Disney Store opening first standalone store in Middle East

While Disney Store has closed locations in the United States, Canada, and Europe, it’s actually growing in some locations.

In summer 2021, department stores in the Middle East began opening store-in-store Disney Stores, similar to what can be found in many American Target stores. Retailer Alshaya Group is kicking things up a notch, now, with the first ever standalone Disney Store in the region.

Opening this November, the location will be located at The Avenues, the largest shopping centre in Kuwait. It’s set to be 800 square metres (8611 square feet), making it larger than most of the chain’s North American stores.

In a press release, Alshaya Group CEO John Hadden said:

We are incredibly proud to be bringing the region’s first standalone Disney Store to Kuwait, our home market. It’s an honour to be a part of the Disney story in the region, and we know that our customers and their families will be as excited as we are ahead of the magical opening in November.

Products include not only the toys, plush toys, and costumes associated with The Disney Store in recent years, but also home décor and collectables. The store stock includes lines of Disney products exclusive to the Middle East.

Currently, The Disney Store shop-in-shops are located in Debenhams and Mothercare department stores. There are 2 locations in Bahrain, 5 in Kuwait, 5 in Qatar, 12 in Saudi Arabia, and 9 in the United Arab Emirates. It’s unknown whether the two shop-in-shop locations at The Avenues will remain open, once the standalone store is ready.

Web video suggests that Disney was at least initially at the entrance to one of the Debenhams, with at least one employee dedicated to the space.

The shop-in-shop approach has had varying results. Photos online indicate that Disney within Target stores often are disheveled, and people routinely note that they don’t have their own staff to emulate the experience of a Disney Store. France had a number of high end department store locations, which closed during the mass purge in 2021, all the while Mexico and the Middle East were launching.

Image credit: The Avenues shopping centre.EnGxBaDeR, licensed as Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

Updated, 12 October 2022 at 7:07 PM EST: Adding in a video and comment about the location seen.