Hamley’s Opens in Cape Town and Joburg!
It’s official; Hamley’s toy stores are now open in Cape Town and Joburg. This week excited shoppers took to Greenstone Shopping Centre in Joburg and the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town to welcome the legendary British toy store to sunny South Africa and what a warm welcome it was! The WomenStuff team attended the launch event in Cape Town to give you the low-down on what you can expect in Hamley’s South Africa stores. Keep reading for all the details!
Walking into the Hamley’s Cape Town store for the first time was quite an assault on the senses. With over 15 000 toys ranging from the traditional to the high-tech, games and puzzles to arts and crafts, magic and more, it’s almost impossible to choose what to look at first. We eventually gravitated to the impressive stuffed toy section which was packed with every type of stuff toy and teddy bear imaginable. From the traditional Hamley’s bear in all sizes to stuffed Welsh Corgis, elephants, dinosaurs and more, there’s a stuffed toy for every kind of child. Of course, adults will also love these toy wonders and maybe even take a cuddly toy home with them – there’s no judgement here! Stuffed toys range from as little as R99 for small stuffed toys to as much as R800 for an over-sized bear. The average stuffed toy will set you back between R150 and R250.
From there we ventured out into the rest of the store which offered everything from a dedicated Minion section (complete with Minion collectables, stuffed toys, and dress-up gear) to a rather impressive LEGO display (offering all sorts of incredible LEGO sets and paraphernalia). I loved the board games area which was packed with new and classic board games – old favourites like Cranium took pride of place alongside new, modern offerings like Bananagrams, UNO Monopoly and Scrabble Flash. The board games were quite competitively priced as well with games like Cranium priced at R199. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the store offered some old-school toys like spinning tops, slinkies and Tech Decks. All toys we loved to play with as kids!
The baby and tot section of the store is also rather impressive and offers a wide range of educational toys for babies and inquisitive tots. This section alone makes Hamley’s South Africa a great place to shop for baby showers and kid’s birthday parties.
But that’s not all! Hamleys at the V&A Waterfront is also the first store to have its very own Hamleys train. The Hamleys Express will run daily from the train station outside the Big Wheel and will stop at the Watershed, providing an exciting adventure for children visiting the Waterfront.
For more information say Hi to Hamley’s South Africa on Facebook or visit the Hamley’s South Africa website.
