Disney closing its stores at Woodfield, Gurnee Mills and Aurora outlet mall

Disney is closing all of its stores in Illinois next month, including locations at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Gurnee Mills in Gurnee and Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora.

Those stores will close on or before Sept. 15, according to the Disney Store website. The location on Chicago's Magnificent Mile will close on or before Sept. 1.

Disney announced in March it would be closing 60 stores in North America as it shifts its focus to its online business.

At the same time, the company announced plans to open more than 100 new Disney shops in Target stores, according to USA Today.

"While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer," Stephanie Young, president of Consumer Products Games and Publishing, said at the time. "Over the past few years, we've been focused on meeting consumers where they are already spending their time, such as the expansion of Disney store shop-in-shops around the world. We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected e-commerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises."

About two dozen Disney Stores remain. The closings don't affect more than 600 stores inside Disney theme parks and other locations, including small Disney shops inside Targets.