How portable is a retail brand and when is it so linked to a particular location that it’s hard to see it working anywhere else?

At the most international end of the scale, stores bearing the letters H&M or the word Zara seem to encounter no boundaries and to hoover up sales wherever they go. And this is perhaps because, at the risk of offending, their shopfits and fascias tend to be, well, a little on the generic side.

Imagine, however, starting with a British brand that has always been known for its Regent Street flagship and then consider how its essence can be distilled and taken overseas. The task facing US consultancy Chute-Gerdeman, charged with creating a format that would take Hamleys beyond its central London base, was a tough one. In Dubai, where the retailer opened a 32,000 sq ft outlet on the Dubai Mall’s second level, in November, the store front seeks to mimic the Regent Street fascia, complete with wrought iron details, red canopies and Hamleys flags.

Within lie the outsize children’s fantasy sets that characterise the London store, ranging from a floor-to-ceiling life-size doll townhouse to the “RallyDome” for boys.

There is also the matter of taking a store format that exists as an iconic structure in its own right and then making that work in the context of a shopping mall. These are early days for Hamleys’ international ventures and Dubai in particular is being hit hard by the global slump. But if this store can stay the course, it should win a substantial following.