Last 4 Illinois Disney Store Locations Closing

ILLINOIS — The last four standalone Disney stores in Illinois will close by the middle of next month, even as the company says it will open locations inside more than 100 Target stores by the holiday season.

On Monday, USA Today published a full list of Disney store closings.

Nearly 40 Disney stores already closed earlier this year, including the Chicago Ridge store that closed this month. The remaining Illinois locations are also set to close:

• Aurora: Chicago Premium Outlets, 1650 Premium Outlet Blvd. - closing on our before Sept. 15
• Chicago: North Michigan Avenue, 717 North Michigan Ave. - closing on or before Sept. 1
• Gurnee: Gurnee Mills, 6170 West Grand Ave. - closing on or before Sept. 15
• Schaumburg: Woodfield Mall, 1600 Golf & Meacham Road - closing on or before Sept. 15

In all, 57 more stores will be shuttered, leaving the Disney outlet store in Monroe, Ohio at the Cincinnati Premium Outlet as the closest brick and mortar retail outlet to Illinois.

Disney was seemingly transitioning to a focus on its online retail portal, Shop Disney, after announcing in March that it would close 20 percent of its North American stores, or 60 locations. In 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, online commerce increased by 32.4 percent to $797.4 billion. That number threw Disney's online business five years ahead of projections, according to the announcement.

A list of Target stores that will get a Disney shop has not yet been released.

Chris Dehnel, Patch Staff, contributed to this article