Our beloved F.A.O. Schwarz is closing after 145 years (sob!)

We are so sad to learn today that one of the most famous toy stores in the world, F.A.O. Schwarz in New York City, will be closing its doors this summer. The reason? The toy store is occupying prime retail estate on 5th Avenue, and the rent has been hiked up too high for the toy store.

As Time reports, F.A.O. Schwarz used to have 40 locations through the US, but now only has this flagship location in Manhattan, which will be open until July 15th.

The silver-ish lining to this story is that F.A.O. Schwarz IS looking for a new location, and our fingers are tightly crossed that the store find a new home, because the thought of Christmas in New York without this iconic toy store is just too, too sad.

Let’s look back on happier F.A.O. Schwarz times, and watch this GIF of Tom Hanks dancing across the toy store’s giant piano in the movie “Big.”

Image via