Disney Returns to Bellevue Square

Disney Store, the Burbank, Calif.-based retail merchandising arm of Disney Consumer Products, has added a store at Bellevue Square in Bellevue, Wash. Disney had previously operated a store there, but closed it in 2004.

The new location houses a variety of interactive features, including an area where children can design and build a toy car and a magic mirror where kids can wave an artificial bouquet to see a video clip of their favorite princess. An in-store theater features movie trailers and video clips on how to draw cartoons.

“We're competing for time. Families around the world are time-starved, and shopping as recreation is not as prevalent as it was five years ago,” Jim Fielding, president of Disney Store, told the Seattle Times. “We felt we had to create a memory and true Disney experience.”

Disney introduced its new, interactive format in 19 stores worldwide last year with plans for 40 locations to open in 2011. All of the company’s 300-plus locations in Europe, Japan and North America are expected to eventually be upgraded to the interactive format.