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The renowned Christmas toy store where toys came to life in the Tom Hanks movie “Big” is opening a second location.
For the first time in over a century, the iconic FAO Schwarz is opening a second NYC location. The retailer is setting up shop at the Nordstrom NYC Flagship on West 57th Street, making it the first time that the brand has operated two NYC stores.
The digital partnership will hit Nordstrom’s website this summer, with the full in-person experience launching later this year.
Nordstrom announced its partnership with the iconic toy store last week, with the goal of bringing immersive retail experiences nationwide, including beloved hallmarks like the Toy Soldiers, Dance-on Pianos, and lifelike plush animals.
Certain Nordstrom locations will also feature hands-on experiences inspired by FAO Schwarz, like designing custom handbags, customizing makeup kits, and an immersive doll experience where customers can sign the birth certificate for their baby doll. Select locations will also have a Brio train collection station for customers to make their own train tracks.
FAO Schwarz first opened in 1862, when German immigrant Frederick August Otto Schwarz founded the original “Toy Bazaar” in Baltimore, Maryland. The NYC location opened in 1870.
Over the last 11 years they had an inspiring comeback story. High-rent forced the brand to close their Fifth Avenue store doors in 2015 and New Yorkers thought the iconic store was gone for good.
But they made their return in 2018, under the wing of ThreeSixty Group, who acquired the brand and reopened a flagship at 30 Rockefeller Center. The new location is one-third the size of the 61,000 square foot original, but its success paved the way for global expansion.
The new flagship location of the oldest toy store retailer in the United States lives on three levels next to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
Locations since then opened in 2019 in Chicago, Beijing, London and Dublin.
FAO Schwarz has since partnered with Target to create branded toy departments beginning in 2022, helping introduce the retailer to younger families that may never have visited one of its flagships. Nordstrom is next on the list of retailers that will make FAO Schwarz more accessible.
The nationwide rollout will eventually place FAO Schwarz assortments in all Nordstrom stores, while eight locations will receive “The Jewel Box,” an enhanced store-within-a-store format where there will be storytelling elements and branded activities that are beyond traditional merchandising.
The collection available at Nordstrom will have categorized sections for toy shoppers, including infant items and pre-school-aged children.
FAO Schwarz will also be present in person at global Nordstroms in malls in Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois and California.
While FAO Schwarz continues to be seen as a nostalgic and interactive destination, some feel that the toy store lost its charm in recent years.
“You’d think Nordstrom could hire a toy buyer and an assistant buyer and curate their own. FAO Schwarz today is not the same as the pre-bankruptcy FAO Schwarz!” said one Facebook user about the partnership.
Others are calling the partnership desperate and noting that other retailers have done the partnership before and failed.
“Probably would have been best to sell the FAO Schwarz brand to someone like Hamley’s of the UK; someone that could actually restore the brand to its former glory and style of presentation,” another user suggested.
Another replied in agreement, saying that “outside of the flagship in NYC, I’d say their brand is a bit tarnished and not upscale enough for Nordstrom, which still seems to be holding on.”
