If you're of a certain age, then you recall that Disneyland used to have a good number of specialized merchandise shops. A visit to Yesterland, a great resource of Disneyland gone-by from Werner Weiss, offers a glimpse at some of them.

Shockingly enough, you used to be able to wander about the Park, and not see the same merchandise for sale everywhere.

Today, that's not the case. You'll find the same things on sale in Critter Country as you will in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland or at the Emporium on Main Street. Heck, you don't even need to go inside the parks anymore. The exact same merchandise found inside is now available outside at World of Disney.

In some ways, there is nothing wrong with such a concept. The folks in Merchandising for the Parks want to have on hand what sells. Keep the inventory fluid. Don't be stuck with something that guests don't want.

That has even led to Disney merchandise for sale in outlet malls across the country. Knowledgable guests can (and do) make the trip to the semi-permanent locations in Anaheim or Orlando for the bargain rather than spend more for less at the resorts.

So looking back, what were some of those specialty shops? One of the more popular locations for them was in New Orleans Square. The anchor location was the "One-Of-A-Kind Shop" <insert link and image>. Just as the name implied, there were all kinds of goodies here. Some real, "honest to goodness" antiques and more than a few inexpensive reproductions. One such was a brass door knocker that looked like it was right out of Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol", and you expected Jacob Marley's ghost to appear each time you raised you hand towards it. Today? The location is home to merchandise based on Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" and known as Le Bat En Rouge.

A more recent view as Le Bat...

New Orleans Square had other botique shops. Laffite's Silver Shop, La Botique D'or, Mlle. Antoinette’s Perfumerie and Marche Aux Fleurs, Sacs et Mode. The latter sold hats, handbags and more including film and cigarettes. (Ironically enough, it is the only one that survives today, if only in name. It's one of a number of pin stores located throughout the Parks. The lure here today is that the somewhat remote location may have pins other stores may already be out of stock of.)

So why the change? Well, for one, the buying habits of the public changed. Where once, the target market may have been mom and dad or grandmother or grandfather, today it's the teens and twenty somethings who have the larger disposable incomes to spend inside the theme parks. So the folks in Merchandising want to do whatever they can to appeal to that market. That translates to merchandise directed more towards that demographic. Be it Pirate Princess hats, shirts and jewelry or pirate toys, if they sell, then that's what the stores will carry. Sad but true...

"One-Of-A-Kind" gave way to a number of changes over the years. It kept the name, but seemed to lose the more unique items for sale. Pirate or Haunted Mansion merchandise gave way to Gourmet food and kitchen items with Le Gourmet arriving.

Even that moved to another location before making way for Christmas merchandise year round, only to set sail for more opportunities to purchase pirate booty. And now with merchandise from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" selling well enough with guests and Goth wanna be's, it is only a matter of time before the next fad comes along and finds it's way on sale here.

The era of retail greed at Disneyland that was marked by the reigns of Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harris have come and gone, but the Dark Side of Merchandising remains. And as much as some of us miss the specialized shops that made a trip to the Park special, don't look for them to come back soon unless someone comes along who is willing to stand up and champion the concept. Right now, I don't see such a person on the horizon. Some say that Matt Ouimet might have been, but that's just so much "crying over split milk" at this point.

What was, was. But never say never...

After all, who was it who said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible"?

Someone named Walt.

PS: Check out more of Yesterland for a fond look back at more of these specialized merchandise locations.