Zany Brainy was an American retail store chain subsidiary of FAO Schwarz.

David Schlessinger, who had earlier started the now-defunct Encore Books chain of bookstores, founded Zany Brainy in 1991.

At the time its assets were sold to Right Start later that year,[1] Zany Brainy had 187 retail locations nationwide.

[2][3] David Schlessinger and former Zany Brainy CEO Thomas Vellios would later open a chain of discount stores named Five Below in October 2002.

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