Maxine Clark – founded Build A Bear workshops – 25 year anniversary, started in 1997
Have other animals too – dogs, cats, fish, etc
Was in retail for 20+ years before BAB (former President of PayLess)
Started BAB in St Louis
Wanted to do something for children, engage their imaginations, but no one was doing it
Even in a zoo – trainers can touch animals but you’re not supposed to
Studying Beanie Babies – her friend Katie declared it was easy enough to make on their own
Maxine had lightbulb moment – why not let kids build their own? – started looking to buy a pet toy factory
Thought about naming the animals, but Katie suggested not naming them because each owner would want their own name
Customer experience
Disney-like experience, more like theme park than a typical retail store
Hardest choice is picking animal you wanna make
You can add sounds and scents (one of most popular scents is birthday cake)
Stuff bear, fluff it up, then it’s machine stitched for you (originally they were all hand stitched)
Then you name it, prints out a certificate of ownership
It’s a family experience
Popular birthday gift
Why are bears cuddly? Not true in real life
Teddy bear comes from 1902, president Teddy Roosevelt – hunting trip, saw 2 bears, would not shoot them, brought out kindness & empathy
A toy company proposed the idea of a toy “teddy bear” and the president endorsed it
In Germany at same time, similar concept was popularized
Bought patent for their unique fast sewing system
Have sold 200M+ bears
Birthday parties in-store were very popular
Lots of partnerships eg Girl Scout bears, Hello Kitty, etc
400 worldwide stores
Regular store is ~2500sf
Bears are neutral – no race, no political opinion
Everywhere in world, try to localize costumes and accessories
Hired a lot of teachers who worked part-time – great source of ideas and culture
Profitable in first few months of operation
One customer wanted to stuff their dog’s ashes into the bear
Another customer wanted to incorporate their child’s pacifier as a keepsake
Always try to accommodate special requests
“Yes” is our philosophy
Hire “huggable” people – employees who love children
Group interviews – watch them make bears, watch their enthusiasm and facial expressions
Store primary color is yellow – it’s the international color of the happy face
McDonalds – focus on process that ensures reliable quality no matter the employee, instead of on outstanding individual employees
stopped listening at 2/3 of episode