Disney also will close its stores in Rockford and the Quad Cities as it reduces the number of stores bearing its name and merchandise from 340 to closer to what it believes is the right number, around 220 stores, said Disney spokesman Gary Foster.

The stores will close by the end of June. Closing sales already have started and will continue six to eight weeks. The current sale is 10 percent to 30 percent off all merchandise.

Foster said Disney decided when it reacquired the Disney Stores from Children's Place at the start of May that it would trim the number of stores by about 100. It started with "those stores we consider more on the underperforming side," he said.

Jeff Case, manager of Northwoods Mall, declined to comment about the Disney Store closure because it was a decision that was made at the Disney corporate level.

He said Northwoods remains nearly full, with only a couple vacant spaces that already have potential new tenants he cannot as yet identify.

Recent losses include Wilson Leather, which closed all its stores nationwide after going bankrupt.

"We are working with several national retailers to fill the vacancies we have. And we just opened the Build-A-Bear store, which had a phenomenal first week," Case said.

Northwoods, which is owned by Simon Properties, one of the country's largest mall and shopping center owners/operators, can be affected when national retailers close stores, but it also has an advantage by the contact it has with national retailers, Case said.

"We have a very strong leasing department, and the contact we have nationally can get our foot in a lot of retailers' doors. That's why we usually are able to fill vacancies pretty quickly," he said.