DISNEY PLANS ESPN STORE.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

Walt Disney Co. announced Tuesday it will launch a new retail chain based on the ESPN cable network this fall with the first store opening in Glendale.

The 4,000-square-foot outlet will debut in the Glendale Galleria, the same shopping mall where the first Disney Store opened in March 1987. The Disney Stores chain now numbers 567 with about a quarter of those overseas.

Disney obtained ownership of ESPN last year through its $19 billion purchase of Capital Cities/ABC. While the ABC network has lagged in ratings since the acquisition, ESPN has been a strong performer for its new owner.

The store will sell team apparel, memorabilia, electronics and ESPN-brand items, along with offering video monitors, games, news and information.

Burbank-based Disney plans to open three more ESPN stores next year and expand the chain to several hundred outlets eventually.

``Disney's purchase of ABC last year promised many opportunities and this store is a perfect example,'' said Steven M. Bornstein, president of the cable sports network.

Barton Boyd, president of Disney Consumer Products, announced the new venture at the company's annual shareholders meeting at the Arrowhead Pond, saying Disney wants to create a store to take advantage of the ``synergy'' between the cable network and his sales organization.

The Disney Stores have been one of the most successful ``synergies'' of the entertainment giant over the past decade by using one part of the company's operations to market another. The stores attracted 120 million customers to domestic locations last year and another 45 million to overseas outlets.

The success of the Disney Stores also inspired Warner Bros. to launch its own Studio Stores operation in 1991, with more than 160 outlets now in operation.

The ESPN Store will be the second new concept to be launched this year in the region by Disney. It opened Club Disney, a multimedia center with a dozen play areas for parents and children, last week in Thousand Oaks and has reported strong response so far.

ESPN is currently in 212 million cable homes worldwide with offerings in 21 languages. ESPN2, launched in 1993, is in 46 million homes domestically.