New York's oldest Continuously Operating Toy Store! New York City Toy Store |
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After more than 150 years of business, F.A.O. Schwarz — the famed high-end toy store located across from the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue — this week closed its doors for good. Though the day was marked by a good deal of mourning, with generations of teary-eyed New Yorkers stopping by to pay their respects, the occasion also served as the beginning of a new legacy: Mary Arnold Toys on the Upper East Side is now the oldest continuously run toy store in the United States. But while the shop officially nabbed that title from Schwarz on Wednesday, the truth is that it has been decades since the two stores were really in the same business. In 2009, Schwarz was bought by the multibillion-dollar retailer Toys "R" Us, and even before that the company had a reputation for selling $12,000 treehouses and $15,000 toy Mercedes to the rich and spoiled. (Toys "R" Us has said that it is currently looking for a new location for the store.) |
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