Hamleys - wikipedia Hamleys Hamleys Type Limited company Industry Retailing Founded 1760 ; 258 years ago ( 1760 ) Headquarters London, W1 United Kingdom Number of locations 26 in UK ; 90 international franchises Area served Worldwide Products Toys Revenue £ 43 million ( 2011 ) Owner C. Banner Website www.hamleys.com Hamleys is the oldest and largest toy shop in the world and one of the world 's best - known retailers of toys. Founded by William Hamley as `` Noahs Ark '' in High Holborn, London, in 1760, it moved to its current site on Regent Street in 1881. This flagship store is set over seven floors, with more than 50,000 lines of toys on sale. It is considered one of the city 's prominent tourist attractions, receiving around five million visitors each year. The chain has ten other outlets in the United Kingdom and also has more than 60 franchises worldwide. Contents 1 History 2 United Kingdom stores 2.1 Regent Street 2.2 Other UK stores 3 Global stores 4 Website 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History Hamleys is the oldest and largest toy shop in the world. It is named after William Hamley, who founded a toy shop called `` Noah 's Ark '' at No. 231 High Holborn, London, in 1760. Ownership of the shop passed through the family, and by the time it was operated by Hamley 's grandsons in 1837, the store had become famous, counting royalty and nobility among its customers. A branch at No. 200 Regent Street was opened in 1881 ; the original High Holborn shop was destroyed by fire in 1901 and was subsequently relocated to Nos. 86 -- 87 High Holborn. The Regent Street branch later expanded to Nos. 188 - 196. In 1938, Queen Mary, consort of King George V, gave Hamleys a royal warrant. During the Second World War, the Regent Street store was bombed five times. In 1955, Queen Elizabeth II gave the company a second royal warrant as a `` toys and sports merchant ''. Hamleys was bought in June 2003 by the Baugur Group, an Icelandic investment company. When Baugur collapsed, its stake in the toy store was taken over by the Icelandic bank Landsbanki. In September 2012 Groupe Ludendo, a toy retailer based in France with shops also located in Belgium, Spain and Switzerland, bought Hamleys for a reported £ 60 million. In October 2015 it was reported that Groupe Ludendo was negotiating the sale of Hamleys, possibly to a Hong Kong company owned by a relative of the owner of department store House of Fraser. It was subsequently purchased by C. Banner, a large Chinese footwear and fashion wear conglomerate based in Nanking. United Kingdom stores Regent Street Hamleys expanded and moved its flagship store from No. 200 Regent Street to its current site at Nos. 188 -- 196, Regent Street, in 1981, which is the largest toy shop in the world. Hamleys ' flagship store has seven floors covering 54,000 square feet ( 5,000 m ), all devoted to playthings, with different categories of toy on each floor. The ground floor is traditionally for stuffed toys ( including Steiff ), and is decked out with a diverse array of stuffed animals, from regular teddy bears to more exotic plushes such as turtles and dolphins, and enormous life - sized giraffes and elephants. Other UK stores As of 2015, there are ten other stores across the UK, including sites at the St. Enoch Centre in Glasgow, at the Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester, at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, York and at airports including London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted and Manchester. Global stores A Hamleys store at the shopping mall Emporia in Malmö, Sweden. In 1987 Hamleys ' second store was opened in New York City, however it was closed less than 12 months later. Hamleys ' European footprint existed in Denmark ( three small stores ) and, since October 2008, the Republic of Ireland, when it opened a 3,250 - square - metre ( 35,000 sq ft ) store in Pembroke Avenue, located adjacent to the Town Square in Dundrum, Dublin. On 12 October 2012, a Hamleys store opened at Nacka in Stockholm, Sweden. On 19 September 2013, a Hamley store opened as part of Steen og Strøm department store in Oslo, Norway. In April 2014 the Hamleys Denmark toy chain closed all four of its Danish locations when its Nordic parent company, Kids Retails, filed for bankruptcy. Hamleys opened its first store outside Europe in Amman, Jordan, on 18 June 2008. The three - storey store on Mecca Street is run by the group 's franchisee Jordan Centre. A Dubai franchise opened with two stores on 4 November 2008. The first store in South Asia was opened in Mumbai, India, on 9 April 2010. The 22,000 - square - foot ( 2,000 m ) store is located in an upmarket shopping district in India 's financial capital. A second store in India is located in the city of Chennai at the Express Avenue Mall. The 11,000 sq ft store has a London bus that customers can walk up through. It now has 39 stores in India, including three stores in Delhi with a recently opened store in Dwarka Sector 13 on 1 September 2017. Hamleys also opened its first store in Lucknow at Fun Republic Mall. With this addition, the iconic brand is now present in 19 cities with 39 stores across India. Hamleys ' opened a store in the Saudi capital Riyadh on 26 January 2012. The 2,100 sq m shop is located in the Panorama mall at Takhassusi Street 's intersection with Prince Mohammed Road. In 2012 Hamleys opened its first store in Russia. It now operates two in Moscow, one in Saint - Petersburg and one in Krasnodar. In 2013, Hamleys announced plans to open 20 stores across India in collaboration with Reliance Brands Ltd... The company also announced that a store would open in the One Utama Shopping Mall in Kuala Lumpur, in November 2013, the first in south - east Asia. Malaysia is now a home for 3 Hamleys stores, with new outlets opened in the Quill Mall, Kuala Lumpur and in the satellite terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport. In 2014, Hamleys opened its first store in the Philippines. The store opened at noontime of 21 December, in time for Christmas, in Central Square, Bonifacio Highstreet, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. A second Philippine Hamleys store is also set to open the following year. Stores Specialists Inc. ( SSI ) Group is the exclusive distributor of Hamleys in the Philippines. In 2015, an Abu Dhabi franchise opened with two stores in World Trade Centre Mall ( WTC ) and Yas Mall, Yas Island. In July 2015, a store opened in Plaza Singapura, Singapore. This is the first Hamleys store to be established in Singapore. Subsequently, a second store was introduced at Marina Bay Sands. On 20 August 2015, a store opened in Greenstone Mall, Johannesburg, South Africa. This is the first Hamleys store to be opened in South Africa. In November 2015, a store opened at Antara Polanco Fashion Mall in Mexico City, its first store in Mexico and its second attempt to open a store in the Americas since the aforementioned short - lived venture in New York City in 1987. There 's one store in Nicosia, Cyprus. In November one is opening at Eastgate, South Africa and also in Malta. In 2016, first Hamleys store was opened in Prague ( Czech Republic ), at the centre of the city, Na Příkopě street. In 2017, a Hamleys store was opened in Hull, England to celebrate the UK City of Culture, in the shopping centre, Princes Quay. Website In the 1990s Hamleys had two websites, one for the UK which did not sell anything, and a US version with a basic inventory. This changed in 1999 with the launch of hamleys.com. The site offered worldwide shipping and focused on user experience, customer service and the sale of traditional products and collectables. The chief executive of Hamleys told Marketing Magazine `` I do not want to become embroiled with the likes of Toys ' R'Us, Toyzone and eToys, which are fighting on price alone and will end up making next to no margin ''. In 2006, a glitch on the website allowed customers to claim a 60 % discount on any product. Econsultancy critiqued the site for its basic approach in 2013, and felt that it `` does n't do a lot to represent the brand, in fact it may even detract from it ''. See also Benjamin Pollock 's Toy Shop Gamleys References Jump up ^ Peter Matthews, Michelle Dunkley McCarthy ( 1994 ). The Guinness Book of Records 1994. Facts on File. p. 134. Jump up ^ Donald McFarlan, Norris McWhirter ( 1990 ). The Guinness Book of Records 1991. Guinness. p. 135. ^ Jump up to : http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8510000/8510277.stm Jump up ^ History - once upon a time a boy dreamed of owning a toy shop, Hamleys, retrieved 4 August 2009 Jump up ^ `` Hamleys toy chain sold to French firm Groupe Ludendo ''. BBC News Online. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012. Jump up ^ http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Retail_and_leisure/article1620642.ece Jump up ^ `` Official website - C. banner International Holdings ''. http://www.cbanner.com.cn. C. banner International Holdings. Retrieved 6 September 2016. External link in website = ( help ) ^ Jump up to : `` UK toy retailer Hamleys opens first store in India ''. NDTV. 8 April 2010. Archived from the original on 10 April 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2010. Jump up ^ Garavelli, Dani. `` London toy shop Hamleys opens its doors in the St Enoch Centre, Glasgow, today. ''. The Scotsman. 26 November 2009 Jump up ^ `` A new store at Stansted Airport is child 's play for Hamleys ''. Herts and Essex Observer. Jump up ^ `` Hamleys returning to York after 17 years '', The Press ( York ), Newsquest Media Group, 18 October 2005, retrieved 8 April 2009 Jump up ^ Hamleys Toy Store Opens In Dublin, British Embassy in Ireland, archived from the original on 27 October 2008, retrieved 8 April 2009 Jump up ^ http://www.dundrum.ie/pdf/FINAL_03%2006%202008_Hamley%27s%20Consumer%20Release.pdf Jump up ^ Fagan, Jack ( 4 June 2008 ), `` € 1 million rent for top toy store Hamleys in Dundrum '', The Irish Times, retrieved 8 April 2009 Jump up ^ `` Hamleys Denmark closes outlets following bankruptcy ''. cphpost. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014. Jump up ^ Thompson, James ( 18 June 2008 ), `` Hamleys opens first store overseas '', The Independent, retrieved 8 April 2009 Jump up ^ Roberts, Katie ( 4 November 2008 ), `` Hamleys Dubai opens today '', Toy News Online, retrieved 8 April 2009 Jump up ^ `` Our Stores in India ''. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012. Jump up ^ http://www.hamleys.ru/ Jump up ^ `` Reliance Retail aims to have 20 Hamleys stores in next 3 yrs ''. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` SSI Group brings in iconic toy brand '', Philippine Daily Inquirer, 22 December 2014, retrieved 22 December 2014 Jump up ^ Vila, Alixandra Caole ( 22 December 2014 ), `` Largest toy shop in the world opens branch in the Philippines '', Philippine Star, retrieved 22 December 2014 Jump up ^ http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/british-toy-giant-hamleys-lands-in-singapore-8238262 Jump up ^ http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/british-toy-store-hamleys-opens-here ^ Jump up to : Doward, Jamie ( 21 November 1999 ). `` Accountant 's plan to make fun of Hamleys Once a Virgin high - flier, Simon Burke now has a British institution as his play thing ''. The Observer. Retrieved 8 April 2014. Jump up ^ `` Hamleys revamp aims at US '', Marketing Magazine, 15 December 1999, retrieved 7 April 2014 Jump up ^ `` Net Vikings pillage Hamleys website Voucher scheme error provokes festive carnage ''. theregister.co.uk. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2014. Jump up ^ `` Hamleys website suffers web glitch - offers toys 60 % below true price ''. computer weekly. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2014. Jump up ^ Charlton, G. `` Why is Hamleys failing to make the most of ecommerce ? ''. econsultancy.com. Retrieved 18 November 2013. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hamleys. 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- 0.1402 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamleys&oldid=825876714 '' Categories : Shops in London Retail companies of the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster British Royal Warrant holders Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Toy retailers 1760 establishments in England Companies established in 1760 Hidden categories : CS1 errors : external links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from November 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Use dmy dates from December 2017 Pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters Coordinates not on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Dansk فارسی Français 日本 語 Polski Suomi Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 15 February 2018, at 23 : 11. 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Question: how many floors does hamleys regent street have packed full of toys
Answer: seven