Iconic British toy store with 167 shops closes another 29 locations after suffering heavy losses

The Sun

10-07-2025

AN iconic British toy company has shut 29 stores and cut staff members, after suffering heavy losses.
The toymakers, which has been around for 265 years, shut stores that were not making money, after previously closing 40 stores in 2023.
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Hamleys now runs 11 stores in the UK and 176 stores abroad, after opening 22 new stores up this year.
Data from Companies House shows that in the 2024 financial year, Hamleys' profits rose from £51.4m to £53.3m.
In the UK, the toy store's revenue rose from £43.9 million to £45.9 million, and in Europe, it rose from £166,000 to £832,000.
However, in the rest of the world their revenue fell from £7.3m to £6.5 million.
The business also cut 34 members of staff, slashing their headcount from 435 to 401.
It is not clear where the 29 stores that have closed are located.
A statement from Hamleys said: "We had a strong year, driven primarily by franchise royalties, and we're optimistic about continued growth from it with [the] introduction of new territories along with organic growth of existing territories.
'The UK retail market remains challenging going into 2025 as consumer spending continues to be impacted by inflationary pressures.
'As a result, we remain cautiously optimistic on business growth with a continuous focus on cost optimisation to ensure the profitability of the group.
It added: 'The group is continuously striving to improve the customer experience and proposition across all formats to ensure long-term sustainability of the business.
Why are pubs closing?
'We remain focused in identifying opportunities for future growth and implementing a robust digital strategy is a key growth driver for the UK in 2025.'
'The strategic review undertaken in 2024 to improve customer experience and proposition across all formats, introduction of new products and services, continued overseas growth and entry into new proprietary and franchise markets has delivered positive results for the group in 2024.'
Hamleys was established in London in 1760, and hold the Guinness World Record for the world's oldest toy store.
In 2018, the business was bought by Indian business partner, Reliance Industries, following a £70m deal.
Hamley's has been contacted for comment.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
More store closures
This follows the news that 12 New Look stores are set to close this year, as the chain could "be auctioned off."
It comes after the firm previously warned it would close nearly 100 stores ahead of National Insurance hikes which came into place in April.
Approximately a quarter of the retailer's 364 stores are at risk when their leases expire.
Original Factory Shop has announced it's shutting two more locations and has launched huge closing down sales.