The first toy store was founded in 1760 by
William Hamley in London, under the name of "Noah's Ark", later renamed to Hamleys. Set over seven floors, a Hamleys branch at 200
Regent Street in the
West End of London opened in 1881. The famous toy store in New York City, FAO Schwarz, was founded under the name Schwarz Toy Bazaar. It was founded in 1862 by the German immigrant,
Frederick August Otto Schwarz. The former largest toy retailer in the United States, Toys "R" Us, started business in 1948 by
Charles Lazarus, a veteran of World War II. In 2015, FAO Schwarz closed, and did not reopen until after Toys "R" Us went
bankrupt in 2018. == Notable examples ==