Weekly Quiet Hour takes place every Saturday in all toy retailer’s UK stores.
Toy retailer The Entertainer has rolled out a nationwide Quiet Hour to create a calming shopping experience for autistic children.
The roll out follows a successful pilot held during February’s half term.
The Quiet Hour takes place every Saturday, for the first hour of opening, in all The Entertainer’s 145 UK stores. All music is switched off to create a more welcoming environment for children with autism.
Gary Grant, founder and md of The Entertainer, explained: “We continually look for ways to improve customer experience as it’s hugely important to us that all children feel comfortable in our stores and are able to explore the toys we have available.”
Daniel Cadey, autism access development manager for The National Autistic Society, added: “We’re delighted that The Entertainer is taking this positive step to make shopping a better experience for autistic children.
“Small changes such as removing in-store music can make a huge difference to autistic people, who can struggle to filter out background noise which can cause them enormous distress. We hope to see other stores follow The Entertainer’s lead and make whatever changes they can to support the needs of all their customers.”
