Disney Store

Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. said its Hoop Holdings unit, which operates the Disney Store chain, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Children's Place said last week that it planned to let Walt Disney Co. take control of about two-thirds of the 335 stores in the Disney Store chain. About 115 remaining stores were expected to close.

James Fielding, the president of Disney Stores Worldwide, has bought a house in Pasadena for $2.048 million, public records show. The midcentury modern-style house, built in 1955, features raised fireplaces in the living and family rooms, skylights, built-ins, a children's playroom, six bedrooms and five bathrooms in more than 4,200 square feet. The half-acre of grounds includes fruit trees and a rose garden. Fielding has held his position since 2008. At the end of last year he sold another Midcentury house in Pasadena for $2.325 million.

Douglas Murphy has been named senior vice president and general manager of Disney Store--North America, the company said. Murphy, 36, joined Disney Store in 1991 as manager of new business development, and launched Disney Store--Canada. In 1996, Murphy was named vice president and general manager of Disney Store--Japan, leading a three-year expansion from 28 to 76 Japanese locations. Disney Store, based in Glendale, is a division of Burbank-based Walt Disney Co.

SEATTLE — It's no wonder that stores post-recession are working harder to keep themselves at the forefront of shoppers' minds. Gone are the days of easy credit and soaring home values. Today's price-minded shoppers aim to spend within their means, and they scour the Web for deals. So if you're Walt Disney Co., and you want to increase the amount of time and money spent inside your stores, you sell the same popular merchandise as before but try to make it an experience. Take, for example, Disney's new store in Seattle.

Disneyland grabbed the headlines recently when it unveiled its $1.4-billion expansion in Anaheim. But Walt Disney Co.'s Disney Store retail arm also has been bulking up. The Burbank-based chain recently added its 500th store, a 5,000-square-foot location in the Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix. Disney, which added 100 stores in the last year, opened its first location in 1987 in Glendale. * Greg Johnson covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times.

Richard D. Nanula, Walt Disney Co.'s chief financial officer and one of the most senior black executives in the entertainment business, was named Tuesday to head the company's 335-outlet chain of Disney Stores. Disney said the move was made by Chairman Michael D. Eisner to give the 34-year-old Nanula, who is considered one of the company's rising young stars, operational experience. His title will be president of Disney Store Worldwide.

SEATTLE — It's no wonder that stores post-recession are working harder to keep themselves at the forefront of shoppers' minds. Gone are the days of easy credit and soaring home values. Today's price-minded shoppers aim to spend within their means, and they scour the Web for deals. So if you're Walt Disney Co., and you want to increase the amount of time and money spent inside your stores, you sell the same popular merchandise as before but try to make it an experience. Take, for example, Disney's new store in Seattle.

After perusing the Judy Jetson cosmetic kits and Fred Flintstone bolo ties, Pat Hockings found just what she wanted: a $2 refrigerator magnet with the likeness of her Space Age cartoon hero, George Jetson. "I've always been a Jetsons and a Flintstones fan," said Hockings after shopping at a Torrance gift shop owned and named after Hanna-Barbera, the Hollywood animation studio whose cartoon characters populate the store. "There is nothing in there you really need.

Re: "Pooh's Pot of Gold" by Mary McNamara, Dec. 21: The clever folks at Disney's consumer products division understand a lot about marketing merchandise. But they don't know a whole lot about the real Winnie-the-Pooh. Call me a Pooh purist but I cringe when I see kids reading and watching untrue-to-character Disney-fied versions of the stories, which cannot possibly replace A.A. Milne's wonderful words. And the flat, cartoon-like drawings do not come close to E.H. Shepard's sweet illustrations.

When Walt Disney Co. agreed to buy Jim Henson's production company and rights to his popular Muppet characters, some observers saw in the deal vaguely sinister motives. "Disney's Muppets acquisition mousetraps the opposition," Malcolm S. Forbes opined in Forbes magazine. Now there's a new amphibian on the block that just might make Disney croak.

Walt Disney Co. plans to unveil a new look for its Disney Stores on Tuesday in Montebello, and this time, instead of pixie dust, the company is relying on a heavy sprinkling of interactive technology. "We felt that we needed to reinvent Disney retail and create an environment that really gave children the best 30 minutes of their day," said Jim Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide. That half hour, to be rolled out to Disney Stores worldwide, features a castle with a "magic" mirror in which a princess appears to tell a story whenever a child stands in front of it wearing a crown or holding a wand.

Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. said its Hoop Holdings unit, which operates the Disney Store chain, has filed for bankruptcy protection. Children's Place said last week that it planned to let Walt Disney Co. take control of about two-thirds of the 335 stores in the Disney Store chain. About 115 remaining stores were expected to close.

This holiday season, more than 300 Disney Stores are putting an old favorite back in the Walt Disney Co. stocking: cash. The Burbank entertainment company in 2004 sold its problematic U.S. and Canadian retail shops to Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. Now that move is paying off big time. Under terms of the deal, Disney in November started receiving licensing fees equal to 5% of the stores' revenue. Sales are exceeding expectations, and surging as Christmas approaches.

Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. said it was expanding its newly acquired Disney Store chain into outlet malls. The company, which acquired the chain from Walt Disney Co. in November, said it planned to open a store in Central Valley, N.Y., this weekend and planned five more openings this year. Children's Place said when the deal was announced that it would spend as much as $100 million to remodel and run the 313 Disney locations, and might expand to as many as 600 stores.

Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its money-losing Disney Stores in the U.S. and Canada to Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. Terms weren't disclosed. Children's Place said it would spend as much as $100 million to remodel and run the 313 Disney locations, and might expand to as many as 600 stores. The chain will retain the Disney name under a licensing agreement.

In the latest effort to revive its struggling retail store chain, Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it will turn it into two groups of specialty stores. The renamed Disney Play stores will target 3- to 10-year-olds and stock toys, costumes based on Disney characters and plush Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh dolls. The other outlets will be called Disney Kids at Home, which will be aimed at parents seeking bed and bath products, apparel and home furnishings for their kids.

Despite the country's retail slump, Mickey Mouse is selling quite well. So well, in fact, that Big Bird and Bugs Bunny are in hot pursuit. In the spring of 1987, the Walt Disney Co. launched the Disney Store in Glendale, selling toys, clothes and books based on Disney's animated characters. Since then, the Burbank-based company has opened 170 more Disney Stores, mostly in U.S. shopping malls. The chain's rapid expansion, now focused on Europe and Japan, has been prompted by impressive sales.

The whole Christopher Columbus conflict could easily be resolved if everyone would just cross out Christopher Columbus Day on the calendar and pencil in Leif Ericson Day. B.W. OVERN Santa Ana

Walt Disney Co., hoping to pump life into its listless retail division, said Wednesday it plans a sweeping overhaul of about 350 of its Disney Stores in North America while closing at least 100 stores worldwide over the next few years. The Burbank-based company made the announcement as it unveiled its first redesigned Disney Store, packed with stuffed animals, signature baby clothes, Mickey Mouse toasters and an array of other products aimed at turning browsers into buyers.

Douglas Murphy has been named senior vice president and general manager of Disney Store--North America, the company said. Murphy, 36, joined Disney Store in 1991 as manager of new business development, and launched Disney Store--Canada. In 1996, Murphy was named vice president and general manager of Disney Store--Japan, leading a three-year expansion from 28 to 76 Japanese locations. Disney Store, based in Glendale, is a division of Burbank-based Walt Disney Co.