BUILD-A-BEAR STARTED WITH BEANIE BABIES.
Former Payless Shoe Source president Maxine Clark was shopping with her friend's 10-year-old daughter Katie, when they decided to search for Beanie Babies. Though it was the mid-1990s and Beanie Mania was in full bloom, the tiny collectibles were nowhere in sight. Plucky Katie was undeterred and observed that they would be easy to make. Clark was struck by the idea—a store where customers could make their own stuffed teddy—and opened the first Build-A-Bear storefront just nine months later.
THE BUILD-A-BEAR CONCEPT WAS OFTEN IMITATED BUT NEVER SUCCESSFULLY DUPLICATED.
Build-A-Bear dominated the retail market (the chain pulled in about $50 million in operating profit in 2003), but the success wasn't all positive. Clark had to contend with both copycats and suggestions that she didn’t get the idea from Katie. According to Forbes, the co-owner of the Basic Brown Bear Factory sued Clark for copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation in 1999, asserting that she had seen his store next to a Minneapolis-area Payless in 1995 and later made an offer to buy him out. Clark told the Chicago Tribune that she proposed a purchase but never did anything illegal. The two settled out of court (confidentially) in 2001. The Tribune also reported that Build-A-Bear sent threatening letters to another plush-build chain, Friends 2B Made, for trademark infringement and for possibly creating consumer confusion.
BUILD-A-BEAR EXECUTIVES ARE KNOWN AS "THE BEARS."
The corporate offices of Build-A-Bear are never in danger of running low on bear puns. Their St. Louis offices are known as “bearquarters,” all executive staff are officially listed with titles like chief executive bear, chief human resource bear, and chief operations bear. Only chief financial officer Voin Todorovic is credited without a furry designation. Guy doesn’t seem like much fun.
THE BUILD-A-BEAR CHILDREN'S ADVISORY BOARD IS MADE UP OF ACTUAL CHILDREN.
While many youth-oriented retail businesses conduct market research, Build-A-Bear went a step further by enlisting up to 20 children aged 6 to 14 to populate their Cub Advisory Board. The kids critique bear clothes and advertising strategies and helped inform the store’s 2015 redesign. In 2002, Clark said stores “don’t do anything without getting their input.” The company still keeps in contact with advisors who have grown out of the role and says it values their “pawsome” feedback.
THE BUILD-A-BEAR BOXES WERE INSPIRED BY HAPPY MEALS.
In her 2006 autobiography, inevitably titled The Bear Necessities of Business, Clark described how she stumbled upon the distinctive take-home carton that every Build-A-Bear is transported in. “I’ve always liked how McDonald’s packages its Happy Meal,” she wrote, “complete with hamburger, fries, drink, and fun toy—into one cleverly-designed box.” While the bears do not come with fries, Clark was able to wholesale the cartons (dubbed Cub Condos) more cheaply than paper bags would have cost her. They also help advertise the brand when children are seen toting them around in malls.