Disney store at Tysons Corner Center to close this month

(Updated at 8 p.m. on 9/15/2021) Mickey Mouse is packing up his bags and will soon say farewell to Tysons Corner Center.

The Disney store will close its doors by Sept. 22 after more than three decades at the mall, joining dozens of other brick-and-mortar locations across the country that the company is shuttering to focus more on online retail.

(Correction: This article originally said the Disney store opened at Tysons Corner Center in April 2012. That was the opening of the current remodeled store. The original, larger store had been around since the late 1980s.)

As recently as the end of August, the Tysons Corner store looked like it might be spared, but Disney’s shop locator was updated within the past week to indicate that the location will indeed close on or before Sept. 22, news further confirmed by signs set up at the store entrance.

The store saw a steady stream of customers coming and going early yesterday afternoon (Tuesday). Banners advertised a 40% discount on all products, though an employee informed visitors that all sales are final, meaning there can be no refunds or returns.

Disney announced on March 23 that it will close at least 60 stores in North America this year, citing a pandemic-driven need to focus on ecommerce through its Shop Disney platform.

“While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer,” Stephanie Young, Disney’s president of consumer products, games, and publishing said in the press release. “…We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected ecommerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises.”

The media conglomerate said it will continue to maintain physical stores in its theme parks and inside other retailers, such Target, which plans to add more than 100 new Disney shops within its big-box stores by the end of the year.