Disney Stores.com
Online retail at The Walt Disney Company began back on November 19, 1996 with the opening of The Disney Store Online. At the time, the business was under the Disney Online business unit.
1998
In 1998 the company purchased Infoseek and that purchase included Starwave. With that purchase there were now many other online properties under Disney Online including Disney.com, DisneyStore.com, MrShowbiz.com, Family.com, Movies.com, ESPN.com, NFL.com, NASCAR.com, NHL.com, etc. This led to a new business named Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG) which grouped all internet sites under one business unit.
1999
In 1999 the business was changed from BVIG to Go.com and was then spun that off as a tracking stock. Also in 1999 the DisneyStore.com business was moved under a business named Disney Direct Marketing (DDM). DDM was a business entity under the company's Disney Consumer Products (DCP) division and ran the Disney Catalog. At the same time all of this was happening, the team that ran the DisneyStore.com site also built and launched ESPNStore.com, NASCARStore.com, DisneyTickets.com and DisneyAuctions.com.
2001
In 2001 DDM was moved directly under the control of The Disney Stores business.
2004
The sale of The Disney Stores to The Children's Place didn't include the sale of DDM but did include the sale of the DisneyStore.com domain name, so in 2004 DisneyStore.com was changed to DisneyDirect.com.
2006
In 2006 a complete rebranding was done. Disney Direct Marketing, Inc. was changed to Disney Shopping, Inc. (DSI), the domain was changed from DisneyDirect.com to DisneyShopping.com and the Disney Catalog business was shut down.
2008
In 2008, after the repurchase of the Disney Store business from The Children's Place, the domain was changed back to DisneyStore.com.
2010
In 2010 DSI was moved back under the control of the newly reacquired Disney Store business and a complete redesign of the site was launched. Also in 2010, the Disneystore.co.uk site was completely rebuilt on the same platform as the US site,
2011
The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment in 2009, and in 2011, MarvelStore.com was relaunched using the same technology as the DisneyStore.com site. A new online store (DisneyStore.fr) for the French market was launched and a new store (DisneyStore.de) for the German market was launched. Also in 2011, a Mobile Web version of the Disneystore.com was launched as well as an iPhone app and an iPad app.
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