Paddington_shop_for_London_2012November 2 - A new shop selling merchandise promoting the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics has opened at London's Paddington Station.


Wenlock and Mandeville mascot soft toys, clothing and accessories, key rings, gifts, pin badges and collectables are among the items on sale at the 700sq ft store in The Lawn area of the station.

The opening  follows the successful launch of a store at St Pancras International Station in July.

Best sellers there are the Wenlock and Mandeville mascot soft toys, London 2012 Olympic logo pin badge, London 2012 men's Union Jack t-shirt, London 2012 Olympic legends Top Trumps cards and the London 2012 children's baseball cap

London 2012 has also announced that its in-venue retail outlets at Games time will be operated by three licencees.

These operators will be responsible for managing approximately 80 different points of sales across all Games-time competition and non-competition venues.

IMG will operate at Wimbledon, The Retail People at all other competition and non-competition venues, and Event Merchandise will be the special purpose retailer.

London 2012 chief executive officer Paul Deighton said: "Olympic and Paralympic souvenirs are a key part of any Games.

"Merchandise is an important revenue stream when funding the Games but the products also give people the opportunity to show their support for the London 2012 and for Team GB and ParalympicsGB.

"Of course, in years to come, many of these souvenirs will become collectors' items and memories of this once-in-a-lifetime event coming to London and the UK."

London 2012 has 36 licencees who will produce and sell London 2012, Team GB and ParalympicsGB merchandise between now and 2012.

The programme is expected to generate around £1 billion ($1.6 billion) worth of sales, contributing around £80 million ($129 million) to the staging of the Games.