A much-loved Edinburgh toy shop has told customers it is “sad to be closing” – then promised that a new store in the Capital is coming soon.

As reported in the Evening News, The Entertainer will soon pull down the shutters on its store at Cameron Toll shopping centre – after 10 years of trading in the Capital.

A sign on the window of the toy shop says ‘this store will be closing down’ and gives a telephone number for customers to contact if they have any queries.

A spokesperson for The Entertainer said: “We are sad to be closing our Cameron Toll store as of 4 January 2025 and would like to thank our customers and staff for their loyalty and support. We’re proud of the service we’ve offered and are committed to supporting our employees through this situation.

“We look forward to announcing details of a brand-new store in Edinburgh in the next few months, and customers can continue to shop our range of great value toys and games online at www.thetoyshop.com, as well as in selected Tesco stores.”

The Entertainer sells a wide assortment of toys and games as well as scooters, masks, balloons and footballs. The chain's Cameron Toll outlet opened in December 2014, creating 14 new jobs.

No reason for closure has been given, but the announcement arrived just days after drivers in Edinburgh faced long delays and traffic chaos when Cameron Toll roundabout was partially closed – just weeks after it reopened.

Last month, The Entertainer toy chain said it has been forced to drop plans to open two new stores after the government said it would raise National Insurance (NI) Contributions for employers.

Chief executive Andrew Murphy told the BBC the higher taxes, announced in the recent Budget, meant it could no longer go ahead with the shops and it had also frozen hiring at its head office.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Murphy said: “There’s no argument with the government’s ultimate goals... simply the balance with which they pursued them.”

He added that The Entertainer, which has 166 shops across the UK and employs around 2,000 people, had chosen two new stores and done viability assessments on them.

“We were just about to initiate the work and unfortunately the changes to National Insurance in particular just tipped that balance so those stores will now not be opening.”