Hamleys in the Pembroke District at Dundrum Town Centre will be permanently closing its doors.
Hamleys of London (which calls itself The Finest Toy Shop in the World) is 258 years old. It was founded by Cornishman William Hamley in 1760; the Dundrum location was opened 10 years ago, in 2008.
The company is now a global one, with 132 stores located in 21 different countries. However the Dundrum store is the only Hamleys location in all of Ireland. Once it closes, patrons will have to travel to the UK or order online to get their hands on Hamleys toys.
The company said in a statement about the closure: “As a business, we are continually reviewing our stores, formats and locations across our international network which now extends to over 20 countries.
“With a strategic focus on continuing to grow our business profitably, we have concluded that Dundrum is sadly no longer a viable part of our operation.”
Bad news for Dublin fans of Hamleys but fortunately the entire company won’t be going out of business. Hamleys itself isn’t going away, just the Dundrum store. This year Hamleys has plans to open more than 25 brand new stores across the globe in places such as Luton Airport in the UK, Santown City in Johannesburg, Mumbai Airport in India, as well as a few new shops in Mexico.
Currently, it is unknown if Hamleys will be opening any new stores in Ireland.
The CEO of Hamleys, Ralph Cunningham, said of the decision: “We are clearly very disappointed to be closing our toy shop in Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin and would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for supporting us in this great city since opening in 2008.”
The closing process is ongoing. It began a couple of weeks ago and Hamleys expects the final day of trading will likely be on Monday, May 7, 2018.
The company has said that they are endeavouring to find alternative roles for Dundrum employees affected by this closure.
“There will be 25 [employees] – a mix of part time and full time and we plan to use our connections to help place these people.”
Currently there is a closing down sale on limited stock of between 50% and 70%. Hurry in to Hamleys in Dundrum before May 7 to take advantage of the sale.
