New Era of Hamleys - A ‘Super Hamleys’ Store Opened on Chinese National Day in Nanjing, China

NANJING, China, October 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

On October 1, Hamleys (a historic British toy brand) announced the grand opening of their flagship Chinese store in Nanjing on Chinese National Day.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414315 )
     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161003/414316 )

The store, which spans four floors and nearly 7,000 square metres, is located at Xinjiekou Sanpower Plaza (IFC, Nanjing International Finance Center), providing thousands of high quality traditional and high-tech educational toys for children of all ages. As well as selling their iconic teddy bears, Hamleys have partnered with many world-renowned toy brands, such as Hasbro, Mattel, Lego, and others in this "Toy Museum" outlet.

The store hosts a range of different entertainment facilities within it, which allow children to interact with their environment. Activities like remote control car racing alongside virtual reality games will be located around the 10 entertainment facilities which span the ground floor to the fourth floor.

Hamleys in China 

Chinese National Day marked a historic landmark for Hamleys as they continue to dominate the global toy market with stores all over the world in every continent from Asia to Africa. However, this is the first time they have built in China, with a potential customer base of over one billion.

As well as the flagship store referred to as 'Super Hamleys' in Nanjing, China, the capital city of Jiangsu Province, branches will be introduced to several major Chinese cities in 2017, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xuzhou and Hangzhou, etc. Future plans indicate that there could be up to 100 stores opening in China in the near future. Each store will cover 10,000 square metres.

The timing of this store opening was particularly important as it marked the beginning of Chinese Golden Week - a Chinese holiday which is helping to expand domestic tourism.

Recent History of Hamleys  

In 2015, C.banner successfully acquired Hamleys, the historic British toy shop. Established in 1760, Hamleys is the oldest toy brand in the UK with a glorious history, well-known brand philosophy and high quality toys. It is a veritable "Magic Kingdom" for kids and adults of all ages. Hamleys now embarks on a new journey in Nanjing, China, with a diversified product range and services provided by creative concepts.

Sanpower's Involvement  

Hamleys was acquired by C.banner International Holdings Ltd., who are a strategic partner of Sanpower. Sanpower has already made a name for itself in the UK after purchasing a majority of British department store House of Fraser. Founded in 1993, it has become a multi-national company who are heavily involved in technology and modern service industries.

The chairman of Sanpower Group, Yuan Yafei, said that Hamleys can bring their interactive sales model into the Chinese market and cooperating with House of Fraser's own-brand and buyer business model. The combination of the two business models will add a competitive edge in the market.  

Over the last few years, Sanpower has also paid special attention to promoting Chinese culture abroad whilst expanding their business.

For all press enquiries, please contact Cheng Zhang. [email protected]
+44 776 1180 223

SOURCE Hamleys