It is almost Valentine's Day and Build-A-Bear has so many options. Recently, we were in their "workshop" in Friendly Center and it wasn't so much which plush toy children chose, but what the employees said . They made the event feel so special. The presentation went something like this, "Now, every bear gets one heart, just like you have. Rub its heart to yours and then tap the heart on your forehead, so it can be full of love and as smart as you are." Children were mesmerized.
Build-A-Bear opened in St. Louis, MO, in 1997, with the first store opening in Greensboro at Four Seasons in 2005. The Friendly Center Store opened in 2013. Formerly, it was located where Schiffman's Jewelers is now. It is one of the spaces Schiffman's acquired for their expansion.* Now, Build-A-Bear is located near Toys & Co., the Five Below Store, and Barnes & Noble. That creates quite a little retail corner for families with young children.
As we all work to figure out the new models for brick-and-mortar in a world with competition from the internet, it seems a personal touch- like personally being able to put the heart in your teddy bear- is precisely what it takes. At any rate, it is fun to walk around and see what and where people are buying this week before Valentine's Day. We're hoping Schiffman's is having brisk sales, too!
Happy Thursday!
*see a former GDP post HERE.
A good shot.
Posted by: William Kendall | Thursday, February 09, 2023 at 08:46 AM
Thanks for the link. I think it's a publicly traded company now. We hear about it occasionally on the local business news. They've had ups and downs.
Posted by: Bob Crowe | Thursday, February 09, 2023 at 03:09 PM