After this year’s death of Toys ‘R’ Us, what’s a toy shopper to do? We of course have Amazon, but that strips away the magic of taking your child to a toy store. There’s Walmart, but who wants to subject their child to that national nightmare? Target’s an option, but they’ve never really had a ‘toy store’ vibe. Let’s face it, what we want is a magical Disneyesque experience. And that’s what FAO Schwarz could bring back to the market.

Having close down nearly a decade ago, the Wall Street Journal is reporting ThreeSitxy Group Inc. acquired the FAO Schwarz name from Toys ‘R’ Us in 2016. It looks like the company is now ready to re-launch the iconic toy store for the holiday season at their previous flagship location, the 20,000 square-foot Rockefeller Center store. 

The new store will feature staff costumed as toys, including toy soldiers and magicians, and will feature plenty of product demonstrations. The location also plans to leverage one their best PR boosts of the past; it will feature the giant piano featured in the 1988 Tom Hanks film, Big. 

This leads to the question: are we going to see a nationwide roll out of FAO Schwarz toy stores? As of now only the Rockefeller location, along with a small store inside LaGuardia Airport are on the horizon. But the market does seem right for a higher end toy store to bring back some of the magic in shopping for toys.