Out of Play

At Club Disney on Wednesday, it was tough to tell who was sadder to learn that the place would no longer exist as of November: Was it the 4- and 5-year-old children or their mothers?

“I’m shocked,” said Linda Gam of Oak Park, who learned of the closure as she shuttled her 4-year-old in for a Disney-style “fashion” show. “We’re regulars. I’m always here. How can they not be making money?”

It’s not that the club doesn’t make the Disney company money, said Leslie Ferraro, marketing director for the children’s entertainment centers. It’s that the returns just aren’t up to Disney snuff.

Disney announced Tuesday that it had decided to close the play clubs nationwide Nov. 1, amid companywide belt-tightening because of slumping earnings and a sagging stock price.

As recently as two months ago, Club Disney executives were putting on happy faces, promising more clubs across the nation after opening two in Arizona and one in Colorado in the previous several months.

“We [at the Club Disney division] were as surprised as anyone,” Ferraro said. “We have a fantastic cast in Thousand Oaks. They were doing a fantastic job.”

There, at the upscale Promenade at Westlake, Club Disney’s opening a year and a half ago was met with a hullabaloo rare for the suburbs. Disney Chairman Michael Eisner stopped in. Visitors came from as far as Palo Alto to wait in five-hour lines for entrance to the club, the first in the country.

Almost every day, the 24,000-square-foot center was a buzzing hive of activity, as tykes slipped through an enormous jungle gym, dressed up in costumes, powered up computers and made crafts.

“My kids love it,” said Lynda Rose of Thousand Oaks, who brought Josh, 5, and Moriah, 4, to get a refund for their annual pass. “They don’t really realize that anything is changing now. But when they do, it’ll be a sad day in our house.”

Pamela Gurenson of Oxnard didn’t have children as an excuse to rush over when she heard of the impending closure. An avid collector of Beanie Baby-style Disney animals, Gurenson took some personal time from her Ventura job to cross the Conejo Grade and pick up $75 worth of toys she feared would be unavailable once the clubs close.

“I was afraid everything I wanted would be gone by the time I got off from work,” Gurenson said. “Business is business. This is serious.”

Those who have scheduled birthday parties or bought annual passes will receive refunds by Oct. 15, Ferraro said.

According to analysts, there weren’t enough fans like Gurenson and the Roses to keep such an establishment alive, as consumers--even children--drifted off to the next new thing.

“This isn’t a surprise,” said Tarun Kapoor, an industry analyst at Cal Poly Pomona. “I think there was a time when the concept of entertainment and food was novel and exciting. The consumer is far more sophisticated, and it takes a lot more to keep the customer coming back.”

And although Club Disney will not reveal attendance figures, the company may have been hamstrung by the fact that the market really exists only on weekends, when children are free from school.

Club Disney employees were forbidden to speak to the press, but Ferraro said that about 750 workers nationwide--about 90% of them part-time--were affected, although many of them will find jobs with Disney at such places as the chain of Disney stores. About 150 of the total work in Thousand Oaks.

Employees were told of the closure Monday. Those who don’t get a transfer will receive job-finding assistance and severance packages, Ferraro said.

The Promenade’s owner is going over a waiting list to see who might best fill the hole left by Disney, said Rick Lemmo, a spokesman for Caruso Affiliated Holdings.

Although Club Disney takes up a prominent space in the outdoor mall and acts as a destination point for visitors from beyond the county, Promenade officials are putting on a brave face.

“Nothing is a shock or a surprise anymore,” Lemmo said. “We’re just dealing with business on a day-to-day basis.”

For others, the loss will be almost personal and a bit harder to bear.

“We were there from the beginning,” said Cheryl Schulman of Oak Park, who sometimes brought her nephew for a Disney jaunt. “It’s like we saw it growing. We knew all the [employees]. They were like friends.”