Duncan'S Toy Store New York

ne of the most iconic scenes in beloved Christmas movie Home Alone: Lost In New York is when Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) arrives at Duncans Toy Chest in a limousine.

The epic store has an elaborate moving display above the door, complete with a mechanical Santa, bear and presents.

Inside, Kevin discovers a wealth of goodies – from train sets and Ferris wheels, to traditional toys – all of which are on display to be played with.

Duncan’s Toy Chest is based on a real store in New York – but filmed somewhere else. When the movie was shot, it was called FAO Schwarz toy store and was situated near The Plaza on Fifth Avenue and 59th street. The toy retailer closed in 2015 but reopened in 2018 in a new location at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan.

Filming Locations for Duncan’s Toy Chest

While the fictional Duncans Toy Chest was based in New York City, the exterior shots in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York were actually filmed at a famous building in Chicago.

DuncanS Toy Store New York

The Rookery, found on 209 S LaSalle St, was dressed up to look like an impressive toy store for the movie. Today the building features lots of businesses with a US Bank and a Brooks Brothers standing out on the ground floor. The Rookery was also used in the 1987 movie The Untouchables.

The interior shots of the store were filmed in the Uptown Theater in Chicago. It closed as a theater in 1981 and has since been used in a number of movies including Home Alone 2, Backdraft and I Love Trouble.

Is Duncan’s Toy Chest a real place?

Though the set looks completely real, unfortunately Duncans Toy Chest is fake, and it is not a real place in New York or any other city.

Thats not to say you couldnt visit NYC and be amazed inside a mega toy store. Duncans Toy Chest is based on the FAO Schwartz store. Formerly on Fifth Avenue, the store provided the setting for the famous Tom Hanks piano scene in the movie Big. FAO Schwartz relocated to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 2015.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926 – 2022 with CTA

DuncanS Toy Store New York

You would think being left home alone for one Christmas was bad enough, but for Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McAllister, it happened twice.

Ok, so he didn’t technically get left at home twice but getting on the wrong plane to New York while the rest of your family jet off to Miami is even worse.

That is of course what happened to young Kevin in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, the sequel to the original 1990 Christmas hit where Kevin finds fending off the very same burglars he put behind bars in the first movie.

Except it is not his house he’s defending this time, it is the toy store of every young child’s dreams, Duncan’s Toy Chest.

It certainly looks like a real toy store – but does it actually exist in real life and can you visit it?

Here’s what you need to know…

FAQ

Is there a Duncan’s toy store in New York?

Though the set looks completely real, unfortunately Duncan’s Toy Chest is fake, and it is not a real place in New York or any other city. That’s not to say you couldn’t visit NYC and be amazed inside a mega toy store. Duncan’s Toy Chest is based on the FAO Schwartz store.

Does the toy shop in Home Alone exist?

It was a fictional store in the movie, but based on FAO Schwartz toy store – on 5th Ave at 58th or 59th street. Was also in the movie “Big” (the real store that is).

Where was Duncan’s toy store filmed?

FAO Schwarz is the oldest toy store in the United States, first opening its doors in 1862 in Baltimore before moving to New York City, where it has moved between several locations since 1870. The dance-on piano, made famous by the 1988 Tom Hanks film Big, brought national attention to the brand.