Permission to play

Permission to play
World-famous toy retailer Hamleys reinvents its flagship store and expands abroad

By Mark Faithfull, London Editor
February 01, 2009

Brand Visual: Steve Trank

When London-based Hamleys unveiled the first pieces of its flagship Regent Street store refurbishment, the iconic toy retailer made its bold opening statement with an equally iconic red, double-decker London bus at the heart of its redesign.

Hamleys has overhauled the ground and top floors of its seven-floor London store, and by the start of its 250th birthday year in 2010, the other five floors will be revamped as well. By then, Hamleys, which until recently only traded from a single store and a handful of airport shops, will also have opened a swathe of international outlets in a strategy that Hamleys COO Paul Currie says could eventually see the toy retailer "in every major capital city around the world."

Designed by Columbus, Ohio-based Chute Gerdeman Retail, the concept for Hamleys takes the original store as the platform for a consistent brand statement around the world—although execution is and will be different as the preferences of the local consumer market and the architecture of each location dictates.

In stark contrast with retail norms, Currie says that the retailer "loves trading over multiple levels," and claims an 80 percent penetration among shoppers to the top floor of the 54,000-sq.-ft. London flagship. Where possible for its new stores, Hamleys prefers multilevel outlets of at least 25,000 sq. ft., or has addressed single-level trading by dividing the space.

If New York's Fifth Avenue has FAO Schwarz, so London's Regent Street has Hamleys as its beloved toy emporium. Yet, the iconic nature of its brand has remained relatively untapped, as Currie reflects: "The size and profits of the store group have been much smaller than its brand equity, and that's why we believe it has such potential."

Chute Gerdeman was given the double challenge of developing a design template for what is a highly difficult space (which is also often packed to the rafters), and enabling that design to be used as a kit of parts to be applied to international stores.

Brian Shafley, Chute Gerdeman's president and chief creative director, says the company quickly identified the London flagship as being at the heart of the brand, so the design team worked on creating key components to espouse Hamleys' brand values, history and London heritage. Consequently, the store is full of subtle allusions, but the centerpiece on the ground floor is anything but subtle—an escalator well near the front is roofed by a mocked-up London bus.

"It creates that immediate 'wow' factor," Shafley says. Currie adds that the bus is also symbolic of the journey children will take inside the store, a concept that will be reinforced as later phases of the refurbishment are completed, with "bus stops" to each floor.

Also on the ground floor is a "bear park" filled with Hamleys' own toy bears; a magic area; a safari-themed zone as the backdrop for its World Wildlife Fund products; and a Heritage Alley, which connects with the store's founding past. It is also full of product demonstrations, which Currie emphasizes not only reinforce the Hamleys ethos, but also have a strong impact on sales.

The refurbished top (fifth) floor features a new café, called Regal Tea Café, a party room and an electronic-toy department selling the latest robots, toy cars and gizmos. "Average dwell time in the store is two hours, and that pretty much means you need to feed or at least refresh your customers," Currie says. "Before, we did have a café, but it did not align with our brand ambitions and was a wasted opportunity."

The details of further remodel phases are under discussion, but Currie says that the themes of activity and discovery will be strongly underpinned as renovations continue.

As for international growth, the toy retailer has ambitious plans, despite the global economy, and Currie instead claims the downturn is an opportunity for a sector that he says is typically robust during recessions. The schedule is to open six stores a year for the next three years, with future markets including India (the company has signed a 20-store deal with Reliance), Russia (a chain of stores), Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey, China and Singapore.

Its first international store outside of London, a three-story space opened in June 2008, is located in the Jordanian capital Amman. In August, Hamleys opened at The Dubai Mall, and like the London redesign, the store features a mock-up bus and a cardboard cutout of Regent Street, called a "Regent Streetscape." In October, Hamleys also unveiled a standalone store in Dublin's Dundrum Town Centre, Ireland, trading over three floors.

In 2009, Hamleys will see openings in India, as well as possibly Turkey and Moscow, while Currie says there are active talks for additional potential sites in the United Kingdom, too. "Every location will have its own requirements, but the design of the original store and evolution of the brand are being created to be flexible enough to handle that," Currie says. "We set out some fundamental functional and emotional principles, but more than anything, we've designed these to give people entering Hamleys permission to play."