John says: “We realised that, not only did we have to rethink the channels where we were participating, but we also had to think about the expansion of our addressable market and how we could appeal to teens and adults that transact online.”īuild-A-Bear’s Grogu soft toy is one of several licensed products aimed at an older marketĪccording to John, working in the company’s favour was the strength of the brand, which has established “deep emotional connections” with its customers. That required us to think entirely differently about the brand.” Shifting the business modelīeing a product that is predominantly aimed at children – a customer base with little online purchasing power or access to credit or debit cards – presented another obstacle for Build-A-Bear, as it shifted its focus towards ecommerce. But for us, being a vertical retailer, we also needed to consider how best to participate in the growing digital economy. She adds: “Everything that holds the company together and makes the company operate has to go through this digital transformation. They predict that up to 50,000 American retail stores will pull down their shutters by 2026.įor John, these figures highlight the urgent need for every retailer to think of themselves as a digital company “in some way, shape or form”. Property vacancy rates in malls were higher than in any other retail area in the US in the fourth quarter of 2021 (8.3%) and these shopping centres are at a greater risk of further store closures over the next five years, according to analysts at UBS. We not only executed an immediate financial turnaround, we executed a multi-dimensional business-model shift “Those things, combined with the fact that our primary customers are children, made it that much more difficult to imagine the evolution of the business.” “Build-A-Bear is not just a bricks-and-mortar retailer, it was primarily mall-based retail-tainment and was known for the physicality of the shopping experience,” John says. The year prior, Build-A-Bear Workshop had pre-tax losses of over $48m (£43m) and was in a “really challenged situation”, according to John. And the challenges facing Build-A-Bear were even more pronounced.Ĭoming into the business from children’s footwear brand Stride Rite in 2013, CEO Sharon Price John took on the task of modernising the ailing company. But a lot has changed in the retail industry since the company was founded in 1997.Īs consumer spending has increasingly shifted online, bricks-and-mortar stores have often struggled to make the leap to ecommerce. The Build-A-Bear brand still holds a fond place in the hearts of many, who may remember constructing their own stuffed animals at friends’ birthday parties.
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