Hawkin's Bazaar

Last updated

Hawkin’s Bazaar
Company type Limited company
Industry Retail
Founded1973;51 years ago (1973)
Halesworth, Suffolk [1]
FounderSid Templer
Defunct22 November 2021
FateAcquired and folded into Menkind
SuccessorMenkind
HeadquartersYare House,
Norwich, Norfolk
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
18 [2]
Area served
 England
Key people
Tom Straw and Simon Thomas (Administrators)
Products
Parent Menkind
Website www.hawkinsltd.co.uk

Hawkin's Bazaar ltd was a British novelty gift and toy shop chain based in Norwich, England. Hawkin's Bazaar offered a range of unusual toys, gifts, gadgets and curiosities. They sourced out-of-the-ordinary products and offered something different, a range of toys and gifts that will appeal to many ages and tastes.[ citation needed ]

Contents

History

A branch of Hawkin's Bazaar on High Ousegate, in York. Hawkins Bazaar, High Ousegate, York (12th June 2013).JPG
A branch of Hawkin's Bazaar on High Ousegate, in York.

The company known as Hawkin's Bazaar ltd started life as a niche mail order toy company founded by Sid Templer in 1973 in Halesworth, Suffolk. [1] The name of the company at that time, TOBAR, was from the first few letters of his son's forenames, Toby and Barnaby. [1] Tobar remains the name of the parent company to this day.

In 1976, the mail order company moved premises into an old disused public house, formerly named the Hawk Inn, and decided to adapt the name for themselves as Hawkin's & Co; Bazaar was added to the name later. [1]

In 1989, the company moved premises again to a former farm, Elm House in St Margaret South Elmham; Toby took over the running of the company from his father, Sid. [1] It was also around this time that he company opened its first retail shop in Salisbury. [1] In 1998, the company launched their websites, shortly after beginning to open retail locations across the United Kingdom. [1] Also in the 1990s, the company began to sell into the European markets and opened a European wholesale branch, TOBAR France in 2010. [1]

In 2007, the company moved to a £10 million facility in Worlingham, before moving to Norfolk in 2013. Also in 2007, they launched a sub-brand, Stocking Fillers. [3]

2013 marked the company's 40th year in business. Whilst a lot had changed since Hawkin's Bazaar launched as a mail order service, the company still referred to its original values with taglines such as “Unusual gifts for every occasion, since 1973” [4] and “Suppliers to Father Christmas since 1973” [5] adorning their mail order catalogues and other communications.

In addition to high street shops and mail order catalogues, the company continued to operate online. Its website was updated and re-launched in August 2012. [6]

2012 administration

On 23 January 2012, Hawkin's Bazaar (and Tobar Group) were bought by Primary Capital from administration through a management buy-out, although they did already own the company in the first place. [7]

The company continued trading in 2012 and opened several additional stores towards the end of the year (some at previous sites [8] ). As of December 2012, the company had 27 stores open around the UK. [9] During 2012, the Tobar Group achieved sales of over £20 million and employed 250 people.

In December 2015, the company was bought in a management buy-out supported by private equity firm Merino. [10] While under the ownership of Merino, Tobar acquired Bluw Limited in 2016, a Scottish toy company, H Grossman (established 1946, Glasgow), [11] in March 2018 and an educational company, Kit for Kids, in March 2019. [10]

2020 administration

In 2018, the company made a £978,344 loss on sales of £15.3 million. [12] In August 2019, Merino put the business up for sale. [12] The company entered administration for the second time on 23 January 2020, with Tom Straw and Simon Thomas being appointed as Joint Administrators. [13] As of January 2020, Hawkin's Bazaar had 18 locations, all of which closed on 3 February. [14]

The Hawkin's Bazaar brand was bought out of administration by H Grossman Ltd, a company owned by Tobar/Merino. Today, H Grossman, controlled by Merino Industries Limited and Mark Colley, operate not only under the Hawkin's Bazaar brand, but also Stocking Fillers and Tobar.[ citation needed ]

On 22 November 2021, Menkind bought Hawkin's Bazaar and Stocking Fillers from H Grossman for an undisclosed sum; Menkind would absorb the two companies, meaning that the Hawkin's Bazaar brand is nonexistent as of 2024. [15] [16]

Location

The Hawk Inn pub, Suffolk. The old Hawk Inn - geograph.org.uk - 772959.jpg
The Hawk Inn pub, Suffolk.

The company was founded in Corbridge, Northumberland, before moving to St Margarets and opening stores across the United Kingdom. From 2007 up to the end of 2012, Hawkin's Bazaar operated out of Beccles from The Old Aerodrome in Worlingham, where the warehouse and head office were based. At the start of 2013, the company separated these two entities, with the warehouse moving to Eye, Suffolk, and the head office to Norwich.[ citation needed ]

In addition to their UK operations, Tobar have a warehouse in France, a presence in Scandinavia and a showroom in Hong Kong. [17] [10] [ needs update ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHSmith</span> British retailer

WH Smith PLC, trading as WHSmith, is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FAO Schwarz</span> American toy brand and store

FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and retail chain. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zellers</span> Canadian retail company

Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999. However, fierce competition and an inability to adapt during the retail apocalypse resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debenhams</span> Defunct British department store chain, 1778–2021

Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland, and is still operating as a franchise in seven Middle East countries. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord. In its final years, its headquarters were within the premises of its flagship store in Oxford Street, London. The range of goods sold included middle-to-high-end clothing, beauty, household items, and furniture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toys "R" Us</span> American international toy, clothing and baby product retailer

Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1948; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merchandising</span> Promotion of product sales

Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative way that entices customers to purchase more items or products.

Next plc, trading as Next (styled as NEXT) is a British multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, which has its headquarters in Enderby, England. It has around 700 stores, of which circa 500 are in the United Kingdom, and circa 200 across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Next is the largest clothing retailer by sales in the United Kingdom, having overtaken Marks & Spencer in early 2012 and 2014. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Very Group</span> Online retailer

The Very Group Limited is a multi-brand online retailer and financial services provider in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head offices are based in the Speke area of the city of Liverpool, England. The brand was established in November 2005 as a result of the merger of the former Littlewoods and Shop Direct companies. The retailer was known as Littlewoods Shop Direct Group until a corporate rebranding to Shop Direct Group in May 2008. In 2013, the company rebranded to Shop Direct, dropping the 'group' from its name. Shop Direct rebranded themselves to The Very Group in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMV</span> Public entertainment retailing company

HMV is a music and entertainment retailer, founded in the United Kingdom in 1921. In most of the world, the brand is owned by JD Sports and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessops</span> British photographic retailing company

Jessops (Group) Limited is a British photographic retailing company. It was established in 1935 by Frank Jessop in Leicester, United Kingdom. The company controls Jessops Europe Limited, which in turn control JR Prop Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allders</span> British department store

Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom.

Consumers Distributing was a catalogue store in Canada and the United States that operated from 1957 to 1996. At its peak, the company operated 243 outlets in Canada and 217 in the United States, including stores in every province in Canada and in the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argos (retailer)</span> British catalogue retailer

Argos Limited is a British catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and formerly in Ireland, acquired by Sainsbury's supermarket chain in 2016. It was established in November 1972 and is named after the Greek city of Argos. The company trades both through physical shops and online, with 29 million yearly shop customers, and nearly a billion online visitors per annum. It has also franchised overseas to countries such as China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mail order</span> Buying of goods or services by mail delivery

Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:

Arcadia Group Ltd was a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It was best known for being the previous parent company of British Home Stores (BHS), Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop, Wallis and Warehouse. At its peak, the group had more than 2,500 outlets in the UK and concessions in UK department stores and several hundred franchises operated internationally.

Farmers Trading Company Ltd is a New Zealand mid-market department store chain. Headquartered in Flat Bush, Auckland, Farmers operates 59 stores across New Zealand, specialising in family fashion, beauty, homewares, furniture, large appliances and whiteware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clintons</span> Chain of stores in the UK

Clintons, previously branded as Clinton Cards, is a chain of stores in the UK founded in 1968 by Don Lewin and best known for selling greeting cards. It also sells soft toys and related gift products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USC (clothing retailer)</span> Clothing retailer that sells branded clothing across the United Kingdom

USC is a clothing retailer that sells branded clothing across the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1989 in Edinburgh and has been owned by the Frasers Group since 2011. As of July 2024, the company owns stores in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Belgium and Czech Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modelzone</span> British scale model brand and former high street model retail chain

Modelzone is a scale model brand owned by British retailer WHSmith, of scale models and related products are sold in WHSmith stores and online.

The retail format influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are exchanged. In some parts of the world, the retail sector is still dominated by small family-run stores, but large retail chains are increasingly dominating the sector, because they can exert considerable buying power and pass on the savings in the form of lower prices. Many of these large retail chains also produce their own private labels which compete alongside manufacturer brands. Considerable consolidation of retail stores has changed the retail landscape, transferring power away from wholesalers and into the hands of the large retail chains.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "About". Tobar Group Trading Limited. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "Gift & Gadget Shop". Hawkin's Bazaar. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "About Us". Stocking Fillers. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  4. ↑ Hawkin’s Bazaar September 2012 Catalogue
  5. ↑ Hawkin’s Bazaar ltd November 2012 Catalogue
  6. ↑ "New Hawkin's Bazaar Website and Blog". Hawkin’s Bazaar Blog. 20 August 2012. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Hawkin's Bazaar toys and gifts company bought out of administration". EADT. 23 January 2012. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  8. ↑ McClounie, Pam (18 October 2012). "Hawkin's Bazaar To Reopen Carlisle City Centre Shop". In-Cumbria. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Shop Finder". Hawkin’s Bazaar. Retrieved 17 December 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. 1 2 3 "Tobar Group". Merino Private Equity. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  11. ↑ "Tobar International acquires H Grossman". ToyNews. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Gift company Hawkin's Bazaar in administration". BBC News. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  13. ↑ Shaw, Neil (24 January 2020). "Hawkin's Bazaar goes into administration putting 20 shops at risk". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  14. ↑ Jahshan, Elias (3 February 2020). "All of Hawkin's Bazaar's stores now shut down". Retail Gazette. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  15. ↑ Nazir, Sahar (22 November 2021). "Menkind snaps up Hawkin's Bazaar". Retail Gazette. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  16. ↑ Cook, James (24 November 2021). "Menkind acquires Hawkin's Bazaar and Stocking Fillers". Business Leader. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  17. ↑ "Hong Kong Showroom". TOBAR. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.