Hamleys will close down its Manchester store just a few days after Christmas. The world famous toy retailer first opened it doors in Manchester’s intu Trafford centre late-November 2013.
Unfortunately playtime is now over for the 16,000 square foot plus store. The closing down sale has already started and there’s a planned closure date of 29th December 2018.
Earlier this year in May, Hamleys shut down its only store in Ireland. This store was within Dundrum Town Centre, Co Dublin and had an annual rental bill of around €1 million per year.
Since its closure the shopping centre’s owners are re-purposing the area just for restaurants and bars, without any shops.
Hamleys as a company is also up for sale. It is owned by Chinese conglomerate C.banner who have been reported to have been taking bids from The Entertainer, Smyths toys and Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley.
While Hamleys will have closed two large stores by the end of 2018, the company overall is not planning to shrink. In the last week, Hamleys opened a new small store in the newly refurbished Waterloo station. Hamleys has opened two large stores in Japan, in collaboration with Bandai Namco Amusement. There is also plans be made made for the London retailer to open its first branch in New York City, possibly going head-to-head with the USA’s oldest and most famous toy store, FAO Schwarz.