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The Entertainer announces acquisition of Spanish toy retailer Poly

17/12/2018

The Entertainer, the fastest-growing, family-owned high street toy retailer in the UK, has confirmed the acquisition of Poly, a chain of 57 toy shops in Spain.

Poly stores sell a range of toys and games and operate in shopping centres and high streets across Spain, making it an excellent fit for The Entertainer’s business model. Poly was acquired through a competitive bid managed by an administrator, which will result in all 57 of its stores remaining open and the saving of more than 350 jobs. The acquisition will add to The Entertainer’s growing International footprint, who aim to regain the 5% Spanish market share that Poly previously had.

Gary Grant, Founder and Executive Chairman of The Entertainer, comments, “This year has understandably been incredibly turbulent for the Poly team as they faced so much uncertainty, and we look forward to welcoming them to The Entertainer family. The Poly brand will be retained but aligned with The Entertainer’s core values, which put our people and our customers at the very heart of our business.

“Our immediate focus is to work with our suppliers to ensure that all 57 stores are stocked for the remainder of the Festive trading period. This will include the introduction of the full range of products from our sister company Addo, which will offer Spanish consumers excellent quality at affordable prices.”

The Entertainer has experienced sustained growth over the last 35 years and has been expanding internationally for the last five years primarily through its franchise programme, resulting in the opening of over 30 stores in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Poly acquisition is part of The Entertainer’s growth plan that will see it expand its international reach and is the UK toy retailer’s first full European acquisition; it is a significant milestone for the business that takes its total locations to over 300.


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For further press information and to book interview time with Gary Grant, please contact the press office on: entertainer@speedcomms.com

About the Entertainer

The Entertainer was founded in 1981 in Amersham, Buckinghamshire by husband and wife team, Gary and Catherine Grant, who instilled the driving force and mission; to be the best-loved toyshop – one child, one community at a time. Today, it continues to be a privately-owned company and is renowned for being the largest independent toy retailer in the UK with a total of 145 stores.

As well as a strong High Street presence, The Entertainer has a successful website platform (TheToyShop.com) which offers a 30-minute click and collect service and has 22 million visits annually and growing. The Entertainer is also recognised for its charitable giving. Each year it tithes 10% of its net annual profit to charity, in addition employees are encouraged to donate directly through Payroll Giving. The Entertainer is also an active member of the Pennies scheme, the digital upgrade of the traditional charity box, which enables customers to donate a few pence to charity at the point of sale when paying by card. On average, this generates £5,000 of customer donations to Children’s hospitals each week. The Entertainer currently employs over 1200 staff across the stores and a further 160 in the Head Office in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

The Entertainer was ranked 69th in the prestigious Sunday Times “100 Best Companies to work for” in 2018.

About Poly

“Jugueterias Poly” was founded 35 years ago by a Spanish family in Madrid and in 2012 was acquired by the family owned French group Ludendo. The acquisition was agreed to not only modernise the Spanish toy market but also make Poly a destination toy retailer. The chain which has 57 stores, developed a new concept store which included introducing screens to start the digitalisation of the in store consumer experience by connecting stores to online-commerce platforms and social networks; all this enabled continued growth via innovation and to provide enhanced customer service.