Three years after the closure of his toy store on Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz is back in New York.
A new FAO opened Friday at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, about 10 blocks from its former home near Central Park.
For more than 150 years, FAO Schwarz was famous in New York for its chic and sometimes extremely expensive toys. The fantasyland store opened on Fifth Avenue in 1986 was a tourist attraction, replete with its own theme song, doorkeepers resembling palace guards and a musical clock tower. The financial problems of the parent company and rising rents closed the store in 2015, but FAO is pulling out of the worst financial precipice since it was established in 1862.
In this photo from Tuesday, November 13, 2018, an employee plays on the FAO Special Piano Dance Mat during a media presentation of the new FAO Schwarz store at Rockefeller Center in New York. Three years after the closure of his 5th Avenue toy store, his beloved ground, FAO Schwarz is returning to New York. The new version will be smaller, but will feature familiar attractions, including a musical clock tower and the giant piano keyboard mat on which Tom Hanks danced in the movie "Big." (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
In this photo from Tuesday, November 13, 2018, FAO Schwarz toy soldiers dressed in the uniform designed by the model Gigi Hadid pose for a photo during a media presentation of the new FAO Schwarz Rockefeller store. Center in New York. Three years after the closure of his beloved toy store, Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz returns to New York on Friday, November 16, 2018. The new version will be smaller, but will feature familiar features, including a tour of the city. 39, musical clock. and the giant piano keyboard mat on which Tom Hanks danced in the movie "Big". (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
Sound
The gallery will resume inseconds
DOSSIER – In this archive photo of 22 November 2005, 7-year-old Timothy Sessoms (left) and 10-year-old brother Akiim Sessoms hold K'Nex chopper bikes at FAO Schwarz in New York. Three years after the closure of his beloved toy store, Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz is back in New York. A new FAO will open on Friday, November 16, 2018 at the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, about 10 blocks from its former home near Central Park. (Photo AP / Bebeto Matthews, File)
On this photo from Tuesday, November 13, 2018, an employee dressed in an astronaut plays in a spaceship during a media overview of the new FAO Schwarz store at Rockefeller Center in New York. Three years after the closure of his 5th Avenue toy store, his beloved ground, FAO Schwarz is returning to New York. The new version will be smaller, but will feature familiar attractions, including a musical clock tower and the giant piano keyboard mat on which Tom Hanks danced in the movie "Big." (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
In this photo from Tuesday, November 13, 2018, Steiff teddy bears are on display at a media overview of the new FAO Schwarz store at Rockefeller Center in New York. Three years after the closure of his 5th Avenue toy store, his beloved ground, FAO Schwarz is returning to New York. The new version will be smaller, but will feature familiar attractions, including a musical clock tower and the giant piano keyboard mat on which Tom Hanks danced in the movie "Big." (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
DOSSIER – In this November 22, 2004 photo, children are greeted by FAO Schwarz characters outside the Fifth Avenue store in New York City. Three years after the closure of his beloved toy store, Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz returns to New York on Friday, November 16, 2018. The new version will be smaller, but will feature familiar features, including a tour of the city. 39, musical clock. and the giant piano keyboard mat on which Tom Hanks danced in the movie "Big". (AP Photo / Richard Drew, File)
On this photo from Tuesday, November 13, 2018, a Transformer robot is on display at a media overview of the new FAO Schwarz store at Rockefeller Center in New York. A new FAO opens Friday, November 16, about 10 blocks from its former home, near the southeast corner of Central Park. There are some extravagant items in the new store, but a lot of low-priced items, too. (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
In this photo from Tuesday, November 13, 2018, groceries are displayed in the FAO store during the presentation to the media of the new FAO Schwarz store at the Rockefeller Center in New York. At the toy grocery store, children can buy artificial products, small trolleys, a checkout counter and cooking utensils. Three years after the closing of his toy store on Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz, his return to New York will open Friday, November 16, 2018. (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)
DOSSIER – In this photo of Monday, November 21, 2011, buyers stop at Fifth Avenue, FAO Schwarz, New York. A new FAO will open on Friday, November 16, 2018 at the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, about 10 blocks from its former home near Central Park. For more than 150 years, FAO Schwarz was known for its chic and sometimes extremely expensive toys. (Photo AP / Bebeto Matthews, File)
In recent weeks, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, workers have drilled, hammered and sawed 24 hours a day to prepare the new store. Employees have filled shelves of hundreds of stuffed animals that have long defined the brand: bears, rabbits, elephants, chicks, etc. The big clock tower of entry is back. And at the second floor level of 20,000 square feet is a giant piano keyboard mat, similar to the one on which Tom Hanks danced for "Heart and Soul" in the movie "Big" in 1988.
The 20-foot-long instrument with 60 keys is visible on the ceiling for people in the downstairs place. Replicas for sale cost $ 128.
There is also a toy grocery store where children can shop among artificial products, with small trolleys, a checkout counter and kitchen supplies. For $ 75, another interactive station allows children to adopt dolls, while a "nurse" gives lessons on how to take charge of them. Live magic shows will be held nearby, next to a remote-controlled custom car assembly site. A 27-foot-tall rocket is teeming with teddy bear astronauts.
"We are about experiences. This is different from other toy stores, "said David Niggli, FAO's Derivatives Manager.
As part of a global marketing campaign, ephemeral FAO stores are also opening for holidays in England, Spain and Australia. A permanent rollout is planned for March in a store located in a shopping mall in Beijing, in addition to smaller outlets at airports and elsewhere in the United States and Canada.
FAO Schwarz has seen several business acquisitions in recent years as retailers struggled to adapt to online sales. It was bought in 2002 by Right Start Inc., which has filed for bankruptcy twice. Toys "R" Us was the next owner. She sold the FAO name to ThreeSixty Brands, a California-based company, in 2016 before declaring bankruptcy herself.
The FAO was founded in 1862 by Frederick August Otto Schwarz, a German immigrant, specializing in high-end toys, some imported from Europe. In the 20th century, in stores across the country, fancy goods included a $ 1,500 Etch-A-Sketch with jewelry and a $ 25,000 Barbie-themed dark pink foosball table.
There are some extravagant items in the new store, but a lot of low-priced items, too.
"We have beautiful craftsman parts here, like rocking horses, but we also have items that cost $ 10," Niggli said. "There will always be some of these most delirious items. I think that's part of what you come to see at FAO. It's part of the magic. "
The most luxurious object on sale could be a child-sized Mercedes-Benz, drivable, encrusted with 44,000 Swarovski crystals. Base price: $ 25,000.
"This is the heart of FAO. These are the classics and "Oh, wow" things you've never seen before, "Niggli said.
