Zany Brainy was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

retail store Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...

chain owned by

FAO Schwarz FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and store. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games. FAO Schwarz claims to be the oldest toy store in the United States ...

that sold educational toys and multi-media products aimed at children ages 4–13. Its merchandise included games and puzzles; infant development toys; books, audiocassettes,

CDs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

, videos;

arts and crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

; building toys and trains; computer software; electronic learning aids and musical instruments; science toys; plush toys and dolls; and sports-themed toys. The stores offered daily events such as workshops, concerts, and author appearances.

David Schlessinger Zany Brainy was a United States retail store chain owned by FAO Schwarz that sold educational toys and multi-media products aimed at children ages 4–13. Its merchandise included games and puzzles; infant development toys; books, audiocassette ...

, who had earlier started the now-defunct

Encore Books Encore Books was a regional chain of bookstores based in the eastern United States until its closure in 1999. Founding Encore Books was started by David Schlessinger, who went on to found the Zany Brainy and Five Below retail chains. It enjoy ...

chain of bookstores, founded Zany Brainy in 1991. The company's

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

was Thomas Vellios. The company filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

bankruptcy protection on May 15, 2001, having faced financial difficulties since acquiring rival company

Noodle Kidoodle Noodle Kidoodle was an American retail chain that sold educational toys from 1993 to 2000. The company's slogan was "Kids learn best when they're having fun!". The chain operated stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Ham ...

in 2000. Later in 2001, Zany Brainy's assets were sold to

Right Start Right Start is a retailer of children's products. They began in 1985 as a catalog company, based out of Los Angeles. The company was founded by Stan Fridstein, Lenny Targon, and Harry Rosenthal who identified a growing market in young, first time ...

. At the time of the sale, Zany Brainy had 187 retail locations nationwide. Zany Brainy announced the shuttering of its remaining stores in December 2003. David Schlessinger and Tom Vellios would later open a chain of discount stores named

Five Below 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

. Zany Brainy was revived as an online store in 2020, with a select line of products.

References

Retail companies established in 1991 Retail companies disestablished in 2003 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 Toy retailers of the United States Educational toy retailers 1991 establishments in Pennsylvania 2003 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Friends Select School alumni Defunct retail companies of the United States {{Toy-stub