Press Release
Build-A-Bear Workshop Unveils Newly Imagined Store
New store concept with enhanced hands-on bear-making process and new interactive features
Newly designed
This press release has an accompanying Smart Marketing Page providing further details about the organization, products and services introduced below. You can access the Smart Marketing Page via the following link: http://smp.newshq.businesswire.com/pages/build-a-bear-workshop-inc.
“Build-A-Bear Workshop invented experiential mall-based retailing 15
years ago and has been the leader in providing interactive experiences
for kids of all ages,” said
Newly Imagined Store Design
While the
- An interactive storefront which goes beyond the typical digital signage found in other retail locations and will change with the seasons, holidays, or other special events. Using Microsoft’s Kinect technology and interactive touch elements, Guests can engage and play with the signage at the front of the store.
- The Choose Me station where Guests are introduced to all the furry characters and then select one, which soon becomes a new friend. The stuffed animals are now at kid height so young Guests can touch, play, and form a connection with these furry friends. There is a large selection of stuffed animals to choose from including teddy bears, bunnies, dogs, kittens, and more.
-
The Love Me station allows Guests to customize their
furry friends with special personality attributes displayed as
emoticons on an interactive table. Using Samsung’s SUR40 with
Microsoft ® PixelSense™ technology, Guests can add unique traits - like cuddly, brave, silly and smart - to their red satin hearts, which are inserted inside their furry friends during the Stuff Me process.
- The award-winning Hear Me station, an interactive touch screen supplied by Canvys, features an assortment of high quality sounds that can be inserted into the stuffed animals for further customization and personalization. Guests can select and load popular hits from current music or sounds onto a chip plus record their own voice to a Build-A-Sound to further personalize their new friend.
- The Stuff Me station, where Guests can now add SCENTiments to make their new furry friend smell yummy. An assortment of scents is available including: bubble gum, strawberry, cotton candy, and chocolate chip. The scents that are offered will change by season and holiday.
- After the Stuff Me station, the last seam of stuffed animals is neatly pulled shut, nearly completing each new best friend. Before stitching the furry friend, a Bear Builder associate inserts a barcode, allowing it to be reunited with its owner if ever lost and returned to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Thousands of furry friends have been reunited through this exclusive Find-A-Bear® ID program. The barcode also generates a unique code on the birth certificate so Guests can bring their new friend to life online and play for free at Bearville.com™ to continue their friendship adventure when they get home.
-
The Fluff Me station, allows Guests to interact with their new
furry friends at a “water rippling and splashing” digital bath tub
that is enabled by Samsung’s SUR40 with
Microsoft ® PixelSense™ technology. The tub magically recognizes the items as they are placed on it and reacts with sensory effects such as virtual bubbles that appear when play soap is placed on the “water surface.”
- The Dress Me station is now organized by theme, such as dress up and super heroes, so coordinating items are grouped and easily accessible. This station is updated with Match Me technology that allows Guests to see what is new in the clothing area and to receive suggestions on related items that can be added to outfits as Guests personalize their animals.
- The process culminates at the Name Me station, where Guests use a viewfinder or “bear-o-scope” that reveals the special attributes and personality that have been added to the animal throughout the process. At Name Me, Guests create a personalized one-of-a-kind birth certificate that now includes a photo of their new furry friend.
- Guests conclude their in-store bear-making experience at the remodeled Take Me Home station, which now resembles the iconic Build-A-Bear Workshop Cub Condo®. They receive their customized birth certificate that is themed to their stuffed animal selection and a special Stuff Fur Stuff® club membership, a rewards program for Guests. Each new furry friend is then placed in their very own Cub Condo® carrying case, which is designed as a handy travel carrier and new home.
New Locations
-
Stoneridge Shopping Center ® inPleasanton, Calif. onFriday, Oct. 5 -
Annapolis Shopping Mall inAnnapolis, Md. onFriday, Oct. 19 -
The Somerset Collection in
Troy, Mich. onFriday, Oct. 26 -
Fair Oaks Mall inFairfax, Va. onFriday, Nov. 9 -
Castleton Square Mall inIndianapolis, Ind. onFriday, Nov. 16
These locations are in family-centric areas that are strong matches with the company’s core demographic.
Bears Working Together
“It takes a village to raise a bear and our newly imagined store concept
was created with many partners who have helped turn our vision for
Working with
Leading cyber safety expert Parry Aftab, executive director and founder
of WiredSafety.org and WiredTrust, worked with the company to ensure
that the technological aspects meet all privacy and safety standards.
WiredTrust has presented
Building on the tradition of including kids at the imagination stage and
listening to what is important to them,
“The Cub Advisors have helped us achieve our mission to bring the teddy
bear to life while providing the ‘funnest’ hour of a family’s day,” said
Clark. “Our new stores will continue to redefine the retail industry,
much like we did 15 years ago. The addition of new sensory and
technological features to our store concept will further propel
About
TRADEMARKS
We would like to thank you for your interest in covering our business. As you write your story, we would ask that you use our full name: Build-A-Bear Workshop® and that when referencing the process of making stuffed animals you use the word “make” not “build.”
Build-A-Bear Workshop is our well-known trade name and our registered trademark of Build-A-Bear Retail Management, Inc. Build-A-Bear Workshop® should only be used in capital letters to refer to our products and services and should not be used as a verb.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50421517&lang=en
Source:
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.
Jill Saunders, 314-423-8000,
ext. 5293
Cell: 314-422-4523
JillS@buildabear.com
or
Shannon
Lammert, 314-423-8000, ext. 5379
Cell: 314-556-8841
ShannonL@buildabear.com