Build-a-Bear Therese Boutwell, Maria Johnson, Meghan Madison

Company Information

● 1997 - founded in St. Louis, Missouri by Maxine Clark

● Build-A-Bear Workshop is the only company that offers interactive create-your-own stuffed animals as a retail experience

Company Information

● Build-A-Bear Workshop has approximately 400 stores in over five different countries

● In 2012, Build-A-Bear Workshop introduced a new store design with interactive features Audrey's journey through Build-A-Bear

Workshop

Workplace Environment

● Build-a-Bear provides quality service through maintaining a happy and well supported staff

● Both corporate and retail workplaces are fun and positive environments

Workplace Environment

● Corporate Environment

● Retail Environment

Emotional Appeal● Teddy bear philosophy of being good people

and good bears● Build-a-Bear’s emotional appeal stems from

its interactive retail environment that allows for guests of all ages to create and personalize their own furry friend.

● Build-a-Bear revolutionized the stuffed-animal industry by opening the seasonal teddy bear market for business year-around, allowing customers to create something on their own, personalize it with clothes, personality traits, sounds, and take it home with you to keep forever.

Build-a-Bear Contributions● Build-a-Bear offers several stuffed animals that when

purchased, make an appropriate donation,and are associated with causes that contribute to children's health and wellness, animal welfare, literacy, and education.

● Stuffed with Hugs ○ National event happening for the seventh

consecutive year,, in which customers are invited to customize a bear at no cost, to donate to The Marine Toys For Tots Foundation.

○ The company will match customers donations, promising to donate up to 20,000 personalized stuffed animals.

Improving Emotional Appeal with Technology● Since 2007, Build-a-Bear’s profits

have been slowly declining due to the recession, and the rapidly changing “new” economy of virtual entertainment.

● Stepping up their game:○ Revamping stores

■ 8 new interactive stations for customizing your furry friend

○ Boosting their online presence■ Bearville.com

Build-a-bear's new store concept wants you to choose, love ...

BearVille Review

Suggestion for Improvement● Implement an additional emotional appeal of Build-a-Bear would be to further

branch out the “gift-giving” on the idea of customers personalizing a furry friend online, that you could have sent to a best friend or special someone that isn’t nearby.

● A fully interactive online platform designed so that with adult supervision, children could place an order designing a new friend, to their exact specifications, just as they would in one of Build-a-Bear’s stores, without having to hassle with leaving the house or worry about sending an in-store made teddy to the receiver of the product.

● By allowing customers to “gift” personalized bears we are allowing for them to further indulge in our products by taking their sentiment towards their loved-one, and embracing that in the production and distribution of our products, increasing Build-a-Bear’s reputability and overall emotional appeal as a company.

Social Responsibility

● Build-A-Bear Workshops corporate responsibility focuses on children’s health and wellness

● Foundations that Build-A-Bear Workshop supports include: Make-A-Wish Foundation, Toys for Tots, and the American Red Cross

Social Responsibility

● Build-A-Bear Workshop also has several different in-house causes that cater also to the wellness of domestic pets (Bearemy’s Kennel Pals), literacy and educational causes (Paperback Pup).

Social Media Usage

● Facebook● Twitter● Pinterest

Thank You Bear-y Much!