What Year Was FAO Schwarz Established

Based in New York City, FAO Schwarz is one of the most famous toy retailers of the world. Not just that, it also boasts of being the oldest operating toy retailer in North America. While nobody would need an introduction to this toy retailer, not many people can actually boast of knowing of old it is, when it was established or who started it. In order to answer these and other such questions about FAO Schwarz, you need to go a few years back into the history - in the year 1862, when it all started.

History of FAO Schwarz

The rich history of this toy retailer is as interesting as the amazing toys that it has to offer. FAO Schwarz was established in the United States in 1862. It was founded by Frederick August Otto Schwarz - a German immigrant, in Baltimore, Maryland. At the time of its inauguration, Schwarz named his fancy retail outlet, from where he and his brothers used to sell toys, the 'Toy Bazaar'. Eventually, new branches of the Toy Bazaar were opened in Philadelphia and Boston. 1870 marked the debut of Toy Bazaar in New York City as the 'Schwarz Toy Bazaar'. A decade later, they moved to a new location in the New York City - 42 E. 14th Street in Union Square. Amidst all this, they also issued their first catalog for loyal clientele in 1876. The beautiful catalogs that followed, and a website, added to its reputation, and soon enough FAO Schwarz became a toy retailer of international repute.

Schwarz Toy Bazaar: New York City

Eventually, they started a practice of holding an exhibition at the Schwarz Toy Bazaar in the month of November which became widely popular with time. The appearance of Santa Claus - which was an added attraction for Christmas season, also played an important role in making it popular. In fact, they even promoted the store with a tagline saying "Original Santa Claus Headquarters" in New York. On 28th April, 1897, they relocated to a better premises at 39 and 41 West 23rd Street, and soon became the largest toy dealer in New York. It was at this point of time that the store became more popular as F.A.O. Schwarz - in reference to the initials of its founder Frederick August Otto Schwarz. Though newspaper ads as early as in 1889 had this initials featuring in them, it was branded FAO Schwarz only after the outlet was shifted to this new place. Year 1931 witnessed yet another relocation of FAO Schwarz - this time to the 58th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Expansion of FAO Schwarz

In the mid 20th century, FAO Schwarz became popular as an 'entertainment retail' wherein the store in itself was an experience for its customers. The decade of 60s and 70s, was marked by expansion of business. In 1963, Schwarz sold toy retail business to Parents magazine. In 1970, the Parents magazine sold it to W.R. Grace, who in turn sold it to Franz Carl Weber International - a toy retailer from Zurich, Switzerland, in 1974. In 1986, it was sold to the Christiana Companies, after which it was bought by Peter Harris - the CEO of Christina Companies, and Peter C. Morse - an investor. In 1986, it was again relocated - this time to its current location in the General Motors Building. In 1990, NV Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer - a Dutch retail group, bought FAO Schwarz and expanded it by a significant extent. Under KBB, 42 FAO Schwarz stores were opened across the United States within a decade.

So FAO Schwarz has been in business for more than a century now, and its reputation has only increased with time. Such is the craze of this brand that its stores have become places of tourist attraction now. The Big Piano, a large floor piano, on which you can take a stroll in the New York FAO store is one of the numerous attraction at FAO stores. If you happen to visit New York any time, a stroll on the Big Piano is something that you cannot afford to miss.