That Really is All, Folks!

Warner Bros. Studio Stores has announced that it will close the last of its 85 owned-and-operated retail stores by October. Parent company AOL Time Warner foreshadowed this turn of events earlier this year when it said it would close the operation if a buyer couldn't be found for the stores.

The Warner Bros. Studio Stores division of Time Warner was launched in 1991 and reached a store count of 150 in the U.S., including its high-profile New York flagship store on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, which was built in 1993 and subsequently expanded. In 1998, Warner Bros. also opened a big new store in New York's Time Square.

The arc of the entire studio-related retail phenomenon has followed that of Warner Bros. – initial success followed by severe plateaus. Walt Disney Co. said earlier this year that it would close 70 stores. Viacom Inc. closed its big Michigan Avenue store within two years of its 1997 opening, has already closed 15 Nickelodeon stores and has decided against opening another chain of theme stores.

Analysts think consumers have decided they can find the same novelties at discount retail chains like Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and Target.

A spokesperson for Warner Bros. said the stores were in a “wind-down” phase, and store closings would put approximately 3800 employees out of work.