Some people believe that the largest toy store in the world is Toys "R" Us. It's not. The largest (and also oldest) toy store in the world is Hamleys. Founded in 1760, their flagship store in the heart of London on Regent Street has seven floors worth of toys and is visited by millions each year. Even though I have never seen it in person, I saw a documentary about it on YouTube and I thought it looked pretty cool. After I watched the documentary, I browsed their online store and was very impressed with the selection of toys that they had. Some of them you (probably) can't even get here in the United States. After doing further research, I learned that the company has 15 stores throughout the UK including the flagship store in London plus 90 global stores.

I was very heartbroken when I found out that the Toys "R" Us international flagship store in Times Square closed, considering the fact that I never got to see it for myself before it closed. The store opened in July of 2001 operated for 14 years before its closure on New Years Eve of 2015. The store had 110,000 square feet worth of toys, a Ferris wheel, and two glass (scenic) elevators overlooking it, plus escalators alongside the Ferris wheel. It also featured an arcade, interactive displays, and it was the location of the debut of the original Xbox console in November of 2001.

In 2016 just a few months after the Toys "R" Us flagship store in Times Square closed, Hamleys opened a store in Prague, Czech Republic, in Na Příkopě Street. It is a similar concept to the Toys "R" Us in Times Square, except with a carousel instead of a Ferris wheel, and with two banks of elevators as opposed to one, one bank of elevators is scenic, the other one is not.

According to various news reports, a proposal had been announced in 2018 to open a store in New York City, however, as of now, nothing has come to fruition. That could change with this petition. I would like to see Hamleys open a three-level flagship store in the heart of New York City, possibly where the Bed Bath and Beyond store used to be at E 61st Street and First Avenue. And this is all without mentioning that not only will this make children happy, but it will create jobs for American people who need them. Case in point, when Swedish furniture megastore IKEA first expanded to the United States in 1985, they created thousands of jobs for those who needed them amounting for 219,000 as of 2023. The same could be said about Maine-based sporting goods store chain L.L.Bean. When they first began expanding outside of New England in 2001, they created hundred of jobs for those in need and have employed more than 6,000 people as of 2021. Please sign and share this petition today to make a difference in our economy. (And help bring joy to children as well)