Build-A-Bear

Okay so I may not be a kid or have a kid but I am a child at heart. The employees here didn’t skip a beat as I was making my Chewbacca they had me go through all of the steps that any child would when they are making their best friend! Though they didn’t have many people working and there was a little bit of a wait they all communicated to each other and the customers well to make sure that everyone had a good experience! And now I have a little Chewbacca to watch all of the Star Wars movies with!

Thank you so much! I had a awesome birthday party, we had so much fun. All the people were so friendly. Thank you again!

Holy high-​pressure sales! Was I buying a stuffed animal or a new car? Same thing in this place! Like most kids, my daughter is a Build-​A-​Bear fanatic. She gets one every year for her birthday and we stop in for accessories occasionally. We live in the Dallas area so that’s where we go. Always a great experience. So we were visiting Austin about a week before her birthday last month. We stopped at the Lakeline Mall in Cedar Park and made our way to the store. She picked out the bear and went with the associate to get it stuffed. The associate then proceeded to use her high pressure sales tactics on my 6 year old! She was asking HER if she wanted to add on a song to the bear, and then asked HER if she wanted to add a scent onto the bear, then asked HER if she wanted to add a beating heart into the bear. A total of over $ 20 in add ons to the already expensive bear and not to mention we still needed clothes. Obviously she was going to say yes, she’s 6! I had to step in and go off on her to inform her of what should be already known…“CHECK WITH THE PARENTS FIRST, NOT THE KID!” She gave me a weird look and never said a word after that. When she went to pick out the clothes, another high-​pressure saleswoman appeared out of nowhere and tried to convince us to by another stuffed animal «friend» because that bear «never goes anywhere without her friend» OMG. I could not wait to leave. It’s hilarious because my daughter didn’t even want that «friend», she had no idea what it was and she watches the show the bear was from religiously. We got what my daughter wanted and of course was hit up once more by the cashier named Crystal who tried to get us to buy some more random accessories. Man the looks on the peoples face when you tell them no. It’s like they won’t be able to put food on their dinner table for a week because you didn’t buy a bear hair brush. This kind of spoiled my image of Build-​A-​Bear, it was such an annoying experience and I’m going to try very hard to convince my daughter that there are better toy stores out there.

I feel most assuredly that every single person (parent, friend, relative, or anyone in general) that has been dragged into this place with a child has left with both an emptier wallet and some retail regret – for even walking across those colorful tiles into Stuffing Land. Ha, maybe you caved and spent $ 16.50 on the UT football outfit for your child’s stuffed pal (that was me), or you dealt with dragging out the kicking-​screaming child after you refused to pay the outrageous prices per extra’s. Either way, it’s a love-​hate relationship you’ll have with Build-​A-​Bear.
Now, speaking from a child’s perspective (my two son’s for instance) they love this place, they carry all of their current fav’s: Captain America, Spiderman, Batman, NCAA Football, NFL, NBA, you name it… they sell it, and they don’t mind throwing Mama the old puppy dog eyes to seal the deal on the non-​necessity bear-​wear.
It’s a great place to visit if you’re expecting to dish out the cash or you happen to snag a special on the merchandise or bears. Most stuffed pals start at $ 10 and upwards of $ 25.00, with sound clips starting at $ 3.00 and clothing ranging from $ 5.00 to $ 25.00; the experience will please any child.
We’ve been countless times and recently attended a birthday party there with twelve other children. As a party guest my two boy’s got to pick a stuffed animal under $ 21.00, sat through several games (not necessarily age specific) and were assisted by two personal hosts, for which tried their hardest to garner the attention of twelve under age 10, children; you can guess how that went. We happened to also be there on a weekend, which the crowd grew quickly and it was somewhat distracting when other non-​party guests walked through our party and the noise level exceeded our host’s volume. It was a bit chaotic, I’m not going to exaggerate, but it might help if they had an actual party room for this, because once mixed with the general public – who happen to also want a stuffed animal it’s easily an overcrowded shop. Not to mention if you want to enjoy cake and drinks you’ll have to relocate to the food court, which seldom has space to fit a party of twelve children not to mention parents. It would help if they allowed party guests to check-​out with additional purchases on a separate line to make sure the party is able to stay together…
I’m sure I’ll be dragged back here soon…

This is a great place to get presents for people.
I had fun making the bears. =]
I recently got my brother and sister a bear. I didn’t take them with me because it would cost a fortune since they would want everything.

Anyone with kids knows all about Build-​A-​Bear. You dread it, you love it and you hope to heck that the store isn’t too busy when you get there. You go in telling your kid «one bear and one t-​shirt» and come out with a bear, 2 outfits, a bear stroller and a set of pots and pans. Yeah, it really is that random and yes, it really is that addictive. A few times per year, we head to Lakeline Mall and the kids (who are now 7 and 9) get to make a new friend or buy some clothes for their existing friends or… or…
For those that don’t know how it works, you walk in, you choose your animal (which is just a shell, not stuffed yet). You can choose a sound (barking for dogs or songs or whatever) if you’d like. Then you walk over to the stuffing station where your child gets to do a little routine with a small heart and stuffs their animal (with the heart inside — it’s really cute). Then off to the bath (it’s just an air bath and brushing). Then it’s clothes, shoes, accessories, you name it.
It’s a really cute experience and the kids all love it. When someone has a birthday party there, the kids are all excited because they get yet another stuffed friend. I won’t go into how great the place is, but they are and they cater to kids, just a great experience.
But what prompted this review today was because of one small gesture. My daughter came crying hysterically to me earlier today because her reindeer wasn’t singing Jingle Bell Rock anymore. The sound thing was broken. (oh no!) I wasn’t feeling very sure that they would have that anymore (um, it’s February), but I called and yes. Yes, they did. And the nice lady that answered the phone would hold it behind the counter for me and even better, they only charge you the cost of the sound, they don’t charge you for taking it out, putting the new one in and restitching. My husband ran over there and came back with a working reindeer. And… they told him there was no charge at all.
Now, that, my friends… well… THAT is what you call customer service. Yes, the sound would have only cost us $ 1, but that’s not the point. I would have gladly paid $ 10 for it. The point is that they went that extra mile.
Build-​A-​Bear Workshop — you rock!