Freehold Mall’s Disney store scheduled to close in late March

The Walt Disney Company announced this week that it will be closing more than three dozen of its Disney Stores in the next few weeks, and on the chopping block is their location at the Freehold Raceway Mall. The Freehold store is scheduled to close on or before March 23.

The company said earlier that it would be closing at least sixty stores nationwide. Stephanie Young, president of consumer products games and publishing, said in a statement, “While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer.” Adding, "We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected e-commerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises.”

USA Today reported that the Freehold store is the only New Jersey store slated to be shut down; Disney stores have locations in Menlo Park Mall in Edison, Bridgewater Commons, Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, Cherry Hill Mall and Deptford Mall.

Disney stores in 16 states are closing with California losing the most locations with nine closing stores and seven in Texas are closing. Smaller Disney shops inside Target stores will not be affected. “Over the past few years, we’ve been focused on meeting consumers where they are already spending their time, such as the expansion of Disney store shop-in-shops around the world," Stephanie Young said. "We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected e-commerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises.”

If you live nearby and have any Disney items you've been seeking out, now is your chance to go!

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.