The Magic Is Returning

Amid gruesome times for retail, New York City is getting at least one iconic store back: FAO Schwarz is coming back to life in a new 20,000-square-foot home at Rockefeller Center.

Yes, it’s a new location, but so was the old one: FAO Schwarz “only” moved to the GM Building in 1986 after 55 years at 745 Fifth Ave. — and other spots before that, going back to 1870.

More important: Kids will again be able to give their feet a go at the piano-mat made famous in “Big.”

Toys ‘R’ Us closed the landmark store in 2016, then sold the brand to California-based ThreeSixtyGroup Inc. later that year. Now ThreeSixty is looking to revive it not just in Manhattan, but also with a smaller shop at La Guardia Airport this fall as well as a store in China in 2019.

But the Rock Center outlet will be the flagship — a reimagined one that will feature magic shows, product demonstrators and staff dressed as toy soldiers.

David Conn, ThreeSixty’s chief executive, says staff auditions, not interviews, will start Sept. 8, explaining: “We’re looking for people who can deliver that sense of theater.”

It’s far easier to feed that sense of theater — of magic — in a brick-and-mortar environment. Here’s to FAO Schwarz helping remind kids of all ages that there’s more fun to be had in reality than from any gadget or screen.