citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message the entertainer amersham ltd type limited company industry retail founded 1981 number of locations 116 key people catherine and gary grant co founders website www.thetoyshop.com the entertainer southside wandsworth london the entertainer amersham ltd. is the uk s largest independent toy retailer founded by husband and wife team catherine and gary grant in 1981 when he purchased a local toy shop in amersham buckinghamshire england . the group operates 124 stores mainly in the midlands and southern england contents 1 history 2 store details 3 christian ethos 4 the grant foundation 5 other charity fundraising 6 references 7 external links history edit the entertainer began when gary and catherine grant took over the pram and toy bar located in amersham buckinghamshire in early 1981 . the shop was renamed the entertainer in may of that year . in 1985 they purchased their second shop located on the broadway in beaconsfield . in april 1991 ten years since the acquisition of the toy shop in amersham the chain opened its third shop in slough although this shop has since closed . from here on the company underwent massive expansion and by 2001 the chain had opened its twenty fifth shop located in the victoria centre in nottingham . store details edit branches of the entertainer opened before c. 2002 generally support a red fascia with a times font bearing the name the entertainer often alongside the legend location s toy shop e.g. amersham s toy shop usually in areas where the entertainer has the largest all round toy shop presence . stores from this period characteristically had a shopping aisle format with one or two large open areas for demonstrations or stacks of products during busier periods . this format has now been discontinued . the flagship store bearing this format is the coliseum store . in c. 2003 a new store format was devised in an effort to modernise the chain alongside the opening of the new flagship store in the bull ring near birmingham . the company s primary colour was changed from red to blue with the company s name now inscribed in the font vagrounded . stores now have a more complex layout with false protruding walls and curved shelving gondolas . new stores often have the company s new slogan mad about toys inscribed on the store s fascia . stores from the pre 2003 era are continually being refitted and relaunched on a needs basis stores considered to be more run down are given preference the latest as of august 2007 to complete the change has been the nottingham branch . stores are often given brighter lighting and new unified signage that runs all the way around the store along with the new company fascia . the latest store to open was the torquay store the grand opening of which was on 4 july 2015 . christian ethos edit owner gary grant describes himself as a charismatic evangelical christian . hence unusually for british retailers the entertainer retail locations do not open on sundays . the business does not sell products deemed to have a connection to the occult including harry potter merchandise . toy machine guns are not stocked although toy firearms of other kinds are sold . 1 the grant foundation edit the grant foundation is the entertainer s charitable wing . in line with biblical practice the entertainer tithes its profits . in 2002 alone the entertainer donated 100 000 to several children s charities including the toybox charity a charity gary grant was a trustee which supports street children in guatemala . in 2005 the entertainer launched its own charity wristband partnership with 15 charities raising over 300 000 for a range of different causes . other charity fundraising edit in august 2011 the entertainer switched on pennies the electronic charity box in all of their stores allowing their customers to round up their purchases and donate the change to charity . they were the first high street shop to do so joining domino s pizza zizzi restaurants and travelodge . in november 2015 the entertainer announced that pennies donations had raised 1m for charity . references edit an open and shut case meet the toy shop entrepreneur who puts christian values before profit . the independent . 22 december 2013 . retrieved 2 january 2014 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the entertainer retailer & oldid 729545360 categories amershamretail companies established in 1981retail companies of the united kingdomtoy companies of the united kingdomtoy retailershidden categories use dmy dates from october 2015use british english from october 2015articles needing additional references from september 2014all articles needing additional referencespages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu 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