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inanna

(3,547 posts)
Sat May 16, 2015, 03:04 PM May 2015

FAO Schwarz to close flagship New York store

Source: CBC News

FAO Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the United States and a retailer once considered accessible only to the rich, is closing its much-loved Fifth Avenue flagship store in Manhattan, citing rising rent prices.

The three-level, 4,180 square metre space is a popular tourist destination and has made cameos in multiple movies, including Woody Allen's 1995 film Mighty Aphrodite and the 1988 movie Big starring Tom Hanks.

The store, positioned along a stretch of Fifth Avenue that is home to some of the world's most luxurious retailers, will formally shut its doors on July 15, taking an early exit from its lease.

"The decision to vacate this space is due to the continuing rising costs of operating a retail location on Fifth Avenue in New York City," FAO Schwarz said in a statement released on Friday.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/fao-schwarz-to-close-flagship-new-york-store-1.3077199?cmp=rss

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FAO Schwarz to close flagship New York store (Original Post) inanna May 2015 OP
That is horrible! hrmjustin May 2015 #1
I never got to see the place even once. inanna May 2015 #4
Great store to get lost in. hrmjustin May 2015 #5
Some new billionaires must want more living spaces. nt valerief May 2015 #2
Right behind Apple's flagship store. onehandle May 2015 #3
Oh noes shenmue May 2015 #6
Pricing business out of business Blue_Adept May 2015 #7
This is why we bailed on NYC Sen. Walter Sobchak May 2015 #9
As a sidenote, Toys R Us actually bought FAO Schwartz in 2009 BumRushDaShow May 2015 #8
When the Boston store closed the Bear stayed chelsea0011 May 2015 #10
Too sad. Such a fun store with kids! And who will get the giant piano floor? FailureToCommunicate May 2015 #11
Guess I better see this place while I can nt LiberalElite May 2015 #12
That's very sad. Bluenorthwest May 2015 #13
They're looking for another location in midtown nt LiberalElite May 2015 #14

onehandle

(51,122 posts)
3. Right behind Apple's flagship store.
Sat May 16, 2015, 03:08 PM
May 2015

The Apple Store makes much more money per square feet than Tiffany's.

Been to FAO Schwarz there several times.

Sad news.

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
7. Pricing business out of business
Sat May 16, 2015, 03:29 PM
May 2015

It's insane.

I've seen it in the small towns as I'm sure we all have. Prime locations that are empty because the rates are too high. Small businesses can't start in there like they used to. Larger business prefer to have their own imprint in the strip malls and other places.

Vicious cycle. For the landlord, I know there's tax reasons for it, but you'd think you'd rather have money coming in and knowing a place is generating for the community rather than sit idle.

But I'm not wealthy, so I know I don't know.

 

Sen. Walter Sobchak

(8,692 posts)
9. This is why we bailed on NYC
Sat May 16, 2015, 03:55 PM
May 2015

Our New York office was just a financial smoking crater, there was no way to make the numbers work. We have one woman left in the area but she works out of her house on Long Island and travels into the city as needed. We also lost a lot of good people because of it who jumped at the chance to move to New York only to turnaround and quit and move to places like Austin or North Carolina.

Our old offices are ostensibly empty and referred to as the "Private Offices of the ______ Family"

We sometimes get their mail forwarded to us in error, weird shit.

BumRushDaShow

(127,301 posts)
8. As a sidenote, Toys R Us actually bought FAO Schwartz in 2009
Sat May 16, 2015, 03:40 PM
May 2015

So I expected them to start shedding at some point...

[font size="3" face=Times New Roman"]Toys ‘R’ Us Makes Deal for F.A.O. Schwarz[/font]

[font size="2" face="Times New Roman"]By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Published: May 27, 2009

Toys “R” Us announced early Thursday that it had bought F. A. O. Schwarz, one of the oldest toy retailers in the nation and a staple on Fifth Avenue, where the flagship store is guarded by rosy-cheeked toy soldiers.
<...>

There is one other F. A. O. Schwarz toy store, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where shoppers are greeted by an animated Trojan horse. Toys “R” Us is buying both stores, as well as the company’s Web site and catalog operations. F. A. O. Schwarz stores inside Macy’s will be phased out by November.

<...>

Toys “R” Us is carrying billions of dollars of debt, though Mr. McGowan pointed out that the acquisition of F. A. O. Schwarz “certainly shows some strength on Toys ‘R’ Us’s part.”

<...>

F. A. O. Schwarz was bought by D. E. Shaw & Company in 2004. Toys “R” Us operated as a public company from 1978 until July 2005. At that time, an investment group consisting of affiliates of Bain Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Vornado Realty Trust acquired the company for $6.6 billion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/business/28toy.html

Take note of the "bain" of our existence.

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