Unofficial Harry Potter stores appearing across London in recent months are fooling shoppers with tacky frontages that make them appear real, MailOnline can reveal.
Warner Bros is thought to be monitoring the shops with at least seven now open under names linked to the franchise such as ‘Magical Platform’ and ‘House of Spells’.
Trading standards officials from Westminster City Council have visited some of the stores but took no action because the products they examined were genuine.
The shops sell a range of magical merchandise aimed at Potter fans who might be seeing the Cursed Child theatre show or visiting the Studio Tour in Watford.
But comparisons are being made to the hated US-style ‘candy stores’ blighting the capital amid allegations some of those evaded £8million worth of business rates.
There is no suggestion that the Harry Potter shops are doing anything illegal, but it is likely that agents working for Warner Bros will have visited some to check them out.
MailOnline visited all seven stores to see inside, and found a huge range of official merchandise in each outlet – but also tacky knock-off signs at some of them such as an unofficial Underground roundel saying ‘King Cross’ rather than ‘King’s Cross’.
There are at least seven unofficial Harry Potter shops open across Central London under names linked to the Wizarding World franchise such as ‘Magical Platform’ and ‘House of Spells’
Soeren Wright, 21, and her friend Amelia McGinty, 20, are students visiting London and said they were fooled by House of Secrets. Miss Wright said: ‘We definitely thought it was real’
Magical Platform – a clear reference to Platform 9 3/4 – is located at 7 Whitehall in London
Shoppers look at Harry Potter Products on sale at House of Secrets on Oxford Street
A visitor to one of the Wizards and Wonders shops was Janita, 30, a social worker from Finland who is in London with family. She said: ‘We did think it was an official shop, it looks so official’
Shoppers look at Harry Potter products on sale at House of Secrets on Oxford Street, London
Sian Harlow, 27, a health and safety trainer from Milton Keynes who was visiting London with her boyfriend, told MailOnline: ‘We didn’t buy anything, it’s all very overpriced. It’s nice to look at but to be honest a lot of it is just tat. What would I really do with it once I got it home?’
Shoppers at House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road look at Potter products on sale
Outside the ‘House of Secrets’ store on London’s Oxford Street, best friends Siv Bernosen, Oda Lien and Irmelin Stokkan revealed they had come all the way from Norway just to see the Harry Potter-themed attractions in London. Miss Bernosen said: ‘I sort of thought it was official until I saw some Game of Thrones stuff. I don’t think its right for them to pretend that they are’
House of Secrets is also among the unofficial Harry Potter shops, at 146 Oxford Street
An unofficial Underground roundel saying ‘King Cross’ at Wizards and Wonders on The Strand
Sisters Ocean and Destiny White, aged 17 and 19, were visiting London from Guernsey. Outside House of Secrets, Ocean said: ‘It looks like an official shop, and it is quite expensive’
The Wands & Wizard Exploratorium is one of the unofficial magic shops at 26 Greek Street
The stores are located between London Victoria and Charing Cross stations in areas which are extremely popular with tourists as well as British shoppers.
Customers spoke about the appearance of the stores, with some of them saying it ‘wasn’t right’ for the shops to ‘pretend’ to be genuine Harry Potter shops.
Outside the ‘House of Secrets’ in Oxford Street, best friends Siv Bernosen, Oda Lien and Irmelin Stokkan revealed they had come all the way from Norway just to see the Harry Potter-themed attractions in London.
Miss Bernosen said: ‘We loved it. We are big fans. It looks very popular. That is why we are here, we are going to the Studio Tour tomorrow.
‘We bought lots of the Christmas decorations to hang on our tree. It was quite expensive but when you think about having it for a lifetime it’s not so bad.
‘I sort of thought it was official until I saw some Game of Thrones stuff. I don’t think its right for them to pretend that they are.’
Sisters Ocean and Destiny White, aged 17 and 19, were visiting London from Guernsey.
Ocean said: ‘We have literally just flown over and we were like ‘Oh my God: There is a Harry Potter shop.’ We have seen two so far.
‘It looks like an official shop, and it is quite expensive, I don’t know how I feel about it. I mean it is nice to look at but I wouldn’t get anything from it.
‘I would say these shops are more expensive than actual Harry Potter World. They have a lot of stuff in there. I definitely would have thought it was real.’
Peter Jones, 68 from Durham, and his wife came to London to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the theatre.
He said: ‘We are in a bit of a Harry Potter mood even though it’s been ten years since I have read one. We haven’t bought anything though.
Wizards And Wonders is located at 13 Coventry Street and is another unofficial Potter shop
Harry Potter products on sale at House of Secrets on Oxford Street in London’s West End
Harry Potter decorations and a Christmas tree at Wizards and Wonders on The Strand
Harry Potter products on sale at House of Secrets on Oxford Street in London’s West End
Wizards And Wonders has two branches in London, with one located at 455 The Strand
Harry Potter products are on sale at House of Spells on Charing Cross Road in London
House of Spells is another of the unofficial Potter shops and is located on Charing Cross Road
Decorations and products on sale at House of Secrets on Oxford Street in London’s West End
Harry Potter products on sale next to Disney items at House of Secrets on Oxford Street
Products on sale at the House of Wonders shop on Buckingham Palace Road in London
Shoppers visiting Wizards and Wonders on The Strand can buy a range of Potter products
‘Harry Potter is a worldwide thing people from across the globe love it. It’s been fantastically successful. That is just a load of tat to me really. They don’t seem to really be selling a lot of stuff.’
Soeren Wright, 21, and her friend Amelia McGinty, 20, are university students visiting London for the weekend and said they were fooled by one of the shops.
Miss Wright said: ‘We definitely thought it was real, it’s quite cool. I think it is a very cute shop, super quirky and different.’
And Miss McGinty added: ‘Harry Potter is getting more popular than it used to be, especially this time of year because it feels so festive. It will definitely bring in lots of tourists.’
Martin Macmillan runs London’s only remaining traditional magic shop International Magic, which has been trading from Clerkenwell Road since 1958.
He told MailOnline that the hype and popularity of Harry Potter has helped his business – and does not feel that the unofficial shops are a threat.
Mr Macmillan, who is himself a magician, said: ‘Harry Potter is unbelievably popular, and its great because it gets lots of kids interested in magic.
‘If these shops can get that new generation interested in magic, then I think that is great. It definitely doesn’t negatively affect our business – they deal in fantasy magic which is a completely different thing.’
Outside the ‘House of Spells’ shop near Charing Cross station, there was another load of tourists getting their fill of the magic atmosphere.
Among them was Sian Harlow, 27, a health and safety trainer from Milton Keynes who was visiting London with her boyfriend.
House of Wonders is one of the seven shops and is based at 21A Buckingham Palace Road
Harry Potter products are on sale at House of Spells on Charing Cross Road in London
Harry Potter products and decorations can be found on sale at Magical Platform on Whitehall
Harry Potter products on sale at House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road in London
Harry Potter products on sale around a replica Hogwarts Express at the Magical Platform shop
Harry Potter products are on the shelves at Magical Platform on Whitehall in London
Shoppers can buy Harry Potter products at Wizards and Wonders on The Strand in London
Harry Potter products on sale at House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road in London
Decorations and a chess set are among the features at House of Secrets on Oxford Street
Harry Potter wands are on sale at House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road in London
She said: ‘I love it, I am a big fan of Harry Potter, probably more than my boyfriend. The car was really cool, they have a wand selection in there that is pretty good.
‘We didn’t think it was real, it doesn’t bother me that it isn’t to be honest. I don’t think they will bring people here, but I think the tourists will enjoy it when they see it.
‘We didn’t buy anything, it’s all very overpriced. It’s nice to look at but to be honest a lot of it is just tat. What would I really do with it once I got it home?’
Another visitor to the shops was Janita, 30, a social worker from Finland who was visiting with family and planned to visit the Studio Tour the following day.
She said: ‘I have read all the books and watched all the movies. I loved the shop, the atmosphere was something else and we don’t have anything like this in Finland.
‘We did think it was an official shop, it looks so official, and it is very well made. I thought of buying something, but I didn’t find anything perfect.
Zain is the manager at House of Spells, one of two in a chain of wizard themed London stores.
He said: ‘The movies are filmed in London and around the UK so the tourists love to see this stuff. Most our customers are tourists from other countries.’
The shop workers spoken to by MailOnline at the other stores refused to comment.
A disclaimer on the website of the ‘Wands and Wizard Exploratorium’ on Greek Street says: ‘The Wands & Wizard Exploratorium is broadly inspired by fantasy and science-fiction and is a place for fans of magic.
The interior of House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road which stocks Potter products
Harry Potter products are on sale at House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road in London
Christmas decorations are among the Harry Potter products on sale at House of Secrets
Harry Potter sweet bags on sale for £6.95 at House of Secrets on Oxford Street in London
Harry Products keyrings are on sale at House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road
Dobby toys are among the Harry Potter products on sale at Magical Platform on Whitehall
Harry Potter products on sale at Wizards and Wonders on The Strand in London
Harry Potter products on sale on the shelves of House of Secrets at Oxford Street in London
Harry Potter cups and mugs on sale at House of Secrets on Oxford Street in London
Hedwig owls on sale at Magical Platform, one of the unofficial Harry Potter shops in London
‘It is not endorsed by, affiliated with or associated with Warner Bros or JK Rowling or otherwise connected with Harry Potter or JK Rowling’s Wizarding World.’
A spokesman for the ‘Wands and Wizard Exploratorium’ added to MailOnline that the shop is a ‘magicineering’ (magic + engineering) studio that invents patented technology such as working magic wands and magic wand-activated smart plugs.
It organises experiences such as the ‘Wizard Afternoon Tea’, ‘Magic Wand Experience’ and ‘Potions Experience’.
The spokesman added: ‘The Wizard Exploratorium is an immersive experience space for interacting with our tech through food, beverage, and retail products. We stock all of our own products – none from any other brand or company – and merchandise on the ground floor retail space.’
MailOnline also contacted the stores for comment via email.
There is one official Harry Potter store in London called the ‘Shop at Platform 9 3/4’ at Kings Cross station.
Elsewhere there is also the House of Minalima on Wardour Street which sells the official graphic artwork from the movies.
In addition, there is the huge shop at the Studio Tour outside the capital.
Warner Bros Discovery declined to comment to MailOnline on the specific shops but sources said that the group takes the infringement of intellectual property seriously.
A spokeswoman said in an official statement: ‘Like other entertainment companies, we maintain robust systems to protect our partners and intellectual property.’
Harry Potter drinks bottles are on sale at Magical Platform on Whitehall in London
Harry Potter decorations at Magical Platform on Whitehall which stocks many products to buy
Shoppers look at the Harry Potter products on sale at House of Spells on Charing Cross Road
T-shirts are among the Potter items on sale at House of Wonders on Buckingham Palace Road
Harry Potter products on sale around a replica Hogwarts Express at the Magical Platform shop
Martin Macmillan runs London’s only remaining traditional magic shop International Magic, which has been trading from Clerkenwell Road since 1958
MailOnline also contacted Harry Potter author JK Rowling about the shops, but her representative said that she would not be commenting.
It is believed that the council’s trading standards teams would only launch an investigation if the items on sale were believed to be fake, but this is not the case.
However, companies such as Warner Bros are understood to often employ an agency to look at suspected counterfeit products, so they can protect their brand and avoid customers being duped.
There is also no indication of these shops avoiding business rates, which was a key issue surrounding the ‘candy stores’.
Westminster City Council officials have been trying to rid Oxford Street of the sweet shops, which have replaced household names and blighted the area.
Data from the New West End Company shared with MailOnline revealed 1 per cent of trading space in the Oxford Street area is now occupied by ‘candy, magic and tourist shops’.
This figure was down from 4 per cent in the first quarter, or March 2023. The group added that vacancies make up 2 per cent of trading space across the area.
US-style ‘candy stores’ have also popped up around Central London in the past few years
A council raid in March on one of the tacky Oxford Street shops selling counterfeit goods
A raid on American candy stores on Oxford Street in October 2022 saw the council seize £215,000 worth of fake Gucci phone cases, vapes and counterfeit rucksacks in a crackdown
In October, MailOnline reported how the crackdown appeared to be working after the number blighting the road dropped by a third in a year to 21 from a peak of 30.
The council has seized £1million worth of illegal and counterfeit goods from candy stores and souvenir shops on Oxford Street since operations began in late 2021.
But the number of sweet shops keeps fluctuating, with the council playing ‘whack-a-mole’ as new stores continually open up in different locations while others close.
A report by the council’s overview and scrutiny committee said it had ‘ramped up the pressure on candy stores, souvenir and vape shops’ – with some freeholders even inviting Trading Standards to act so they can begin legal action against tenants.
This was a boost to the West End, which has become blighted by the gaudy shops after established retailers such as Debenhams, House of Fraser and Topshop shut.
