Target and Disney partner to open 25 toy shops

Dive Brief:

Disney plans to open 25 stores within Target locations by October, the two companies said in a press release on Sunday.
An additional 40 Disney shops in Target stores are expected to open by October 2020. The store-within-a-store formats are around 750-square-feet and adjacent to Target's kids clothing and toys sections. Target and Disney teams worked closely to develop the shops' experience, which includes music, interactive displays, photo ops and a seating area where families can watch Disney movie clips.
Along with the physical shops, Target added a digital version with "Disney store at Target" for its app on iOS and Android. The assortment will top 450 products, with more than 100 of those that were previously only available at Disney retail stores. Target is additionally planning to open a store of its own at a shopping center in the Walt Disney World Resort in 2021.

Dive Insight:

The Disney-Target tie-up follows the mass merchant's deepening efforts in the toy category and its longstanding strategy of developing strong product partnerships.

"Target and Disney share a strong guest overlap with a focus on families," the companies said in announcing the collaboration.

"We believe the combination of Disney's unmatched entertainment and storytelling with our omni-channel retail platform will create inspiring and unique experiences for our guests," Target CEO Brian Cornell said in a statement.

The partnership also expands Disney's retail presence. Currently the entertainment giant operates more than 200 Disney-branded stores in North America and makes about $1.6 billion off its retail segment.

Bob Chapek, who chairs Disney's parks, experiences and products unit, said in a statement that "the way consumers shop for those products is changing" and that bringing the company's products to Target would make shopping for them easier.

Exclusive Disney products could help Target as it enters another holiday season without Toys R Us. (Or at least the big-box incarnation of Toys R Us with the massive physical footprint; a resurrected version of the toy retailer will have a couple of new locations open this year.)

Last year, Target target expanded its toy offering, including with exclusive toys, and for the holiday season. It also set aside extra space for toy experiences, as the mass merchant joined Walmart in trying to fill the Toys R Us void by turning themselves into expanded toy showrooms. And it wasn't just Walmart. Retailers across the spectrum, from dollar to department stores, played with the toy category in 2018.

The Disney partnership adheres to Target's long history of partnering with brands and prominent designers to differentiate its merchandise assortment and store experience.