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FAO Schwarz Closure Hits Russian Doll Vendor

By Emilie Ruscoe | July 20, 2015 2:58pm
 Sergei Rounovski will soon leave his FAO Schwarz sidewalk table location in search of more foot traffic.
Sergei Rounovski will soon leave his FAO Schwarz sidewalk table location in search of more foot traffic.
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Emilie Ruscoe//DNAinfo

MIDTOWN — Last week's closure of FAO Schwarz's Fifth Avenue store is affecting more than kids. 

Sergei Rounovski, a sidewalk vendor who's been selling Russian nesting dolls outside the 767 Fifth Ave. toy shop for the past decade, said he will have to relocate because of the loss of foot traffic after the July 15 store closing. 

"I’m not sad, and I’m not happy, of course," he continued. "I understand it’s part of the life, a part you cannot control and you just need to adjust."

Rounovski, a St. Petersburg native and a resident of Brooklyn, has run a small operation selling hand-painted matryoshka dolls on city streets since the 90s. This December would have been the 20th anniversary of the winter holiday season in which he first set up shop.

The business is his sole source of income, which he used to raise and support his two children, the oldest of whom is starting college in the fall, he said.

Nearly every day, from mid-morning to about 6 p.m., Rounovski waits for customers at his table outside the toy store. Business is best on gift-giving holidays, but even in the days between, some items, like his five-figurine set of animals, sell reliably, he said.

He's been selling his dolls on the sidewalk outside of FAO Schwarz since 2004, and in the early years he said he also rotated amid about 50 locations, including Wall Street and the Museum of Metropolitan Art. Rounovski works without a vendor's license since his goods qualify as visual art, he said.

The competition is less fierce in front FAO Schwarz and the elite toy shop's employees often sent him shoppers in search of handcrafted toys, leading him to begin selling his wares exclusively there in 2010.

But after the Fifth Avenue store closed on July 15, business has slowed to a near standstill and Rounovski realized he's going to have to relocate if he's going to continue making a living, he said.

He has considered moving back to the sidewalks in front of the Museum of Metropolitan Art, where he worked regularly until 2010, before the number of vendor permits for the area was reduced and the remaining spots started going to those who were willing to wake up early to stake them out.

"I’m used to a more friendly environment here," Rounovski said.