Disney Stores To Take After Apple Stores?

Oct 13 2009, 10:29am CDT | by Robert Evans

Apparently Microsoft isn't the only company that wants to copy the design of Apple's successful retail store franchise. The New York Times (via AppleInsider) reported today that Disney is in the process of revamping all 340 of their retail locations with an Apple flair in mind.

This change comes at the urging of Steve Jobs himself. The Apple co-founder and 3-year member of the Disney board of directors is stated as the impetus behind the change. He apparently pushed Disney to "dream bigger" and try to turn their retail stores into more of a total experience than merely a product outlet.

Some of the new features that Disney stores will adopt include "mobile checkout", which involves giving employees miniature receipt printers in order to allow them to check out customers on-the-go. There will be kiosks where parents can buy products (even Disney cruises) with a few touches of a button, as well as areas for children to play and a theater for special events.

It'll be interesting to see if Apple's successful store design can translate well outside of the tech world. Is the creation of a certain mood what has made Apple stores so successful? Or is it just the products they sell and the marketing behind them? The success or failure of these new-model Disney stores should give us our answer before too long.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.