I'd never even heard of them until now, but who are Smyths and where are their toy superstores?
I'm always amazed when something you've never heard of is suddenly everywhere, and when you ask around everyone's heard of them but you, and then subsequently you discover they've been around since about 1972 and have 400 branches.
Smyths are TV and press advertising like crazy, doing competitions on GMTV and are everywhere. And what a very old-fashioned brand they appear to be. Nasty yellow and red = cheap (and cheerful) and perhaps that's just the ticket for these credit crunch times.
Anyway, I suppose it's the passage of time that's most surprising in all this. No doubt Smyths probably were established in 1904 and it's just me who's never notice. A bit like how the Noughties have flown by, Midsomer Murders has been going for 12 years and Mrs F-C and I met when we were 23.
It's all going way too fast.
