, 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. 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" and "Suppliers to Father Christmas since 1973" 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.
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. The company continued trading in 2012 and opened several additional stores towards the end of the year (some at previous sites). As of December 2012, the company had 27 stores open around the UK. 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. While under the ownership of Merino, Tobar acquired Bluw Limited in 2016, a Scottish toy company, H Grossman (established 1946,
Glasgow), in March 2018, and an educational company, Kit for Kids, in March 2019. In August 2019, Merino put the business up for sale. As of January 2020, Hawkin's Bazaar had 18 locations, all of which closed on 3 February. 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. 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 was nonexistent as of 2024. == Location ==