Disney stores to be restructured
Oriental Land Co., the operator of Tokyo Disney Resort, will close some of its stores that sell Disney merchandise and revamp operations at its other outlets to move into the black.
The Disney stores are expected to see a net loss of about 1.8 billion yen in the business year through March 31 on sales of some 17.6 billion yen, which excludes sales of admission tickets to the theme parks.
The goal is to boost store sales to 21 billion yen and get an operating profit margin of at least 4 percent by business 2010.
The changes are being made with the assistance of the Tokyo restructuring company Revamp Corp., which will provide its outside business expertise, Oriental Land said Wednesday.
The company, which has 54 Disney stores nationwide, plans to close one outlet in Sapporo and another in Kumamoto Prefecture by the end of the month and will shut several others by next March.
The company will try to boost store sales by increasing the synergy with new Disney film releases and new shows from its two theme parks — Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Stores will also begin selling products for adults, Oriental Land officials said.
The stores are run by the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Retail Networks Co. Revamp's president and other executives are working on the restructuring project.