Hamleys

Hamleys is one of the world's largest toy shops. It is currently located at 188–196 Regent Street in London.

History

Hamleys is named after William Hamley, who founded a toy shop called "Noah's Ark" at High Holborn in London in 1760. A branch in Regent Street was opened in 1881, and the Holborn branch was destroyed by fire in 1901 and was relocated from 231 to 86–87 High Holborn. The business has survived in various forms to the present day, and at one time was the largest toy shop in the world. Hamleys moved to its current Regent Street premises in 1981.

The store is considered one of London's major tourist attractions, and receives about five million visitors a year.

In 1987 a second store was opened in York, however this was closed less than 12 months later for reasons that remain unclear. [Yorkshire Evening Press, 2005-10-18. " [http://archive.yorkpress.co.uk/2005/10/18/334483.html Hamleys returning to York after 17 years] "]

Hamleys is also a holding company for several other toy companies in the United Kingdom. Most notably, Hamleys purchased The English Teddy Bear Company in 2004. The English Teddy Bear Company, originally established by Dominic Richards, quickly failed to prove a success for Hamleys and all eight stores were closed down within two years at a cost of millions to the toy empire.

Hamleys has opened its first store outside Europe in Amman, the capital city of Jordan. The new three-storey site located in Mecca Street is run through the group’s retail franchise partner Jordan Centre. [cite web|url=http://www.theappointment.co.uk/news/?submitted=False&ID=3624|title=Hamleys opens store in Jordan|publisher=theappointment.co.uk]

Hamleys will also open a 32,000 square foot site in Dubai in August, with a store in Dublin to open in October, whilst three smaller stores can already be found in Denmark. The retailer plans to open additional franchise stores in Russia, China, India and Turkey. In the UK, Hamleys also operates eight mini travel outlets and five large format concession stores within House of Fraser department stores.

Unlike most companies using possessive names, Hamleys intentionally forgoes the use of an apostrophe in its name. [Citation | last1 = Hartston | first1 = William | title = Pedantry | newspaper = The Independent | date = 1997-09-10 | year = 1997 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970910/ai_n14132067]

Description

Hamleys has seven floors, all devoted to playthings, with different categories of toy on each floor.

The ground floor is traditionally for soft toys, and decked out with a remarkably diverse array of stuffed animals, from regular teddy bears to more exotic plushes such as turtles or dolphins, even to enormous life-sized giraffes or elephants. There is also an outlet store version of Hamleys at Great Western retail village in Swindon Wiltshire offering a limited range of products.

Hamleys also have relatively smaller shops in UK airports. In London Heathrow Airport a shop is located in 4 of the 5 terminals. Other stores are situated at Stansted Airport and Manchester Airport (Terminal 2), and now at St. Pancras International.

Hamleys also has concession departments in House of Fraser department stores in Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester and London Oxford Street.

Floor guide

Regent Street - London
* 5th floor: Boys — Action figures, vehicles, and an open cafe.
* 4th floor: Hobbies — Model kits, remote-controlled vehicles, model railways, Scalextric, etc.
* 3rd floor: Girls — Dolls, Arts & Crafts, Hello Kitty, Dress up etc.
* 2nd floor: Preschool — Toys for young children.
* 1st floor: Games — Board games, science, jigsaws; also a Build-A-Bear Workshop and Sweet Shop.
* Ground floor: Soft toys — a wide variety of stuffed animals, and also a Marvin's Magic section.
* Basement: Interactive — Lego, trading cards, gadgets, novelties and GAME (retailer).

Mecca Street - Amman

*1st floor:Girls world, soft toys, Hamleys Baby, magic & battery operated toys
*2nd floor: Science, arts & crafts, outdoor games & puzzles.
*3rd floor: Boys world, extreme sports, party supplies, video & electronic games.

References

External links

* [http://www.hamleys.co.uk Hamleys web site]
* [http://www.regentstreetonline.com/RegentStreet/ShoppingChannel/Hamleys.htm Regent St. Shopping] - external website
* [http://www.ldncity.com/hamleys/ Hamleys] - external website, in italian