Build-A-Bear celebrates milestone anniversary
throughout the year culminating with New York Stock Exchange Bell
Ringing and First-Ever Gala Benefitting Build-A-Bear
Foundation
ST.
LOUIS, Oct. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Build-A-Bear
Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW) will honor its 25th
anniversary of bringing hearts and hugs to millions of consumers as
the year-long celebration culminates with added activities
throughout October, the month in which the Company opened its first
store in St. Louis, MO.
The Company has delivered the most profitable year in its
history in fiscal 2021 followed by a record-breaking first half in
fiscal 2022, enabled by a multi-year strategic transformation into
a diversified experiential omnichannel entity appealing to a broad
range of consumers that is leveraging its powerful brand equity to
deliver sustained profitable growth. In addition to a gala hosted
by Build-A-Bear Foundation, the Company plans to recognize its
silver anniversary by ringing the opening bell at the NYSE on
Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
Sharon Price John, Build-A-Bear
Workshop President and Chief Executive Officer commented,
"Following the best-ever first half financial results in our
history, we are thrilled to celebrate 25 years of adding a little
more heart to life. Over 200 million furry friends have been
made since we opened our first retail-tainment store in 1997. As we
usher in our next 25 years, our company has evolved to have a more
diversified business model designed to leverage our powerful and
beloved brand. We have been systematically executing our strategic
initiatives with the goal of driving the business in new ways by
implementing a broad-ranging and comprehensive digital
transformation and continuing to evolve our retail experience and
footprint to take advantage of our expanded omnichannel
capabilities and strong brand awareness. At such an important
milestone, I want to thank our brand enthusiasts, guests,
associates, suppliers, and other business partners for being a part
of our transformation."
Leveraging a Multi-Generational Brand
Build-A-Bear has become a multi-generational brand appealing to
diverse consumer demographics including teens and adults that now
represent nearly 40% of its consumer base. Guests often
prefer to shop online which is reflected in the over-indexing of
this segment in the Company's e-commerce. The Company's profitable
store base which offers an entertaining hands-on step-by-step
process, including its now iconic Heart Ceremony, often leaves
lasting memories that can become a basis for a lifetime of
engagement with its brand, and tends to over-index with kids and
their families. Build-A-Bear also now offers multi-dimensional
product categories ranging from recently announced expansion into
pet toys, matching family pajamas, gift-giving and collectible
stuffed animal products.
Accelerated Digital Transformation
Build-A-Bear has significantly expanded its e-commerce demand
compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 with initiatives to
accelerate its comprehensive digital transformation. The Company
initiatives include a recent update to a mobile-first website,
enhancing its Bonus Club loyalty program improving user
experiences, and adding analytics to engage users across
applications, all with the goal of driving engagement and
profitable lifetime value with guests. The company offers multiple
e-commerce/digital purchasing experiences on www.buildabear.com
including its online "Bear-Builder" configurator, the animated
"Bear Builder 3D Workshop" and its age-gated adult-focused "Bear
Cave". In addition, the brand recently announced its first
steps into Web3 with an NFT offering as part of the
25th anniversary celebration and the metaverse with the
development of a digital game for a leading platform.
Build-A-Bear's success in the digital space has been recognized
having been named to lists that include America's Best Online
Shops, America's Fastest Growing Online Shops and America's Best
Trending Online Shops, all awarded by Newsweek and Statista.
Evolving Retail Locations and Model While Leveraging Expanded
Omnichannel Capabilities
The Company is on track to open approximately 20 new locations
through a combination of its corporately-managed and third-party
retail business models in fiscal 2022. The Company has
strategically shifted its retail footprint beyond traditional malls
to include non-traditional locations that now account for
approximately 35% of all sites, in settings such as family-centric
tourist areas, amusement parks and resorts with relationships that
include Carnival Cruise Lines, Great Wolf Lodge and Landry's.
The Company's omnichannel capabilities allow it to leverage the
labor and inventory in its hundreds of store locations to support
its digital initiatives that include Buy Online Pickup In Store,
Buy Online Ship From Store and same day delivery with Shipt. These
added options have been instrumental in efficiently supporting the
growth in digital demand, which was up 180% for the first half of
2022 compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.
Content Development and Brand
Story-telling
To further extend the power of its brand, the Company creates
and delivers content designed to extend its reach and drive
consumer engagement. Build-A-Bear's social media and marketing
strategy includes the development of short form content delivered
on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube which consistently garner
millions of views annually.
In addition, the Company's subsidiary, Build-A-Bear
Entertainment, works with industry-leading media companies to
develop engaging content including the award-winning live action
movie, Honey Girls now streaming on Netflix, based on the
Company's popular proprietary product line, as well as entertaining
movies that were presented by Hallmark, Deliver By
Christmas and Christmas CEO.
A partnership between Reese
Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company and
Build-A-Bear Entertainment was recently announced with plans to
develop the first feature film in its new kids and animation
division that reimagines the story of Goldilocks and the Three
Bears. A highly anticipated documentary from award-winning
director Taylor Morden, chronicling
the unconventional journey of Build-A-Bear's rise from a startup to
a successful multi-million-dollar public company is currently in
post-production, with an expected release in early 2023.
Separately, Build-A-Bear offers a streaming music channel on
iHeartRadio, which is consistently one of the top spots for
popularity with family demographics.
Special Moments to Celebrate 25 Years
The celebration of Build-A-Bear's 25th anniversary has been a
year-long event with the goal of driving interest, engagement and
revenue while also shining a spotlight on Build-A-Bear Foundation
and the difference it makes in the lives of kids in need.
Highlights include:
- Much Loved Furry Friends Return for the Silver
Celebration
For the first time in its history, Build-A-Bear
opened its vault of proprietary furry friends and collaborated with
popular licensed partners, to re-release a selection of 25 limited
edition stuffed animal collectibles throughout the
year. This successful campaign will continue with today's
introduction of the Build-A-Bear 25th Silver
Celebration Bear, in celebration of the Company's Silver
Anniversary. The Vault Collection has sparked
nostalgia and passion from guests, loyal collectors and brand
enthusiasts.
- Build-A-Bear Gala Silver Celebration
Close to 750
attendees are expected to celebrate this momentous occasion on
Saturday, October 22, 2022 at St.
Louis Union Station to honor Company founder, Maxine Clark. The gala is hosted by
Build-A-Bear Foundation and will raise funds to support its mission
to share hugs, inspire creativity and support those in need.
Build-A-Bear Foundation was established as a 501(c)3
organization, to provide financial and furry friend donations to
organizations that support children's health and wellness, disaster
relief, and families in need of essential supplies. Since 1997,
Build-A-Bear Foundation has donated more than $22 million and 1.5 million furry friends to
charitable causes around the world.
ABOUT BUILD-A-BEAR®
Build-A-Bear is a multi-generational global brand focused on its
mission to "add a little more heart to life" appealing to a wide
array of consumer groups who enjoy the personal expression in
making their own "furry friends" to celebrate and commemorate life
moments. Nearly 500 interactive brick-and-mortar retail locations
operated through a variety of formats provide guests of all ages a
hands-on entertaining experience, which often fosters a lasting and
emotional brand connection. The company also offers engaging
e-commerce/digital purchasing experiences
on buildabear.com including its online "Bear-Builder",
the animated "Bear Builder 3D Workshop" and its age-gated
adult-focused "Bear Cave". In addition, extending its brand power
beyond retail, Build-A-Bear Entertainment, a subsidiary of
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., is dedicated to creating engaging
content for kids and adults that fulfills the company's mission,
while the company also offers products at wholesale and in
non-plush consumer categories via licensing agreements with leading
manufacturers. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. posted total revenue of
$411.5 million in fiscal 2021. For
more information, visit the Investor Relations section
of buildabear.com
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SOURCE Build-A-Bear Workshop