The Christmas lights outside the Hamleys toy store in Regent Street.

Hamleys in 2004.

Hamleys is one of the world's largest toy shops. It is currently located at 188–196 Regent Street in London. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 757 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2764 × 2188 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 757 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2764 × 2188 pixel, file size: 3. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (784x1159, 518 KB) Hamleys toy store on Regent Street, London, photo by Chris Nyborg, Nov 2004 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Hamleys ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (784x1159, 518 KB) Hamleys toy store on Regent Street, London, photo by Chris Nyborg, Nov 2004 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Hamleys ... A teddy bear A toy is an object used in play. ... The Quadrant at the bottom of Regent Street. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

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. William Hamley (b. ... A painting by the American Edward Hicks (1780–1849), showing the animals boarding Noahs Ark two by two. ... Holborn Bars, built as the headquarters of the Prudential Assurance Company, is one of the most striking buildings on High Holborn. ...

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.^[1]. York is a city in North Yorkshire, England, at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss. ...

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. Dominic Richards (b. ...

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. For preserved dead animals, see taxidermy. ... Diversity ca. ... Genera See article below. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 Range map The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species. ... Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas antiquus † Elephas beyeri † Elephas celebensis † Elephas cypriotes † Elephas ekorensis † Elephas falconeri † Elephas iolensis † Elephas planifrons † Elephas platycephalus † Elephas recki † Stegodon † Mammuthus † Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of pachyderm, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea...

Floor guide

• 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).

6-lane Scalextric layout with colour-coded lanes Scalextric is a slot car racing brand that first appeared in the late 1950s and is currently a major international brand owned by Hornby. ... Hello Kitty by Sanrio. ... Build-A-Bear in Barton Creek Mall in Austin, TX Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) is an American retailer that sells customizable teddy bears and other stuffed animals. ... Marvins Magic is a producer and dealer of conjuring products in the United Kingdom. ... Lego Group logo. ... The GAME Group plc (LSE: GMG.L), usually known by its high street trading name GAME, is a UK based video games retail company with over 500 stores across Europe in a variety of guises and its European Headquarters and Warehouse in Basingstoke, England. ...

External links

• Hamleys web site
• Regent St. Shopping - external website