Part 1 in a series of posts

When I got up this morning I knew that my blog was waiting for a post today.  However, I didn’t know what the post would cover, and then there it was “Toys R Us acquires high-end retailer FAO Schwarz.”  I must say for a minute, before reading the article, my heart sank.

I don’t spend a lot of time in toy stores.  There are not a lot of toys laying around my house.  The toys that are in the toy basket or on the floor right now are dog toys, not kid toys.  That said, every Toys R Us I’ve ever been in has not impressed me.  I’ve been in FAO Schwarz NYC, and it is a wonderland of toys.  The displays make you want to look at the toys; they make you want to buy the toys.  FAO Schwarz is more than toys lined on shelves; FAO Schwarz is a toy experience.  The last time I was at the NYC store, I was greeted by a real live toy soldier (even had my picture taken with him – this was before my digital days!).  If you haven’t seen the 1988 Tom Hanks movie “BIG,” there’s a scene filmed in the NYC FAO Schwarz – the scene with the giant piano that Tom Hanks’s “Josh” and Robert Loggia’s “MacMillian” play with the feet – chopsticks!

I hope, as the article I read states, that the Toys R Us people are going to work to keep the “distinctiveness and integrity of the FAO Schwarz stores and brand.”  It would be a shame to walk into the NYC store and see toy-lined shelves, a store with no personality.