Hamleys is to rent 3,250sq m (35,000sq ft) over three floors along a new shopping enclave beside Harvey Nichols in Dundrum Town Centre, writes Jack Fagan
BRITAIN'S FAMOUS toy store, Hamleys, will be paying a rent of around €1 million for its planned new outlet at Dundrum Town Centre when it opens for business in October.
The Regent Street retailer is to rent 3,250sq m (35,000sq ft) over three floors along a new shopping enclave beside Harvey Nichols.
Another new name coming to Dundrum Town Centre will be Gant, the US multiple specialising in women's and men's fashions who are to rent a store of 371sq m (4,000sq ft).
However, as a British institution with an international reputation, Hamleys is likely to get all the attention in the run-up to Christmas - probably at the expense of Smyth's Toys and other leading toy retailers in the Irish market.
The 248-year-old company - famed for its magic, theatre and entertainment - will have a head start in a business where clever marketing can generate a lot of business. Hamleys flagship shop is one of London's 10 most popular tourist attractions, with four million visitors a year.
The durability of the Hamleys brand in the age of the Apple iPod and the Nintendo Wii was confirmed over the last Christmas trading period when it emerged as a high street winner. Like-for-like sales rose by 11.3 per cent in the final five weeks of 2007, compared with a year earlier. Internet sales were up by 46 per cent and revenues at the Regent Street store rose by 7.7 per cent.
Hamleys was acquired by Baugur, the Icelandic investor that owns Oasis and House of Fraser, for £47 million in 2003 and has since set its sights on international expansion.
The group has a small presence in Denmark and is set to open the first of several stores planned for the Middle East in Jordan this summer, as well as Dubai, India, Russia, China and Turkey.
Dundrum Town Centre's successful campaign to attract Hamleys, at a time when all the top Dublin shopping centres are desperately trying to bring in high profile international traders, will be seen as another major endorsement for the Joe O'Reilly-led retail operation.
In the past month he also managed to persuade top UK department store John Lewis to anchor the planned North Central shopping complex off O'Connell Street in Dublin city centre.
Darren Peavoy of letting agent Bannon says that, with Hamleys now committed to moving into Dundrum Town Centre, their marketing campaign for fashion and restaurant units in the same area of the shopping centre would be given a considerable boost.
Don Nugent, centre director of Dundrum Town Centre, said the arrival of Hamleys would further enhance the centre's position as the number one shopping destination in Ireland.
