Toys R Us will open FAO Schwartz mini-boutiques inside a number of Toys R Us stores in preparation for the holiday shopping season.
The boutiques will last until early 2010, then be taken out. Toys R Us bought FAO Schwarz back in May and has taken over the main locations. But the FAO Schwartz name recognition is so high that the company decided to do the boutique idea and reopen the FAP Schwarz website.
"We're excited to bring FAO Schwarz to the millions of Americans who in the past couldn't make their way to New York City," Storch said. "We'll continue to feature FAO merchandise that's very different and distinguishes Toys R Us from other toy sellers."
The FAO Schwarz Web site features interactive pages that include a version of the Muppet Whatnot Workshop in the FAO Schwarz store in New York, the company said.
Storch declined to predict the FAO Schwarz boutiques' sales for the holiday shopping season. FAO Schwarz struck a similar store-within-a-store deal with Macy’s Inc. in May 2008. Those shops will close by November, the department-store chain said.
Toys R Us is the country's largest toy company. It gobbled up BabyUniverse.com, eToys.com, and KBToys.com over the years. The new boutiques are meant to strike a blow at its arch-rival for toy dollars, Wal-Mart. It's a smart move. FAO Schwarz has a name that conjures up magical images of fantastic toys. Toys R Us, eh, not so much. Now people will go to Toys R Us looking for a bargain, and then be sucked in by the exciting FAO Schwarz display.
