Hamleys

Hamleys of London Limited, trading as Hamleys, is a British multinational toy retailer, owned by Reliance Retail. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest toy store, it was founded by William Hamley as "Noah's Ark" in High Holborn, London, in 1760. It moved to its current site on Regent Street in London's West End in 1881. This flagship store is set over seven floors, with more than 50,000 lines of toys on sale. It receives around five million visitors each year.

The chain has 11 outlets in the United Kingdom and also has more than 90 franchises worldwide. Hamleys became famous in the early Victorian era, with royalty among its customers. The store was granted its first royal warrant from Queen Mary in 1938. It held a royal warrant from Elizabeth II from 1955 to 2022 (her death).

Hamleys is the oldest and in 1994 was the 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 200 Regent Street in the West End of London was opened in 1881. The original High Holborn store was destroyed by fire in 1901 and subsequently relocated to 86–87 High Holborn.

Hamleys suffered a downturn through the 1920s and closed, entering receivership, in 1931. After ensuring that it would not alienate their suppliers, the Lines Bros toy company, Hamleys' largest creditor, purchased the company and reopened the Regent Street store by the end of that year, keeping it largely independent. The High Holborn branch, opened in 1901, would not reopen under the new ownership.

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".

In 1981, Hamleys would move to 188–196 Regent Street. The following year, it was purchased by the department store chain Debenhams. Debenhams itself was the subject of a takeover in August 1985 by the Burton Group. Burton Group divested Hamleys in August 1986 to Harris Queensway, a retail group led by Philip Harris. At the time it was said that a strategic plan had been formulated to build on the strength of the brand to ensure the company lived up to its reputation. The Harris Queensway group, including Hamleys, was taken over in 1988 to become Lowdnes Queensway. Hamleys was sold by Lowndes Queensway in May 1989 to a group led by Duncan Chadwick for £22 million.

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.