Disney is redesigning its Disney Stores, here’s what it looks like

Disney is redesigning its physical Disney Store to move away from its primary child-centric assortment and become more of a destination place with more interactive experiences, the company announced.

Disney Store play area  at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles.

The announcement of the change came the same day as Disney announced it is changing its online store to shopDisney.com.

Disney has already opened prototypes of the new store in the U.S., Japan and China.

The new prototype stores were designed with layouts that allow flexibility in featuring the different worlds of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel as new content comes to market.

Cast Members and characters will engage with guests in a variety of interactive experiences such as opening the store each day with a special Welcome Celebration, learning and play activities in the stores’ Play Room as well as personalized celebrations for any guest.

There will also be experiences take place each afternoon when guests gather to watch the parade stream ‘LIVE from Disney Parks’ and every evening before store closing when a specially created digital fireworks display is shown on the giant storefront screen.
“We are a storytelling company and our vision was to create a retail space that reflected our heritage,” Paul Gainer, Executive Vice President for Disney Retail said. “Our stores are destinations and gathering places for fans of our iconic brands, and are often their closest physical Disney touch point so creating an authentic brand experience is key.”

The new Disney store prototypes are now open in Century City, California and Northridge, California in the U.S. as well as in Nagoya, Japan and Shanghai, China. Two more prototypes will open in 2017: in Miami on Sept. 28 and Munich, Germany later this year.

Disney Store at Northridge Fashion Center in Northridge, California.

Disney Store at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles.