Nordstrom Inc. has a new toy story — and they’re just not playing around.
After several years of dabbling in the category, Nordstrom is supercharging its toy business through a multifaceted partnership with FAO Schwarz, one of the world’s most famous toy stores.
On Tuesday, FAO Schwarz launched a 5,000-square-foot “flagship” inside the Nordstrom flagship on 57th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. FAO Schwarz has only one other flagship site, which is in Rockefeller Center.
The FAO flagship inside Nordstrom is on lower level 2. It’s a concession that’s owned, operated and merchandised by FAO Schwarz. Alongside the new FAO flagship, Nordstrom opened a restaurant called “Picnic on 57th” that bears some resemblance to a food truck and offers food and snacks for the family, including soft serve ice creams and boozy milkshakes. This concept is owned and operated by Nordstrom.
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Beyond New York City, Nordstrom will be installing 1,200 to 1,500-square-foot FAO Schwarz toy shops in eight of its top doors across the country. Each of these FAO setups will be designated as “The Jewel Box,” and will feature branded activations, toy demonstrations and storytelling. Nordstrom’s FAO Schwarz assortment will also be available on nordstrom.com while all the other Nordstrom stores across the country will have a “highly curated” toy offering.
Separate from the FAO-leased concession shop inside the Nordstrom 57th Street location, the retailer has a wholesale relationship with FAO Schwarz, whereby Nordstrom buys merchandise from it for the Jewel Boxes, nordstrom.com and its stores.
The partnership reflects Nordstrom’s efforts to not simply grow its toy business, which has been relatively small and seasonal, but also to capture younger audiences, build its reputation in gifting and perhaps swipe some business from Macy’s Herald Square. Macy’s, with its Thanksgiving Day Parade, and it’s Toys ‘R’ Us shops-in-shop, has garnered a reputation as the go-to destination for holiday gifts.
But Nordstrom is coming on strong, and FAO Schwarz has a more upscale image than Toys ‘R’ Us.
Before the tie-in with FAO Schwarz, “We started with a small toy assortment about eight years ago, and we only did it at holiday,” Tacey Powers, executive vice president and general merchandise manager for shoes, kids and home at Nordstrom, told WWD in an exclusive interview. “It was a very curated assortment. But customers told us they wanted to have a better selection for their kids, because toys topped their Christmas lists, and in 2025, we tripled what we did in toys. We expanded our online assortment and our store assortment, and we saw an amazing reaction to gifting and our offer in toys. We did expand marketplace exponentially last year in toys. It also gave us the opportunity to sell larger items, like scooters and bikes,” which would take up too much space in the stores.
With that backdrop, “We started a conversation with FAO, and they said they would love the opportunity to open a second flagship in New York, and love to do it with us,” Powers said. “We thought we could learn a lot from FAO. They’ve been retailers for 196 years in this business.”
The eight Nordstroms that will house the FAO Schwarz “Jewel Box” shops will be in the Aventura Mall in Miami; Bellevue Square in Bellevue, Wash.; Brea Mall, Brea, Calif.; Garden State Plaza, Paramus, N.J.; NorthPark in Dallas; Oak Brook Mall in Oak Brook, Ill.; South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Fashion Valley in San Diego. They are scheduled to start opening in July.
Asked how the eight locations for the FAO Jewel Box were determined, Powers said, “FAO Schwarz worked with us on looking at areas of the country [where] they would like a presence, but we also looked at some of our stores where we have really big children’s apparel floors, and where we could get a read on the business across the country because we think this is something we can scale.”
David Niggli, chief merchandising officer, FAO Schwarz, told WWD over email: “Nordstrom reached out to us and shared their love of our experiences, specialty products, demonstrations, and our overall theatricality and asked if we would consider a partnership with them. We felt that Nordstrom’s long-standing reputation for great customer service and their overall specialty-driven assortment would be a strong fit for FAO. Working with the Nordstrom team has just reinforced that we made a great choice, they fully understand and celebrate the magic of FAO Schwarz.”
“Nordstrom is a perfect partner for FAO Schwarz, with its long tradition of beautiful stores, unique and quality products, and its commitment to the best in customer service,” Niggli added.
Many of FAO Schwarz’s most iconic and popular products and interactive experiences will be at Nordstrom including Toy Soldiers, Dance-on Pianos, Clock Towers and lifelike plush animals. There will also be fashion and beauty toys; creativity, music and preschool items, and vehicles, alongside specialty brands such as Brio, Bunnies by the Bay and Djeco. The assortment will expand into infant/preschool toys with exclusive launches. Other features include the FAO-Abulous program to customize handbags and FAO Beauty to build your own makeup kit with a customized color palette.
In May 2009, Toys ‘R’ Us acquired FAO Schwarz. ThreeSixty Group later acquired the brand, and opened a new FAO Schwarz location at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in November 2018, and rolled out FAO Schwarz shops in Beijing, Paris and Milan. There is also an FAO Schwarz shop inside Galeries Lafayette in Paris. The FAO Schwarz brand name and trademarks are owned by the FAO Schwarz Family Foundation and licensed to the ThreeSixty Group, which owns and operates the retail locations.
Niggli said, “We are always open to exploring retail opportunities and look to find locations that meet our objectives of creating true retail theater.”
