Czech:Biggest toyshop in Central Europe opens for business

Hamleys, owner of a 4,500 square meter toy shop in London, has just made Prague the home to the biggest toy shop in Central Europe after opening a new store in an old bank building; the store has 6,000 square meters of space covering two floors. Half of this space has been dedicated solely towards toy merchandise with the other half providing education, entertainment and food and drinks spaces.

Located on the joining of Panska and Na Prikope streets, the store is held within an old 1930s Art Deco building; the location can be found in one of the most expensive parts of Prague. This is no ordinary toy store, a musical merry-go-round can be found in the middle of the atrium and a race track, giant rocket and giant slide have also been set up for the children's’ entertainment.

CEO of Hamleys, Gudjon Reynisson, was at the site in person to open to the public and revealed that this was one of the proudest moments of his career. He also noted that he was pleased with what his partners had completed and that the local partners worked extremely hard to get the store open on time. He added “Hamleys is about making toys fun for families all over the world and delivering an unrivalled experience. Through our partners Inexad in Prague, we had a fantastic opportunity to develop our retail experience to be even more memorable.”

Hamleys have chosen to go with a brave choice of stock after deciding to try and move away from electronic toys and video games, meaning that there are a whole host of traditional toys and board games available. After marking their first store in Central Europe, they are hoping to expand within the Czech Republic as well as into a number of other surrounding countries. Hamleys are entering a big market with around 5 billion crowns spent annually but will also be joining Dracik, Sparkys, Bambule and others in competition.

Image Provided by: © Tonybaggett | Dreamstime.com - Hamleys Photo