Bye Bye FAO

Rising rents in midtown Manhattan have claimed another victim: The F.A.O. Schwarz flagship store on Fifth Avenue will close its doors on July 15. There has been an F.A.O. Schwarz toy store in New York City for the past 145 years; Frederick August Otto Schwarz opened his first store, Schwarz Brothers Importers, in 1870, and the toy paradise was featured in a memorable scene in the 1988 movie Big.

At one point, there were 40 locations across the United States, but the Fifth Avenue store is the last one remaining. Until they find a new place to set up shop in Manhattan — The New York Times reports that the company might be looking at a basement space in an office tower at 1633 Broadway — customers will have to make their purchases online or at F.A.O. Schwarz boutiques inside of Toys «R» Us stores.

FAO Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the United States and a retailer once considered accessible only to the rich, is closing its much-loved Fifth Avenue flagship store in Manhattan, citing rising rent prices.

The three-level, 45,000 square foot space is a popular tourist destination and has made cameos in multiple movies, including Woody Allen’s 1995 film «Mighty Aphrodite» and the 1988 movie «Big» starring Tom Hanks.

«The decision to vacate this space is due to the continuing rising costs of operating a retail location on Fifth Avenue in New York City,» FAO Schwarz said in a statement.