Iconic toy store FAO Schwarz is making a toy-ful return to New York City.
A new report says that FAO Schwarz is set to lease new retail space in the heart of the equally, and fittingly, legendary Rockefeller Center.
The toy store has leased the prime, two-floor, corner location currently occupied by the NBC Experience Store at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, between West 49th and 50th streets, according to the Commerical Observer.
Toy retailer FAO Schwarz is reopening its doors, this time at a new location in Rockefeller Plaza
FAO — a 150-year-old company — last operated out of a 61,000-square-foot spot at the General Motors Building at 767 Fifth Avenue in July 2015, shuttering its doors after 30-years there following issues with rent costs.
That location was famously immortalized in 1988’s hit movie, Big, in which Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia danced out the Chopsticks tune on the giant floor piano.
FAO’s new location will be a significant space downgrade, coming in at just over 19,000 square feet, spread between the ground floor and mezzanine levels.
The toy wonderland’s new outpost is expected to open in Fall 2018.
FAO’s former location, at the GM Building, was immortalized in movies, including 1988’s Big
FAO will be moving to a 19,000 square foot corner store in 30 Rockefeller, NBC’s headquarters
The lease is said to be ‘long-term,’ although the length of the lease and how much is being paid for the location is currently unknown.
The NBC Experience Store is due to close its doors soon. NBC had previously relocated its retail operation from the street-facing, corner NBC Experience Store and into the lobby of the building.
Toys ‘R’ Us sold FAO to California-based toy manufacturing and distribution company, ThreeSixty Group. in October 2016.