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Walt Disney adds magic to David Jones

<em>Image: Supplied</em>
Image: Supplied

Christmas shopping is stressful – there’s no getting around that fact. But Christmas shopping with a small child in tow can be doubly painful.

But imagine this.

You enter the store and head to the cafe at the back while your child has their face-painted to look like the Incredible Hulk. A children’s entertainer, or “experience artist” as some of them are known, takes them around the space to a magic mirror which lights up and reflects a princess back. Then you both head into the Millennium Falcon replica to shoot into hyperspace.

Your child tries on a new dress inside a hollow tree in the Hundred Acre Wood, before comparing their shoe size with that of Captain America on Marvel Boulevard.

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Sure, you walk out of there (past the life-sized Ant-Man replica) having bought some clothes, a toy, a book. But it’s the experience that you’re left with.

Is this the future of retail?

Disney and David Jones hope so.

Lego sculptures adorn the entry walkway. Image: Supplied
Lego sculptures adorn the entry walkway. Image: Supplied

“There are many ways people can shop today and one of them of course is online,” the senior vice president and managing director of the Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand, Kylie Watson-Wheeler told Yahoo Finance.

So, Disney and David Jones had to find a reason to get people out of their lounge-rooms and into the store.

Look, it’s Ant-Man! Image: Supplied
Look, it’s Ant-Man! Image: Supplied

Magical shopping experiences – where it’s not just about the product you’re purchasing but why and how you’re making that purchase – is something that both enhances customer opportunity and is a unique point of difference, Watson-Wheeler said.

The space, which features five different Disney-themed worlds, will launch amid a difficult retail landscape.

Amazon Australia recently announced the launch of its Australian fashion site, while both David Jones and Myer have posted disappointing financial results this year. David Jones’ profit was down 50 per cent, although set for an uptick next year.

The fitting room is inside the tree! Image: Supplied
The fitting room is inside the tree! Image: Supplied
What’s inside?

Shoppers can visit five different worlds, but first step into an area designed to mimic a typical Sydney thoroughfare, albeit with lego street-lamps and Mickey Mouse.

It’s a “magical and whimsical” entrance to the space and was designed with the help of “imagineers”, David Jones CEO David Thomas said.

The thoroughfare sees shoppers pass high-street fashion labels’ children’s collections, like those from Emporia Armania, Hugo Boss, Stella McCartney and Chloe, before reaching the change room in the Hundred Acre Wood, nestled inside a huge tree.

Children’s entertainers keep the kids busy. Image: Supplied
Children’s entertainers keep the kids busy. Image: Supplied

Parents can grab a coffee and icecream before passing the Magic Mirror, Millenium Falcon and Marvel-themed children’s reading area.

The space is part of David Jones $200 million refurbishment and has been extended by 50 per cent, Thomas said.

Approximately half the products in the store are exclusive to David Jones.

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