Page 48 - The Disneyization of Society

THEMING

have different experiences, which are in large part associated with the local kinds
of terrain and sporting interests. Cabela’s store in Owatonna, Minnesota, is
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described as an aesthetic experience
centered, literally, around a thirty-five-foot high mountain with a waterfall, and featuring more than
a hundred stuffed taxidermic animals … This part of the store represents four different North
American biosystems. Elsewhere, two huge dioramas depict African scenes that include the so-called
Big Five big-game targets: the elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros, and cape buffalo. Three aquariums
hold a number of varieties of prized fish, while almost seven hundred different kinds of animals in
total are mounted in and around every department of the store. 85

Other stores operating in the same sector as these three chains, like Timberland,
are also themed in the sense of having an outdoors feel to them, but what distin-
guishes this latest phase of themed shopping is the emphasis being placed on the
theming as a focus in its own right and not merely a general background. In its
use of simulation in the form of such devices as dioramas and indoor waterfalls,
the elaborateness of the theming is being taken several steps further, in much the
same way that has happened with some of the more recent themed restaurants.
Theming can be found with varying degrees of elaborateness in other retail sec-
tors as well. It has been suggested that the Barnes & Noble book stores have been
designed to look like old world libraries. 86 Goldberger suggests that some Diesel
clothes stores have been designed to give the impression of being in a trendy
nightclub. The Sneaker Stadium in Paramus, New Jersey, is a massive building
with tracks and basketball courts so that customers can try out their possible pur-
chases. 87 The Nature Company shop in Universal City Walk in Los Angeles has a
small rainforest.
Wallendorf et al. have provided an interesting case study of a toy and children’s
clothing store – Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s – which, at the time that their research
began, was located in a downtown shopping centre in Arizona and themed in
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order to create a sense of what the authors call ‘homeyness’. This was conveyed
by the design of the store but also by the warm greetings and the apparently
unprompted displays of favourite toys by sales personnel. This last element brings
out the importance of performance work in Disneyization, an issue that will be
returned to in Chapter 5. The store’s homeyness appeals as much to adults
attracted by the nostalgic setting as to children. During the period of the research,
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s relocated to a much bigger store in an out-of-town strip mall
three-and-a-half miles from its original location. The store’s relocation also
entailed a change of theming. The new store was more visually exciting and less
homey than its predecessor. One way in which theming is revealed is that toys
and other items are displayed in such a way as to tell a story: ‘The stories told by
these displays are children’s dream experiences: a backyard bug safari, an after-
noon with Mistress Mary tending the garden, or an imaginary swing through the
trees with jungle primate friends’. Items are displayed to support the story, with
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the result that they frequently appear in more than one place when they are used