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There is a new store in town that will no doubt be swiftly added to Glasgow's guidebooks: the new Hamley's in the redeveloped St Enoch's Centre. It’s the only other Hamley’s outside London. The new store is MUCH bigger than the old one at the top of House of Fraser across the road.

Inside is a child’s dream whether they are 7 or 70 years old. The store is bright and well laid out. There’s room to lose the kids, places for them to play and even dress up. There are lots of traditional toys including Hornby Railways, Airfix, Lego, board games, and dolls. Hundreds of them, a little girl's dream!

Hamley’s own brand range is lovely. There are plenty of nice simple toys. Particular favourites on the day of our visit were the House Puzzle and the Clever Cogs.

There are plenty of toys for the older child provided by Red5 and Game, plus a huge test area for radio controlled toys. Dads may have a hard time not buying Lego for themselves! The Lego Mindstorms Nxt 2.0 is amazing and will no doubt remind them of their childhood.

There are regular events to amuse the kids including extra shows at weekends and school holidays, including a very cute puppet show.

They even have a party room for birthday parties and will sort out all the details for the theme of your choice from the invitations to the cake and all the fun. Can’t think of many better venues than a toy shop for a party!

All in all a great way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy day or take the kids for a birthday treat! Finally don’t forget to say hello to the lifesize giraffe and elephant on the first floor (accessible by lift and escalator).