I am saddened by the recent events taking place, but I am not at all surprised. I too have noticed deterioration within the Walt Disney Company during my stay at the Disney Stores, and the years following my departure.

My love for this Company began with my first trip to Walt Disney World back in 1991. I was truly in awe by the scope of the Disney Resort, but what made an impression with me were the Cast members who worked there. These Cast members were proud to be working at the Walt Disney Company. You could see and hear the happiness and passion inside them as they performed their duties and dealt with Guests. I too wanted to feel this passionate about my work, to take pleasure in my daily tasks. But alas, I worked in the banking industry and calculating numbers isn’t exactly stimulating.

You can call it fate, call it what you will, I happened to be walking through the Mall and came upon my local Disney Store. I had never heard of the Disney Stores, so without hesitation, I stepped inside. To my surprise, that sensation of happiness which I experienced at the Park was here! A little piece of WDW was somehow transported here to my neck-of-the-woods. I overheard the managers talking, the store was hiring, a position was available. I have never worked in retail before, but this did not stop me, I filled out an application for employment.

This is one decision I never regretted. I could go on forever telling you about the wonderful camaraderie our store had. The achievement by the Company in developing “Traditions” and the monthly store meetings gave Cast members a better understanding about the history of Disney and what part they will play. I could not wait till I arrived home every evening to inform my spouse about the latest news events. What animated features were in the pipeline, what is being developed for the theme Parks, what new product will be coming out promoting our latest film?

The management never had to light a fire underneath us to talk with Guests about video pre-sales, wild horses couldn’t stop us; we wanted our Guests to know. Added bonuses were the free gifts ($5.00 dollar gift certificate or a watch with a lithograph) you received just for preordering. Each store was given a goal to meet for pre-orders. If the store met their goal, they would be awarded 50 points. If the store accumulated 300 points, each Cast member would receive a letterman jacket, black leather sleeves with ash gray wool body. On the front, those 3 famous circles were embroidered and the back had the “Fab Five” with “The Disney Store” embroidered above them. I have one of those jackets, for pre-selling “Pinocchio” when it first came out on video. A very important side note, we were never allowed to sell / push the merchandise. We were there to inform the Guest of the “features & benefits” of the merchandise. We would then take a step backward as not to make the Guest feel pressured or crowded, the product sold itself.

Each store also participated in a monthly trivia challenge. Twelve questions were sent to every store to be answered and sent in by the end of the month. If a store maintained a rating of 85% or higher in correct answers, they would qualify to take a trivia test. The Cast member who scored the highest on the trivia test would represent their store at the District Trivia Challenge. All Cast members who participated at the District level received a Jiminy Cricket pin. The 8 or 10 highest scoring Cast members at the District level would later compete at the Regional Trivia Challenge held at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. I was fortunate to represent my store 3 times at the District Trivia Challenge. My last Trivia Challenge I scored the highest points and received a medallion in the form of those famous “3 circles”. Little did I know this would be the last Trivia Challenge.

Twice every month we would have a “secret shopper” walkthrough the store to observe and score us on our Guest service, store cleanliness, trivia knowledge and product placement. In other words, making sure everything “on stage” was in order. A perfect score would be 101 points. If a store received a perfect mark, every Cast member would receive a 101 Dalmatian puppy pin. As good as we were we were not perfect, we received our share of low marks. But we did not let this sink morale; we strove to give the best quality Guest service we could. We took pride in our store. We made it a point that all the merchandise was properly displayed on the units/fixtures; items of apparel were clearly marked with correct sizes and always in proper order. We performed the “Disney Fold” religiously throughout the day. All glass and countertops were continuously cleaned to remove “little hand prints” especially at the front of the store where the animation window was located. At the end of the day, after we closed there would be a thorough vacuuming, moping, dusting and restocking. All this preparedness was so we would continually have a “good show”.

Our monthly Store meetings were a chance for all of us to reconnect with each other, learn about all the exciting projects and products happening within the Disney Company. Everyone would look forward to our meetings, even though they were scheduled on a Sunday evening after the store closed. That evening we would find out if a Guest was kind enough to write a letter about one of us. If so, would someone receive a “Tigger” Guest Courtesy Pin? Would someone receive their “Steamboat Willie” pin for 1 year of employment to place on their name tag? Or the “Spirit Award”, this was the highest honor given to a Cast member who exemplified the Disney spirit. We were encouraged to wear our service award pins on our sweaters (costumes) as a proud reminder of our accomplishments.

I specialized in fine art and collectibles. I loved taking the time to help my Guests in building their personal collections. Educating Guests about the individual artists work became a full-time job. My Guests truly appreciated my efforts in informing them about upcoming events and I made it a point to keep track of stock inventory each Disney store/gallery and Park had.

The Disney Stores I started with and the Disney Stores today are two very different places. Gone are the days of hiring people who have a true love for the Company. Now, the only reason people are interested in working at the Stores is for the employee discount. The teaching of “Traditions” has become less important to the Stores. All you do now is place a new-hire “backstage” so he/she can watch an uninspiring, uninformative video. There are no more full-time or part-time Cast members. Everyone is considered hourly or “on call”; only the management team works 40 hours a week. Turnover is high due to these reasons; practically everyone I worked with have either left the Company or transferred to Disneyland / Walt Disney World, in hopes of recapturing the magic that has eluded them in the Stores.

Cast members are not encouraged to spend time mingling with Guests, they are now told to spend no more than 5 minutes with a Guest. Go for the “hard sell’; do not let a Guest walk up to the cash register with only one item. You must intervene with an “add on” or “go with”. No longer is store cleanliness a priority. You only concern yourself with “high-traffic-areas” because there is no staff to attend to these duties. No more monthly trivia contests or Cast member meetings. You are lucky if there is a biannual meeting. Gone is the feeling of “family” or “community” with the Stores. There is no longer a desire to “go that extra mile” for yourself, the Guest or the Company.

The Company does not acknowledge individual Store or Cast member accomplishments with a pat-on-the-back; all they care about is if you made your daily, weekly and monthly sales goals. The Stores discontinued carrying fine art / collectibles and adult clothing and concentrated mainly on children’s toys and clothing. When they started to limit the merchandise sold, they lost a lot of foot traffic into the store.

My local Disney Store closed in April of 2003 with a whimper. I really do not think anyone noticed, people abandoned the store long ago. In my opinion, the demise of the Disney Stores can be looked at as a metaphor for what is currently happening with the Walt Disney Company. The Disney Magazine (previously known as The Disney News) has become “The Disney Advertisement Magazine”. Close down your animation studios and concentrate on “Cheapquels” instead of quality feature length animated movies.

Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris Parks have been abandoned for the more affordable Disney’s California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Park Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland. Sears, Wal-Mart and Target have a larger selection of Disney themed merchandise…..and The Disney Stores are in the process of closing or being sold to a competitor.