Build a Bear...have you tired this?
By Quadren777
@Quadren777 (158)
Canada
April 15, 2007 10:31am CST
First off to anyone who hasn't heard of this store (I haven't checked to see how big of a franchise it is yet), it is basically what the name states: you Build a Bear. A teddy bear, or frog, turtle, cow etc..It's a huge success in the mall I went to. Kids everwhere. You pick your choice of animal, put a voice in it (optional), make a wish on a heart and put it in and add stuufing. Next you 'fluff" it up at a station and then you get to dress and add accessories! We took our oldest son to do this for his 6 birhtday and he loved it! You get to name the bear and get a birth certificate for it, so now he walks around like a proud father. We were in the store for around a hour and I must admit it was quite fun. We ended up with
a frog that growls, with two hearts (we wanted to make a wish too), wearing a Jays shirt, khaki pants and baseball cleats. Oh, and he's carrying a Jays pennant. As for the price, let's first say it is NOT cheap. Some people their had whole birthday parties there with 5 or six kids. Our bear (frog) came to $75! I hope he keeps his interest in it!
I have some other picks in my profile.
2 people like this
11 responses
@breezie (1246)
• Canada
15 Apr 07
My daughter is dying to go and really wants to have her borthday party there. I doubt very much that we will be doing that mainly due to the fact that it is so expensive. $75 for a stuffed animal is way beyond our budget, let alone taking several children. Plus the closest one is quite a distance from us.
1 person likes this
@Quadren777 (158)
• Canada
15 Apr 07
To brake down the pricing for you, it was something like this: the frog itself=$27 (ranged from 12-40), the shirt $9 , Pants $9, the shoes $11, the voice $5 (could go as high as $10), the pennant $3. Plus you could buy hats, glasses, beds, strollers, hair, cellphones, Ipods etc. We tried to go fairly basic and with taxes it was just shy of $73. Now if he wants more clothes for it we have a tonne of baby clothes at home he can use. Some people were there just buying more clothes and accessories and others were just buying more plain bears. I guess you could just buy a teddy bear at any store and then go to the baby section and buy clothes for it! But I think it was the whole experience of making Devin feel like this was his own creation he helped bring to life.
1 person likes this
@AngelNicki (412)
• United States
16 Apr 07
I love that place! I have actually never gone there though, except to look. It is so expensive, and I would have to get FOUR! I've actually thought of just going there on my own because I LOVE stuffed animals... but it would look sort of weird!
1 person likes this
@Quadren777 (158)
• Canada
17 Apr 07
I think the adults have as much fun as the kids. See how happy my son was really made me want to get involved with the whole process. It is definelty only something to do as a special occasion though.
Another person from my work happened to take her daughter on the weekend also. She managed to spend close to $120. But they bought multiple outfits and lots of accessories.
@Quadren777 (158)
• Canada
15 Apr 07
Yeah it is, but I think it was worth the experience. Plus he won't stop talking about it so now we basically have to take his younger brother on his birthday. The only problem with that is he is two years younger and has a bad habit of destroying everything.
1 person likes this
@poppoppop111 (5731)
• Canada
15 Apr 07
we don't have a build a bear company near us but we found a website that sells basically the same thing. it's called bear in a box. you get the body the stuffing the clothes and the sound chip. i bought my daughter one for christmas 2 years ago. it was a little lamb and it is so cute.
1 person likes this
@mememama (3076)
• United States
15 Apr 07
I took my son in there and he had no interest in it! I kept offering him different animals and he pushed them all away. My niece and nephew loved what they got, I can't remember exactly but they even had little cradles for them to carry them in around the mall.
1 person likes this
@Quadren777 (158)
• Canada
15 Apr 07
How old is your son because mine won't put his down. He thinks that he is it's dad.
1 person likes this
@uiwwitch (892)
• United States
15 Apr 07
I collect bears too and I have been there quite a few times but could not get myself to spend that much for a bear. However, one of my friends gifted me with one for Christmas and I absolutely adore it. I named her Pia. I will try to upload a photo of her in my profile.
I think that it's an absolutely cool and fun way for parents to bond with their kids.
1 person likes this
@ScarletAlston (2693)
• United States
16 Apr 07
I used to work at Build-a-Bear and let me just tell you guys that it was hell for me...I was the one who hosted the parties we would have...the parents would think these bears were cheap and then get mad at us...singing the songs and doing the "Bear Prayer" became un-bearable (no pun intended) It is a fairly large franchise and I just don't understand why anybody would want to pay so much for a stuffed anything..the stuff was cute, but come on..it was good to help the kids find clothes for their bears and other animals, but after a while, I found myself walking around in there like a cheerful zombie..
@Quadren777 (158)
• Canada
17 Apr 07
They had no right to get mad as everything is clearly labeled and if they can't add or just get carried awya that is their own problem. I think it would be fun for a while to work in a store like that, I love kids and never saw kids so excited. Mind you, I sure that there are lots who throw tantrums and fits if they don't get what they want.
@klystron635 (1519)
• Philippines
16 Apr 07
I have seen the Build a Bear store. But I haven't tried it. I am allergic to stuffed animals because I have an asthma. But i am interested how to build a bear.
@heavenschild (4777)
• Canada
16 Apr 07
My son has Winnie The Pooh and the cow with bell around neck. I got a dog with a cheer leading outfit for Mother's day. It is a great store but exspensive! None of ours have the sound chips and thankfully our son has Autism as he is happy with what ever he gets and loves them with or with out clothing! LOL!
Truly a wonderful store! :)
@wonderverb (152)
• Canada
16 Apr 07
Well with 4 children and 2 of them little girls we know build a bear well. I think its a fantastic store, I read many of you say its expensive, I agree I think they are taking advantage of the popularity but at the same time, everything good comes at a price. I think the experience and the fun my kids have had there is worth the money. Two thumbs up over here. Oh, and in canada its even more expensive, one of the bears my daughter made came out to $92!!
