and renovate the other three as part of a worldwide strategic renewal of 700 stores.
Grgeory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Disney Store at Windward Mall in Kane'ohe will close Sept. 8, affecting eight part-time and two full-time employees, the Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment company said.
The Walt Disney Co. plans to remodel 600 of its stores worldwide by 2007, including its Ala Moana store. Stores at Pearlridge and Queen Ka'ahumanu Center on Maui also will be renovated, but the Kane'ohe store will close Sept. 8.
Three other Disney Stores — two on O'ahu at Ala Moana Center and Pearlridge Center, and one on Maui at Queen Ka'ahumanu Center — will be redesigned and stocked with new merchandise.
The changes are part of a revitalization plan, announced last fall, in which the company plans to close 100 of its worst-performing Disney Stores over the next four years, and remodel another 600 between now and 2007.
Maria Gladowski, a spokeswoman for Walt Disney Co.'s consumer products division, said the schedule for renovating the three remaining Hawai'i stores has not been determined. "The whole rollout process is under development," she said.
Gladowski said Hawai'i has been a good market for the company, which has stores in 10 countries and opened its first in the state (at Ala Moana) in 1990. The newest store in Hawai'i opened at Windward Mall in 1995.
Gladowski said the company will try to find positions for displaced employees at other stores.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadver tiser.com or 525-8065.
