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Disney Store is an international chain of specialty stores, selling Disney-branded items, many of them exclusive.
At Disney Stores in North America, guests can purchase passes to Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In Europe, they may purchase passes to Disneyland Paris. In Japan, guests can get passes for Tokyo Disneyland.
Disney Stores are located in malls and commercial areas in the United States, Canada, some European countries, and Japan. Japanese Disney Stores are owned and operated by Oriental Land Company, the company that owns and operates Tokyo Disneyland. In the United States, they are owned and operated by Hoop Retail Stores, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Children's Place, LLC. Both Oriental Land and The Children's Place operate Disney Stores under long-term license agreements with The Walt Disney Company.
Disney Store has no affiliation with The Walt Disney Company. Having realized the decline of popularity of the mall-based chain, Disney decided to sell Disney Store. Japanese stores were sold in 2002, while North American stores were sold in 2004. European stores remain on the market, and are in danger of being closed due to declining revenue. Disney's new comapany-owned store chain is World of Disney.
Disney Store's website is not currently operated by Disney Store. Under the term's of The Children's Place's contract with The Walt Disney Company, for a period of time the website www.disneystore.com will redirect guests to Disney's web-based retail center, DisneyDirect.com. The Children's Place will acquire the disneystore.com domain in 2005.
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