Smyths Toys Superstores is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

multinational chain provider of children's

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

s and entertainment products with over 200 shops throughout

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The business is owned by the Smyth family. The company is headquartered in Lyrr Building 1 in the Mervue Business Park,

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, Ireland, and it has additional offices in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in the United Kingdom. Group turnover reached €1.465 billion in pandemic-hit 2020 with the majority of sales coming from the U.K. market.

History

Before it became a toy store it was a newsagents, the newsagents is still in business. The company is run by four brothers, Tony, Padraig, Liam and Thomas Smyth. The company was founded in

Claremorris Claremorris (; ) is a town in County Mayo in the west of Ireland, at the junction of the N17 and the N60 national routes. It is the fastest growing town in the county. There was a 31% increase in the town's population between 2006 and 2011 an ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

on . Smyths is Ireland's largest toy retailer.Toy mega store for Rayleigh Weir
, ''Essex Echo'', 13 September 2008 The Globe Retail Park in Naas, Ireland was subject to a fire on 27 July 2016 that destroyed one of the shop's stockrooms, causing the shop to temporarily close, with operations being moved until repairs could be made.

Expansion to central Europe

On 24 April 2018, Smyths acquired

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...

stores in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In 2019, all the stores in those countries were re-branded as such to Smyths. In July 2022, Smyths acquired French toy chain PicWicToys in France out of Receivership and taking over 41 stores, 2 warehouses and a head office.

Licensed brands

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

Super Mario (also known as and ) is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every m ...

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...

Stores and subsidiaries

In total, Smyths operates over 272 stores across 6 countries: 21 stores in Ireland, 117 in the United Kingdom, 68 in Germany, 16 in Austria, 10 in Switzerland and 41 in France. Smyths Toys UK Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

References

{{Reflist Retail companies established in 1986 Retail companies of Ireland Toy retailers Retail companies of Europe Irish companies established in 1986 Galway (city) Toy_retailers_of_the_United_Kingdom Privately held companies of Ireland Toy retailers of Ireland Superstores