"Wonderland." "The candy land of toys." "A fantasy island for children from all over the world, as well as adults that want to escape for a little while back to their childhood."
That's how Yelpers described the iconic FAO Schwarz toy store on Fifth Avenue that closed its doors in July. The 45,000-square-foot emporium featured three levels of specialty toy shops, a candy store, LEGO sculptures, personal shoppers and the large floor piano as seen in the movie "Big."
Owner Toys 'R' Us (which bought FAO Schwarz in 2009) cited the escalating cost of operating a retail space on Fifth Avenue as the retailer's rationale for shuttering the location and implied it was seeking a new home for FAO Schwarz.
Now a week before Toys 'R' Us was expected to clinch a 40,000-square-foot space at 1633 Broadway in Times Square for FAO Schwarz, its deal with the real estate firm Paramount Group has fallen through, the Commercial Observer reports.
With FAO Schwarz homeless and the fate hanging in the balance for the 1514 Broadway location of Toys 'R' Us — which decided in March against renewing the lease — the city is at risk of losing a significant share of its Willy Wonka-like charm.
Sure, you can call the 60-foot indoor Ferris wheel and the 20-foot-high animatronic T. Rex at the Times Square Toys 'R' Us tourist traps as heinous as the kiss cam billboard that went up in December, but even native New Yorkers, like Yelper Ilona K., will admit "this place manages to bring out the kid" in them.
An artisanal toy store in Gowanus selling handmade organic stuffed animals doesn't have quite the same effect on your inner child.
