WASHINGTON, October 24 (RIA Novosti) – US entertainment behemoth Walt Disney Company has downplayed a Russian newspaper story saying it plans to open its own retail outlets in Russia next year, calling the report “inaccurate,” The Hollywood Reporter said.
“While we are always evaluating global growth opportunities, there was nothing new to announce,” a spokesperson for Disney Consumer Products told The Hollywood reporter, referring to the article published Wednesday in the Russian daily Kommersant.
The newspaper report is “inaccurate,” The Hollywood reporter quoted Disney as saying, without elaborating.
Without identifying its sources, Kommersant said it had learned Disney planned to open three Disney Stores under its direct control in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2014, and that the company was actively seeking partners to operate Disney Play toy stores and Disney Style clothing stores in the country.
Disney opened a Moscow office in 2006 to run its media businesses in Russia, but one third of the company’s revenue in the country is derived from licensing fees on consumer goods, The Hollywood Reporter reported Wednesday.
