Farewell FAO Schwarz: Last day of business at NYC toy store

The Fifth Avenue store famously included an oversized piano keyboard that actors Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia danced on in the 1988 movie “Big“. Rising rent is forcing the tourist attraction out of its location on Fifth Avenue after 29 years.

Owner Toys R Us announced the decision in May, citing high rent. Its history goes back even further in time, however, as it was founded in 1862-it is the oldest toy store in the United States, and it is about to close its only location. It bought the FAO Schwarz brand in 2009.

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“This was probably one of the only ways to save FAO Schwarz”, toy industry analyst Chris Byrne told Crain’s New York that year.

The toy store hasn’t always been on Fifth Avenue.

New York – Famed toy emporium FAO Schwarz, a household name for its aisles crammed with games and pricey playthings, shuttered its doors on Wednesday, a casualty of New York’s skyrocketing real estate prices.

The iconic toy store F.A.O.

His first store launched in 1962 in Baltimore, and it was called Toy Bazaar.

“The baby department at FAO Schwarz is the ultimate destination when luxury shopping for little ones”, the store’s online fact sheet advised.

Toys R Us of Wayne, New Jersey, has been privately held since 2005.

“This is it. This it the FAO Schwarz that everybody knows, it is close to Central Park, it is handsome during Christmas”, she said.

Right Start Inc. purchased FAO Schwarz in 2002, reported the Wall Street Journal, changing the company’s name to FAO, Inc. along with the acquisition.