Posted on by Dunc

Star Wars Shop is closing down: What now?

In the latest in a string of big changes for StarWars.com, it was announced today that the Star Wars Shop will be closing down on July 18th.

I must admit I’m kind of shocked by this news – when the site’s advertising went away, I had assumed that the shop’s success was part of the reason.

The announcement says they are looking at “new ways to showcase Star Wars merchandise” and that information would be shared “in the coming months.”

Matt Martin, the site’s buyer, is staying with Lucasfilm, “shifting into something new,” he said today on Twitter.

For that matter, we’ve had no official word on Steve Sansweet’s replacement, though he’s been officially retired from Fan Relations for several months now. Could a reworking of StarWars.com coincide with that announcement?

10 Replies to “Star Wars Shop is closing down: What now?”

  1. Has the Shop been doing well? Most people I know use it to look at what’s out there and try to find it somewhere else, cheaper.

    And LFL has proven they are not beyond cutting losses and lopping off non-profitable ventures.

    However, I also wouldn’t put it past them to try something new, too. Always reinventing.

  2. maybe they just don’t want to be in the direct selling business anymore. it is unfortunate since SWShop had some really unique items that were pretty cool – like my Space Slug oven mitt.

    i wonder what they will do with the excess inventory…

  3. I don’t think I ever ordered anything from the Shop… Their shipping costs were outrageous. But the exclusives were actually kind of clever… That seems to be pretty rare.

    Maybe they’re going to partner with someone like Amazon, instead of running it in-house?

    Excess inventory? To the CVI prize room, of course. ;)

    On its own, this is just kind of shrug. But with all the other stuff that’s gone on this year… I gotta wonder.

  4. Bummer. I’ve bought stuff from there… during sales, the prices were competitive, especially on harder-to-find t-shirts and such. And their exclusives were always clever.

  5. I can’t say that I ever bought anything from them. either. It’s kind of a shame because they did have some really cool things, but I’m sure that we’ll see something along the lines of what Dunc threw out there: a partnership with some other company that can lower distribution costs and cut the shipping rates some. At least I hope so.

  6. I’ve bought from there too, but only artwork and exclusives I couldn’t find anywhere else. (Missed out on the oven mitt, though, drat!)

  7. I’ve been out of the loop– thanks for adding that Matt’s alright… does make me wonder what is going to happen though… lots of weird with the forums shutting down and now the shop too? Fire sale?

  9. I knew I had to say something, or half of CJ would be all “What about Matt?!?” ;)

    Eliz: The forums were a no-brainer. They’d been putting the most minimal effort possible into them for years and years by that point.

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