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Dive Brief: - Toy retailer FAO Schwarz has opened an Amazon storefront just ahead of the holiday shopping season, according to a Friday press release. - The Amazon shop features an edited assortment of branded products sorted by target age group and category, including the company’s iconic Giant Dance Mat Piano. - In addition, the FAO Schwarz flagship store in New York City’s Rockefeller Center will feature a dedicated Amazon pop-up shop offering some of the items featured on Amazon's 2026 Top 100+ Toys list. The store will also host Amazon window displays throughout the holiday season. Dive Insight: FAO Schwarz has been reinventing itself for more than 150 years, and this new deal with Amazon is just the latest step in that journey. The toy retailer has weathered multiple bankruptcies and seen itself shuffled from one owner to another, most recently being purchased by Sharper Image owner ThreeSixtyGroup in 2016. Now, the brand is looking to burnish its image as the world’s greatest toy store by partnering with the e-commerce giant. “FAO Schwarz has always been about more than shopping, it’s about creating moments of discovery and wonder,” David Niggli, chief merchandising officer at FAO Schwarz, said in a statement. “Bringing FAO Schwarz to Amazon.com allows us to extend that magic to families everywhere, while our New York flagship continues to deliver the kind of in-person experience that has made FAO Schwarz an iconic destination for generations." In June, the company opened a second New York City location inside the Nordstrom department store. That deal included a presence on Nordstrom's website and a product rollout at Nordstrom stores nationwide, as well as eight dedicated store-within-a-store concept shops. FAO Schwarz also operates its own e-commerce site and has stores in Paris, Milan and Beijing, per Friday’s press release. “FAO Schwarz has sparked joy and wonder for toy lovers around the world for more than 160 years, and we're thrilled to bring their iconic assortment to Amazon's stores,” Anne Carrihill, director of toys and home at Amazon, said in a statement, adding that “customers now have an even more convenient way to discover this heritage brand." Meanwhile, former FAO Schwarz owner Toys R Us recently said it planned to open 120 new stand-alone stores in the U.S. this holiday season in partnership with Go Retail Group. That expansion will increase the toy retailer’s footprint to 160 locations. Toys R Us also has multiple airport shop-in-shops and is in Macy’s nationwide. It’s been a strong year for toy stores in the U.S. already, with first-half sales up 17% year over year and unit sales up 12%, according to a recent Circana report. That growth is due in part to a 16% uptick in demand from adult-only households, which accounted for 55% of toy sales, per the report.
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