1 Disney Store Left In NJ As Company Closes 4 More Locations

EDISON, NJ — Sad news for Mickey Mouse fans: several Disney Store locations across the Garden State will be closing their doors soon.

Edison's Menlo Park Mall store is set to close "on or before September 15" according to the company website, following in the footsteps of other Disney locations slated to shutter in Bridgewater Commons, Jackson Premium Outlets, Westfield Garden State Plaza and Deptford Mall. The only store to remain open in the Garden State is at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, according to the company's store locator.

The first Disney Store opened in Glendale, California in 1987, expanding to over 300 locations worldwide as of February 2021.

In March of this year, Disney announced it was closing around 6o stores in North America and will focus on internet sales instead, NJ.com reported. Freehold Raceway Mall's location has since fell victim to the closure, as well as sites like Willowbrook Mall, Bergen Town Center and Cherry Hill Mall, among others.

Disney has announced that it intends to expand its ShopDisney website and increase product offerings to include more streetwear, collectibles and adult apparel. An undisclosed amount of layoffs will coincide with the brick-and-mortar closures, CNBC initially reported.

"While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer," Disney consumer products, games and publishing president Stephanie Young 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 ecommerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises.”

But Disney's departure from worldwide malls may be more of a "see ya real soon" than a permanent "goodbye," as Business Insider reports that Target is expected to add miniature Disney stores to over 160 locations just in time for the holiday season.

"It's more about taking a look at where consumers are, and making sure that we're providing what they need," a spokesperson for Disney told the publication. "We are expanding the shop-in-shop concepts around the world - including Liverpool in Mexico and Alshaya in the Middle East."

It was not immediately clear whether New Jersey malls are slated to see Disney's new miniature store concept anytime soon.

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