FAO Schwarz has been selling toys since 1862. It has survived wars, moves, a famous film and even closing down, and the soldiers at the door still salute every visitor.
FAO Schwarz logo used with permission. Abby's Labs is independent and was not paid for this story.
The first thing that happens when you walk into FAO Schwarz in New York is that a toy soldier salutes you. He was a real person, standing to attention in the doorway, and he saluted me first. So I saluted straight back.
The soldiers are real people in red coats, gold buttons and very tall black hats, and they have been greeting visitors at the door for years. It felt like walking into a story.
## A toy shop older than most countries' parliaments
FAO Schwarz is the oldest toy store in the United States. It was started in 1862 by Frederick August Otto Schwarz, a young man who moved from Germany to America. His initials are where the name "F A O" comes from.
He started in Baltimore, then moved to New York in 1870 and opened a shop he called the "Toy Bazaar". Back then most toys were made by hand, many of them in Germany, and a big toy shop was a special place that families travelled to visit.
## The giant piano
For about 30 years the most famous FAO Schwarz store was on Fifth Avenue. In 1988 it appeared in the film *Big*, where two grown men play a song on a giant piano on the floor by jumping from key to key.
After that, everyone wanted to try it. The store still has a giant floor piano, and people queue to dance out a tune on it with their feet. I had a go too. It is harder than it looks, because you have to jump to exactly the right key at exactly the right time.
## Closing, and coming back
Toy shops have had a hard time because so many people now buy toys online. In 2015 the Fifth Avenue store closed, and lots of people thought FAO Schwarz was gone forever.
It was not. In 2018 it reopened in a new home at Rockefeller Center, in the same group of buildings as NBC Studios, where I led the news. The new store was designed to be something you cannot get from a website: soldiers at the door, staff who show you how toys work, music, a sweet shop and rooms where you can build your own bear. I watched bears being stuffed and dressed, and there were whole walls of tiny outfits to choose from.
## What I noticed
The store is laid out like a little version of New York. There are signs that look like subway signs, a "Broadway" area and lights like an old theatre. It is less like a shop and more like a place to spend a morning.
I think the most interesting thing is how a toy store survived for more than 160 years. It kept changing how it sold toys, but it never stopped making the visit feel like an event. And the soldiers still salute.