New York Toy Story Will Unwrap on Thanksgiving

New York City, FAO Schwarz is unveiling its redesigned flagship store on Fifth Avenue at 58th Street in New York. City. The store is scheduled to open its doors at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25. Its launch follows the Oct. 22 reopening of FAO Schwarz's Las Vegas store, located within The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.

"We are building on the store's 142-year legacy, preserving the tradition of exceptional quality and service that has always defined FAO Schwarz while enhancing the store experience for a new generation," said Jerry Welch, FAO Schwarz's CEO. "At the same time, our new Web site and the FAO Schwarz catalog give us additional channels to reach customers across the globe."

The store, which was redesigned in collaboration with the Rockwell Group, features a breathtaking Grand Hall adorned with more than 20,000 computer-controlled colored lights, a giant dance-on piano keyboard, and "FAO Schweetz," a classic New York ice-cream parlor serving desserts.

FAO Schwarz was founded by Frederick August Otto Schwarz, who opened his first store in Baltimore in 1862 and relocated to lower Manhattan in 1870. The New York City flagship store moved to its current location in 1986.