The Entertainer (Amersham) Ltd
TypeLimited company
IndustryRetail
Founded1981 (1981)
HeadquartersAmersham, England
Number of locations
170+[1]
Key people
Catherine and Gary Grant (Co-founders)
BrandsToyZone, Gamleys
ParentTEAL Group Holdings
Websitewww.thetoyshop.com
The Entertainer, Southside Wandsworth, London

The Entertainer (Amersham) Ltd. is the UK's largest independent toy retailer, which operates more than 170 stores. The company was founded by the husband and wife team Catherine and Gary Grant in 1981, when Gary purchased a local toy shop in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England.

The Entertainer is part of TEAL Group Holdings,[2] a family of brands which also includes Addo and Early Learning Centre.

History

The Entertainer was founded when Gary Grant took over The Pram and Toy Bar located in Amersham, in 1981. Grant's wife Catherine came up with the name The Entertainer. In 1985, they purchased their second shop, located in Beaconsfield. In April 1991, ten years after the acquisition of the toy shop in Amersham, the chain opened its third shop in Slough, although this has since closed. The company then underwent massive expansion and, by 2001, the chain had opened its 25th shop, located in the Victoria Centre in Nottingham. As of 2020, The Entertainer now also has nearly 100 concessions within Matalan under the branding name Totally Toys.

In February 2019, The Entertainer purchased Early Learning Centre, with 520 international franchise outlets.[3]

Store details

Branches of The Entertainer opened before around 2002 generally have signage bearing the name "The Entertainer", often alongside the legend "[location]'s Toy Shop" (e.g., "Amersham's Toy Shop"). Stores from this period characteristically had a "shopping aisle" format.

In about 2003, a new store format was devised in an effort to modernise the chain, even though Grant was initially reluctant at the time of the opening of the new flagship store in the Bull Ring in Birmingham. The company's primary colour was changed from red to blue, though he wanted black. With the company's name now inscribed in the font VAG Rounded. Stores now have a more complex layout with false protruding walls and curved shelving gondolas. New stores often have the company's new slogan "Mad About Toys" inscribed on the store's fascia.

The Entertainer stores do not open on Sundays. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "About The Entertainer". The Entertainer. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "TEAL Group Holdings". Tealgh.com. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "The Entertainer Selects Mapp to Drive Insight-Led Customer Engagement". Martech Series. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "This is why the Entertainer toy shop does not open on a Sunday!". 29 September 2018.
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