If you are wondering whether FAO Schwarz is still open in New York City, the answer is yes. In fact, New York now has two FAO Schwarz locations. The main flagship is the 20,000-square-foot store at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and in 2026 the company opened a second New York City location inside the Nordstrom flagship at 225 West 57th Street.
If you remember the enormous FAO Schwarz store across from the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue, that location is gone. The famous 767 Fifth Avenue flagship closed in 2015 after nearly three decades in the General Motors Building. FAO Schwarz returned to Manhattan three years later at Rockefeller Center, bringing back the toy soldiers, giant clock, interactive displays, and the dance-on piano made famous by the 1988 movie Big.
The story is more complicated than simply saying that FAO Schwarz closed. The company has been part of New York City since 1870, has occupied several famous Manhattan addresses, disappeared from the city for three years, and then returned in a new form. Here is where to find FAO Schwarz today, why the Fifth Avenue store closed, and how the company became one of the most famous toy stores in New York history.
Is FAO Schwarz Still Open in NYC?
Yes. FAO Schwarz is open in New York City. For visitors looking for the classic FAO Schwarz experience, the main destination is still the Rockefeller Center flagship.
- Main NYC flagship: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, on 49th Street at Rockefeller Plaza between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
- Nearest subway: 47–50 Sts–Rockefeller Center on the B, D, F, and M lines
- Admission: There is no admission charge to enter the store
- Hours: Store hours can change seasonally, so check the official FAO Schwarz store-hours page before making a special trip
FAO Schwarz also opened a second New York City location in 2026 inside the Nordstrom NYC flagship at 225 West 57th Street, near Broadway. The Nordstrom shop carries the FAO Schwarz name and includes signature elements such as toy soldiers and dance-on pianos, but the Rockefeller Center store remains the larger standalone New York flagship.
If you have time for only one FAO Schwarz stop, I would choose Rockefeller Center. It is the location that most closely recreates the theatrical destination-store experience generations of New Yorkers associate with the brand, and it also places you in the middle of Rockefeller Center.
Is the Old FAO Schwarz Fifth Avenue Store Still Open?
No. The famous FAO Schwarz store at 767 Fifth Avenue closed on July 15, 2015.
That distinction matters because FAO Schwarz actually had two major Fifth Avenue homes. From 1931 until 1986, the store operated at 745 Fifth Avenue at East 58th Street. In 1986, it moved across 58th Street into the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue. That second location became the FAO Schwarz most people remember from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
The 767 Fifth Avenue flagship occupied three levels and, by its final years, covered roughly 45,000 square feet. It was filled with giant stuffed animals, elaborate specialty departments, personal-shopping services, demonstrations, candy, theatrical displays, and the famous floor piano.
How FAO Schwarz Began
The story of FAO Schwarz begins with Frederick August Otto Schwarz, the German immigrant whose initials gave the company its name. In 1862, Schwarz and his brothers opened a toy business in Baltimore called Toy Bazaar.
Schwarz brought the business to New York City in 1870, opening Schwarz Toy Bazaar at 765 Broadway. At a time when American toy stores tended to be smaller and more utilitarian, Schwarz distinguished his business through elaborate displays and imported European toys.
As Manhattan’s shopping districts moved north, FAO Schwarz moved with them. The company relocated to 42 East 14th Street at Union Square in 1880 and then to 39–41 West 23rd Street in 1897, when the Ladies’ Mile district was one of New York City’s great retail corridors.
In 1931, FAO Schwarz moved to 745 Fifth Avenue, beginning a 55-year run at an address that helped establish the store as a New York institution. Generations of families came to associate the FAO name with Christmas windows, unusual toys, enormous stuffed animals, and the feeling that a toy store could be a destination rather than simply a place to buy something.
The 745 Fifth Avenue Era: 1931–1986
The 745 Fifth Avenue store stood at the corner of East 58th Street, directly across from the location FAO Schwarz would eventually occupy in the General Motors Building.
This was the store that carried FAO Schwarz through the middle of the twentieth century. Its reputation was built around imported toys, elaborate displays, personal service, and an upscale approach that made a visit feel different from an ordinary neighborhood toy shop.
By the time FAO Schwarz left the building in 1986, the company had spent more than half a century there. The move across the street did not take the store out of its familiar neighborhood, but it created a much larger and more theatrical flagship for a new era.
The 767 Fifth Avenue Flagship and the Movie Big
FAO Schwarz moved into the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue in 1986. The store quickly became one of Manhattan’s great experiential retail attractions.
Then came Big.
In the 1988 Penny Marshall movie, Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia encounter a giant floor keyboard inside FAO Schwarz. Their characters perform “Heart and Soul” and “Chopsticks” by stepping from key to key. The sequence became one of the most recognizable scenes of the movie and permanently connected FAO Schwarz with the giant piano.
The Walking Piano was created by inventor Remo Saraceni. For the movie, the instrument was expanded to approximately 16 feet, and Hanks and Loggia rehearsed the routine before filming the scene inside the store.
The piano was not merely a movie prop created from nothing. A playable floor keyboard was already part of the FAO Schwarz experience. After Big, however, it became inseparable from the store’s identity.
Can You Still Play the Big Piano at FAO Schwarz?
Yes. The Rockefeller Center flagship has a large Dance on Piano that visitors can still play. It carries on the tradition of the instrument featured in Big, although the current installation should not be confused with the exact 1988 movie piano.
The present piano overlooks Rockefeller Plaza, and FAO Schwarz encourages visitors to step onto the keys and play. The store currently asks guests to remove their shoes and keep their socks on before using it. Availability can occasionally change during private events.
Was Duncan’s Toy Chest in Home Alone 2 Really FAO Schwarz?
No, but FAO Schwarz was the inspiration.
The fictional Duncan’s Toy Chest in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was designed to evoke the kind of grand Manhattan toy store represented by FAO Schwarz. The actual Duncan’s Toy Chest scenes were not filmed inside FAO Schwarz. The movie used locations and sets in Chicago for the fictional store.
The connection still makes sense. When Home Alone 2 was released in 1992, FAO Schwarz stood at 767 Fifth Avenue directly across from the Plaza Hotel area, making it exactly the sort of New York toy-shopping fantasy the fictional Duncan’s was intended to represent.
Why Did FAO Schwarz Close on Fifth Avenue in 2015?
The Fifth Avenue flagship did not close because New Yorkers suddenly stopped knowing the FAO Schwarz name. The immediate problem was the extraordinary cost of operating such a large retail space on one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world.
Toys “R” Us, which had acquired FAO Schwarz in 2009, announced in 2015 that it would leave the General Motors Building before the lease expired. The company specifically cited the high and rising costs of operating the Fifth Avenue location.
The store closed on July 15, 2015. FAO Schwarz had maintained a New York City presence since 1870, so the shutdown felt less like the closing of an ordinary retailer and more like the disappearance of a city landmark.
For the next three years, New York City had no permanent FAO Schwarz store.
How FAO Schwarz Returned to New York
ThreeSixty Group acquired FAO Schwarz in October 2016 and set out to rebuild the brand around the experiential shopping model that had made it famous.
On November 16, 2018, FAO Schwarz returned to Manhattan with a new flagship at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The store opened with approximately 20,000 square feet spread across two floors and a mezzanine.
The new location is smaller than the old General Motors Building store, but it deliberately revived familiar pieces of the FAO experience. The dance-on piano returned. Toy soldiers returned. A clock tower returned. Product demonstrations, oversized displays, and interactive experiences once again made the store somewhere families could visit even if they did not arrive with a shopping list.
FAO Schwarz Added a Second NYC Location in 2026
The story took another turn in 2026 when FAO Schwarz partnered with Nordstrom and opened a second New York City location inside the Nordstrom NYC flagship at 225 West 57th Street.
It was a notable expansion because FAO Schwarz had operated with only one principal New York location for most of its modern history. The Nordstrom store extends the brand to the west side of Midtown while the Rockefeller Center flagship remains its best-known New York destination.
The Nordstrom location includes recognizable FAO Schwarz elements such as toy soldiers, dance-on pianos, clock-tower imagery, plush animals, and interactive retail displays. Visitors can check the Nordstrom NYC flagship page for current store information.
What Can You Do at FAO Schwarz Rockefeller Center Today?
The Rockefeller Center store continues to emphasize play and demonstrations rather than functioning as a conventional toy warehouse. Experiences change over time, but the flagship currently revolves around several signature attractions.
- Dance on Piano: Visitors can step onto the oversized piano keys and recreate their own version of the famous Big scene.
- Toy Soldier Opening Ceremony: FAO’s costumed toy soldiers perform an opening ceremony outside the Rockefeller Center store, weather permitting.
- Jellycat Diner: The popular themed plush experience serves collectible Jellycat characters in diner-style packaging. Menus, reservations, and availability change.
- Funko Pop! Factory: Guests can assemble a customized Funko figure from available components.
- Interactive Toy Experiences: Demonstrations, customization stations, and branded experiences rotate through the store.
Because these attractions can change, the most useful approach is to check FAO Schwarz’s official in-store experience listings shortly before visiting.
Is FAO Schwarz Worth Visiting?
If your idea of FAO Schwarz comes from the old Fifth Avenue store, the Rockefeller Center location is smaller. There is no getting around that. The old store was an enormous retail spectacle in a way few Manhattan stores could afford to be today.
But FAO Schwarz is still one of the easiest places in New York to understand why the traditional toy store mattered so much. Children can play with products instead of looking at pictures on a screen, and adults who remember the Fifth Avenue years can still see the toy soldiers, walk onto a giant piano, and watch another generation discover the place.
That continuity is probably the most important answer to the question that brought many readers here. The Fifth Avenue FAO Schwarz is gone, but FAO Schwarz itself did not disappear from New York.
More New York City Shopping History
For more on the stores that generations of New Yorkers grew up visiting, explore our 10 Iconic Toy Stores in NYC History and Where Their Legacy Lives Today. You can also read our history of New York City’s most famous department stores and our complete history of Rockefeller Center.
FAO Schwarz NYC Locations and Timeline at a Glance
| Years | Location | What Happened There |
|---|---|---|
| 1870–1880 | 765 Broadway | First FAO Schwarz location in New York City |
| 1880–1897 | 42 East 14th Street | Union Square era |
| 1897–1931 | 39–41 West 23rd Street | Ladies’ Mile location |
| 1931–1986 | 745 Fifth Avenue | Classic Fifth Avenue flagship for 55 years |
| 1986–2015 | 767 Fifth Avenue | General Motors Building flagship; Big piano era |
| 2015–2018 | No permanent NYC store | Three-year absence from New York City |
| 2018–present | 30 Rockefeller Plaza | Current main NYC flagship |
| 2026–present | Nordstrom NYC, 225 West 57th Street | Second current New York City FAO Schwarz location |
Is FAO Schwarz Still Open in NYC? Where to Find It Today article published on ClassicNewYorkHistory.com © 2026
