Iconic toy store FAO Schwarz is moving out of its Fifth Avenue location because of rising rents.
Toys "R" Us, which owns FAO Schwarz, says the store will close Wednesday, July 15 and is searching for another location in midtown to move the store.
"The decision to vacate the space is due to the continuing rising costs of operating a retail location on Fifth Avenue in New York City," the company said in a statement, adding that it was "committed to the FAO Schwarz brand and growing its legacy."
The company will try to place as many of the store's employees as possible at other Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us locations in the greater New York and New Jersey area, it said.
Established in 1862, FAO Schwarz is one of the nation's oldest toy retailers and was immortalized in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie "Big," in which the star danced on a floor piano.