World-famous toy retailer Hamleys is to embark on a wide-ranging makeover of its flagship Regent Street store within the next month.

The focus will be on redesigning the ground and fourth floors to encourage better shopper circulation in the seven-storey shop, as well as a series of show-stopping, as yet undisclosed, installations.

Hamleys’ incumbent US design consultancy, Chute Gerdeman, has been tasked with transforming the store.

Denny Gerdeman, principal and founder of the agency, said that, among other things, it has worked on improving how customers are transported around the multi-level emporium. “We’ve enclosed the escalator on the ground floor with a double-decker bus,” he said.

A children’s party room – a first for the retailer – will be incorporated on the fifth floor as part of the revamp, aimed at enhancing the store’s status as a retail destination.

The makeover is intended to showcase Hamleys as a brand, rather than an environment in which toy manufacturers’ identities are at the fore.

The store redesign is due to be completed early this summer and is being undertaken in phases, beginning with the ground floor.

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