Ridemakerz Downtown Disney Store is set to close on April 30th 2011 with no word if it will be moving to a new location within the shopping district. There seems to be a major reshuffle going on and it could be that Ridemakerz will be moving to a new, smaller, more permanent location. At present, it is housed in former Virgin Mega store. Although it is using all of the ground floor much of the space on others floors is redundant and Disney could be looking to use this space for much bigger expansion ideas. The press release containing the announcement is detailed below:
IRVINE, CA–(Marketwire – March 8, 2011) – RIDEMAKERZ announced today its Downtown Disney shop at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. won worldwide “Pop-Up Store of the Year.” This is the second year in a row that RIDEMAKERZ has claimed the award presented by Chain Store Age magazine. The award recognizes RIDEMAKERZ for its creativity in transforming a 16,000 plus square foot retail venue into an auto-garage where kids and kids at heart can customize their own 1:18 scale toy vehicles, or RIDEZ.
“It’s an incredible acknowledgement for RIDEMAKERZ to win Pop-Up Store of the Year two years in a row, especially given the momentum and creativity in this rapidly expanding category,” said Larry Andreini, ZEO (CEO), RIDEMAKERZ. “Disney offered us an incredible space, and we were able to deliver a one-of-a-kind RIDEMAKERZ experience for the ages.”
Much like its fully-customizable RIDEZ, the RIDEMAKERZ pop-up at Downtown Disney – Lake Buena Vista was completely tricked out. The shop immersed customizers in a real world auto salon with show-quality cars, including rides from the personal collection of legendary car customizer Chip Foose. Additionally, a specially designed radio-control track lets customizers play with their creations on-site. The RIDEMAKERZ pop-up at Downtown Disney – Lake Buena Vista will remain open through April 30, 2011.
What do you think? Has Ridemakerz run its course in Downtown Disney?