Disney Springs has been shedding and changing retail locations at a pace that is starting to feel like a pattern rather than a series of isolated events. Over in Town Center, the CrazyShake by Black Tap pop-up closed at the end of May after its planned 90-day run in the former Sprinkles location, leaving that space dark without a confirmed replacement. The Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop is preparing for a relocation and significant overhaul that will change one of the Marketplace district's most familiar storefronts. And now the Marketplace Co-op has partially closed itself off from guests behind floor-to-ceiling black construction curtains that cover a substantial section of the store's interior showroom floor.
Disney has not said what is happening behind them.
What Guests Are Finding at the Marketplace Co-op Right Now
The black construction curtains are floor-to-ceiling and cover a central section of the Marketplace Co-op's interior, representing a significant portion of the store's overall shopping floor. Guests who visit the building right now will find the Tren-D boutique and the perimeter merchandise displays accessible, but the central section is completely hidden from view and inaccessible.
The curtains are the kind that Disney uses when something significant is being built or refreshed behind them, rather than a simple merchandise rearrangement. The scale of the cordoned area suggests a structural layout refresh, a new themed storefront concept, or a significant overhaul of the interior configuration rather than anything that could be accomplished with a few overnight hours of merchandise movement.
Disney has not announced a timeline for the refurbishment. No new concept has been confirmed for the space. The curtains went up, and the announcement did not come with them.
Why the Marketplace Co-op Matters
The Marketplace Co-op is not just another Disney retail store, and understanding what it has historically been helps explain why its current, partially closed state warrants attention beyond the practical inconvenience of a reduced shopping floor.
The location has always functioned as a rotating retail incubator, a space where Disney introduces boutique shop concepts, tests new merchandise ideas in a real shopping environment, and rotates in pop-up experiences that give guests something genuinely new to find on repeat visits. WonderGround Gallery lived here. D-Tech On Demand lived here. Disney Centerpiece was here. Specialized showcases for Disney Cruise Line and runDisney have occupied the space at different points in its history.
The Marketplace Co-op has never been static, and the black curtains going up in its central section are consistent with its history of regularly reinventing itself. Something is being built behind those curtains. Based on the location's track record, it is probably worth finding out what will happen when the curtains eventually come down.
The Pattern at Disney Springs
The Marketplace Co-op situation is the latest development in a Marketplace district that is visibly in transition across multiple locations simultaneously.
CrazyShake is gone. The former Sprinkles location has no confirmed replacement. Ghirardelli is preparing for significant changes. And now the Co-op's central section is hidden behind construction curtains, with no announcement posted about the closure. For guests who visit Disney Springs regularly and have developed specific shopping habits in the Marketplace district, the current landscape requires more navigation and adjusted expectations than a typical visit.
For guests who are planning their first Disney Springs visit or who have not been in a while the practical advice is straightforward. The Marketplace Co-op is partially open. You can still browse the Tren-D boutique and the perimeter merchandise throughout the building. You just cannot access the central section, and you will not know what is eventually going on in there until Disney decides to tell you.
What to Expect When the Curtains Come Down
Based on how the Marketplace Co-op has operated throughout its history, the refurbishment is likely to result in something new and distinctive rather than a return to exactly what was there before. The location exists specifically to host concepts that are different from the standard Disney retail experience and whatever Disney is building in that central section right now presumably fits that identity.
The curtains are up. The central section is closed. The shopping floor is navigable around the construction zone. And the Marketplace Co-op's next chapter is currently being built behind black fabric somewhere in the Disney Springs Marketplace district.
Whatever it is, it will be there when it is ready. Disney Springs guests visiting before that point should know what they are walking into.
