Press Release
Build-A-Bear Workshop® Celebrates 200th Store Opening at Mall of America® friends 2b made®, the newest concept from Build-A-Bear Workshop, opens fourth store in the country
Build-A-Bear Workshop is thrilled to be opening at the largest retail and entertainment complex in the nation and to offer Guests unique and exciting retail experiences. Both Build-A-Bear Workshop and friends 2b made encourage Guests to use their imagination as they move through several different stations. When Guests visit a Build-A-Bear Workshop store, they enter a lighthearted teddy-bear-themed environment consisting of fun bear-making stations. Guests choose their furry friend to make, stuff it just right, and add personality with hundreds of outfits and accessories. Similarly, Guests who visit a friends 2B made® store enter a playful, interactive doll environment consisting of doll-making stations including picking out which doll to make, choosing from fashions and accessories for their doll to wear and selecting special attributes for their new doll friends. The company is also known for the memorable heart ceremony that takes place at both friends 2b made and Build-A-Bear Workshop® stores. This special heart ceremony allows Guests to choose a satin heart, make a special wish and place the heart inside their new stuffed animal at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores or inside their doll at friends 2b made stores. Both stores offer Guests an interactive retail experience where Guests of all ages will surely be entertained throughout their entire visit!
The grand opening festivities begin on July 15 at 10:00 a.m. As part of the celebration, Build-A-Bear Workshop and friends 2b made will have very special Guests in attendance to help kick off the opening at Mall of America. Mayor Winstead will help cut the ribbon to officially open the new stores. Build-A-Bear Workshop is very committed to giving back to the community and does this in a number of ways. As a way to encourage children to help other children in need, the company has invited children from the Minneapolis chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to help cut the ribbon and kick off the company's charitable programs, Stuffed with Hugs Project Bearlift and It's Hip 2 Help. The children from JDRF will make the first bears to be donated to UNICEF and will also make the first dolls to be donated to Mall of America Foundation for Youth.
In addition to the exciting ribbon cutting ceremony, up and coming band The Click Five will help celebrate the opening of Build-A-Bear Workshop and friends 2b made by performing in Sears Court at Mall of America beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 15. Immediately following their performance The Click Five will be meeting Guests and signing autographs in the new friends 2b made store until 7 p.m.
As part of the grand opening weekend celebration, Build-A-Bear Workshop® invites the general public to participate in Stuffed with Hugs Project Bearlift and It's Hip 2 Help on Saturday, July 16. The first 500 Guests to the Build-A-Bear Workshop store on this day are invited to participate in Stuffed with Hugs Project Bearlift and make a bear for free to donate to UNICEF for distribution to children affected by the Tsunami. Stuffed with Hugs™ began in 2001 and since then Build-A-Bear Workshop has donated over 125,000 bears to worthy causes. Similarly, the first 300 Guests to the friends 2b made® store on July 16 are invited to make a doll for free to donate to Mall of America Foundation for Youth. The purpose of these events is to give children a chance to help kids in their own community as well as children around the world. Carrie Lee, Miss Minnesota USA® 2005, and Lauren Hindi, Miss Minnesota Teen USA® 2005, will participate in Stuffed with Hugs Project Bearlift at the new Build-A-Bear Workshop store by meeting Guests and signing autographs from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Clark is looking forward to opening in Bloomington at Mall of America. She notes, "Our plan is always to open in the premier malls across the country, and we will continue this approach as we open at Mall of America. We have many Guests who have visited our stores and personally written to me requesting a Build-A-Bear Workshop® store at Mall of America. With the opening of both the Build-A-Bear Workshop store and the friends 2b made store, we will be able to reach even more of our friends in Minneapolis, continuing our strategy of bringing our stores to wherever families go to have fun," says Clark.
friends 2B made is the newest concept
launch from Build-A-Bear Workshop, the entertainment mall-based retail leader.
The new doll product line offers Guests not only the chance to create their very
own fashionable friends but also gives them the opportunity to discover a special
personality for their very own doll! Throughout this
interactive process,
Guests have the opportunity to create an emotional bond with their doll and have
fun choosing from hip fashions and accessories. With sparkly eyes, manicured toes,
super hair and most importantly a friendship to last a lifetime, these dolls are
the most wonderful friends a girl could ever wish for! Each outfit comes with
two free charms, one for her and one for her new doll, enhancing their collectibility
and stylish fun! With this new line of products, the brand continues to offer
the highest quality merchandise, marketing and customer service that the Build-A-Bear
Workshop® brand established in 1997. The merchandise is also value priced
with dolls at $12, accessories ranging from $2-$5 and complete outfits from $8-$15.
friends 2B made® won the Chain Store Age 2004 Retail Store of the Year Design
Competition-First Prize: Exterior-In-Line Store Category.
Power pop band The Click Five formed just over a year ago while attending the prestigious Berkelee College of Music in Boston. The suit-clad fellows will release their Lava Records debut album Greetings From Imrie House on August 16. First single "Just The Girl" is already receiving significant pop radio airplay as well as Radio Disney support. The band will appear on MTV and MTV2 as the next "Advance Warning" artist, a program to showcase emerging musical talent. The Click Five will be the Special Guests on the Backstreet Boys tour this summer and have already shared concert stages with Ashlee Simpson, Aaron Carter, and Jesse McCartney, among others. The band can be seen in the current issue of Teen People as one of their "Sweet Sixteen" new bands to watch as well as in the current issue of Entertainment Weekly as a "Summer Must List" pick. The Click Five is Eric Dill on lead vocals, Joe Guese on lead guitar, Ethan Mentzer on bass/vocals, Ben Romans on keyboards/vocals, and Joey Zehr on drums/vocals. For more information please visit www.theclickfive.com.
About Build-A-Bear Workshop
Build-A-Bear
Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW), with fiscal 2004 total revenue of $302 million, is
the only national company that offers Guests an interactive make-your-own-stuffed
animal retail-entertainment experience. The first store opened in St. Louis in
1997; the company currently operates over 190 stores in the United States and
Canada. With the opening of its store in Sheffield, England, in the fall of 2003
and the addition of international stores in Japan, Denmark, Australia, South Korea
and France, Build-A-Bear Workshop® has become the global leader in the teddy
bear business. In November 2004, the company opened two friends 2B made stores,
the newest concept based on the doll-making experience. For more information about
the company and its products, call 888.560.BEAR (2327) or visit the company's
award-winning web site at www.buildabear.com.
TRADEMARKS
We would
like to thank you for your interest in covering our business. As you write your
story we 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 Workshop, 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.
314.423.8000 ext. 5402
414.801.1146 cell
jenniferm@buildabear.com
Shawn Bertani
314.423.8000 ext. 5366
314.452.6391 cell
shawnb@buildabear.com