Reliance Retail, Hamleys play out a toy story

The Indian toy market is undergoing a transformation with children slowly moving away from stuffed toys to remote-operated and edutainment toys.

“Boys are keen on buying radio-operated toys while girls, who were more fond of simple stuffed-toys, are now going for activity-based toys,” says Mr Bijou Kurien, President and CEO (Lifestyle), Reliance Retail Ltd. Forty per cent of the sales of its first store in Mumbai comes from edutainment toys, he said.

Chennai store

Launching the Hamleys toy store in Chennai, he said there is a huge potential waiting to be tapped in this country.

The current per capita consumption of toys in India is only a tenth that of the US and 30 per cent of China's. In India, the market for branded toys, which is pegged at over Rs 1,500 crore, is growing at 10-15 per cent year-on-year. With more organised players getting into the market, the growth will certainly be accelerated, he said.

Second store

This is the second Hamleys store in the country after the one in Mumbai. Reliance is the franchisee in India for the brand.

The Chennai store, spread over 11,000 sq ft, stocks, besides Hamleys branded toys, toys from other major international brands such as Lego, Mattel, Funskool, Monopoly, Transformer, Nerf and Fisher Price; and toys sourced from other major manufacturers in India and China too.

“Around 40 per cent of the toys are imported - predominantly Hamleys branded – while the rest are sourced domestically,” said Mr Kurien.

The store also stocks locally made wooden toys. Mr Kurien said the store stocks “affordable” to high-end expensive toys.

The London-based 250-year-old Hamleys, whose seven-floor flagship store on Regent Street spread over 55,000 sq ft is legendary, entered the Indian market through an exclusive pan-India franchise arrangement with Reliance Retail and opened its first outlet in Mumbai last year.

“Our plan is to open 20 stores across the country in the next six to seven years,” says Mr Kurien. According to him, 20 stores would entail an investment of Rs 125 crore.

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