Warner Bros. Studio Store

The Warner Bros. Studio Store is a chain of retail stores selling Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and other merchandise based on Warner Bros. films, similar in style to The Disney Store. They first opened in 1991. In 1996, Warner Bros. owner Time Warner merged with Turner Broadcasting, which owned Hanna-Barbera and the pre-1986 MGM library, and merchandise based on Turner properties were added to the product lines. In 2001, all Warner Bros. Studio Stores went out of business. In 2006, Warner Bros. Consumer Products partnered with PMW Retail and reopened the stores in China. From 1997 to 2008 several stores operated in Australia with the flagship location being in Crown Casino Melbourne. Other stores were at Eastland and Watergardens among others. These stores, however, were owned by now defunct Paradise Retail Holdings and were run completely independently from stores of the same name internationally. The large Crown Casino location was a double store where patrons had to pass right through to get to the other side of the complex. It was a prime retail position and very successful for over a decade. Its last day of trade was March 18th, 2008. Customers and former employees remember this store fondly.

Warner Bros. Studio Store
Subsidiary
Fatebankruptcy
FoundedSeptember 20, 1991 (1991-09-20)[1]
Los Angeles, California
Defunct2005
HeadquartersWarner Bros. Studios, Burbank,
Burbank, California
,
United States
Area served
North America, Europe, Japan, Indonesia
Productsappearel toys and merch
ParentWarner Bros. Consumer Products
(WarnerMedia)
WebsiteOfficial website

Hutchison Harbour Ring's subsidiary the PMW Retail Group Ltd., owned an operated the Chinese store locations from 2006 to 2014.

History

The first Warner Bros. Studio Store was opened on Friday, September 20, 1991 at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, California by Time Warner.[1][2] The store peak out at 130 locations.[3] In October 1993 a location opened at the corner of 57th St and 5th Ave. in New York City, the first ever Studio Store in the city.[4] Some of the store's attractions included: a glass elevator carried by Superman and the 4D experience Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension, the first ever 3D computer animated movie produced in the world.[5] In 1996, the chain signed a long-term lease for 1 Times Square three story building and six of its billboards and opened a store on all three floors in 1997.[6]

In January 2001, AOL Time-Warner merger was completed at which time the chain was placed up for sale with plans to closes if not sold.[3] The week before February 5, 2001, the flagship location New York's Fifth Avenue was closed. On September 11th 2001 The Warner Brothers Studio Store at the World Trade Center was destroyed when the Two towers collapsed [7] [3] High profile stores in Los Angeles and Palo Alto were also closed. In July, AOL Time-Warners announced that the chain, then consisting of 85 stores, would be shut down by October. Its three-story, 40,000-square-foot Times Square location started liquidation in July[3] and closed in October. Warner Bros. then place up the building up for rent sans the billboards.[6] The last stores closed by December 31, 2001.[8]

In January 2004, Warner Bros. announced they were opening the first Chinese Studio Store location, after agreeing on a licensing deal with Hutchison Harbour Ring.[9] On March 25, 2006, a grand opening celebration was held for the grand opening of the first Studio Store location in China.[10] In October 2006, the second Chinese Warner Bros. Studio Store location opened in Macau.[11]

In 2016, Warner Bros., with the Thinkwell Group opened a new entertainment center in Macau, which featured a new Warner Bros. Studio Store location.[12]

Locations

Warner Bros. Studio Store is used as the name of various stores around the world, including at the Warner Bros. World theme park,[13] and at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank,[14]

References
  1. McNARY, DAVE (September 20, 1991). "Warner Bros. opens studio stores". United Press International. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  2. Robaton, Anna (March 5, 1994). "Corporations Showcase Stores On Rise". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. "Warner Bros. Studio Stores to Close". Los Angeles Times. Reuters. July 7, 2001. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  4. What's Up on 5th Avenue? A Studio Store, The New York Times, David W. Dunlap Feb. 10, 1993
  5. name="history">Our History A Timeline Of Warner Bros. Movie World (Official site) Archived 21 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Bagli, Charles V. (July 12, 2001). "Bugs Bunny Is Losing His Times Square Home in October". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  7. James, Meg; Goldman, Abigail (February 5, 2001). "THAT'S ALL, FOLKS: Warner Bros. to Shut its 130 Stores". Chicago Tribune. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  8. Staff, Chronicle; Services, News (July 7, 2001). "AOL to close all Warner Bros. stores". SFGate. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  9. Whiteman, Bobby (January 13, 2004). "Warner Bros. sets up shop in China". Variety. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  10. "Warner Bross. Consumer Products And Pmw Retail Group Celebrate Grand Opening Of First Warner Bros. Studio Store In Shanghai, China". March 25, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  11. Schiller, Gail (October 23, 2006). "Warner Bros. opens store in Macau". The Hollywood Reporter.
  12. "Making Macau Family Friendly". InPark Magazine. March 28, 2016.
  13. "Shop Warner Bros. Studio Store".
  14. "– THE EXPERIENCE – Warner Bros. Studio Store".
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