video game of the same name see build a bear workshop video game . build a bear workshop inc. type public traded as nyse bbw industry retail founded 1997 ; 19 years ago 1997 headquarters overland missouri u.s. 1 key people ben dunlop founder victoria justice spokesperson larry nabisco business owner products stuffed toys revenue usd474 .4 million 2007 number of employees 5 643 2011 website buildabear.com build a bear workshop inc. is an american retailer headquartered in overland missouri that sells teddy bears and other stuffed animals . customers go through an interactive process in which the stuffed animal of their choice is assembled and customized during their visit to the store . build a bear workshop is the largest chain that operates in this style . the company has been acclaimed for the quality of its working environment especially as a workplace for teenagers . 2 the company s slogan was where best friends are made from 1997 2013 and is currently the most fun you ll ever make . contents 1 history 2 other brands 2.1 bearville 2.2 make your own mascot 2.3 friends 2b made 2.4 build a dino 2.5 build a bear at the zoo 3 references 4 external links history edit a build a bear workshop at vaughan mills in toronto ontario build a bear workshop was founded by ben dunlop in 1997 with its first store in the saint louis galleria . by 2007 the store had sold over 50 million bears and had over 400 stores in operation worldwide in australia bahrain canada denmark germany ireland japan kuwait mexico norway qatar singapore south africa sweden thailand turkey the united arab emirates and the united kingdom . the chain also originally had at least one store in brazil and one in oman but both have since closed for reasons undisclosed . former logo used with minor changes until 2015 . in 2006 the company acquired the bear factory from hamleys and began operating in its flagship store in london . build a bear has also engaged in various charities including the wwf collecti bear series which has given over 1 million usd to the world wildlife fund . 3 as part of its tenth birthday celebration the company built 11 playgrounds throughout the usa and canada in partnership with kaboom and announced that it had donated over 11 million to various child and family causes since 1994 . the store also hosts an event called stuffed for hugs weekend in may in which guests at build a bear are given the opportunity to stuff a pre selected animal for charity . there is a similar weekend that occurs in late october known as the spirit of giving in which guests can make stuffed ghosts . a build a bear workshop video game was developed by the game factory and released for the nintendo ds platform for christmas 2007 . build a bear has also created several tie in stuffed animals for various promotional events including a toy the cat in the hat a toy shrek a toy cody maverick penguin from surf s up a toy mumble from happy feet a toy e.b. from hop both alvin and brittany from the alvin and the chipmunks film series a jonas dog a shake it up bear and a wizards of waverly place bear . build a bear workshop has also released several lines of miniature toys included in happy meals at mcdonald s restaurants running first in may 2006 4 followed by a second promotion in august 2007 a third in october 2009 a fourth one in february 2012 and fifth in november 2013 . in november 2015 they came back to mcdonald s. these were only available in mcdonald s in the united states . build a bear have been licensed by hasbro since 2013 to sell characters based on my little pony friendship is magic . 5 in 2010 in honor of the sanrio company s 50th anniversary build a bear released limited edition sanrio characters including hello kitty chococat my melody and keroppi . this even included the release of mini keychains of the four characters along with deery lou . 6 in 2010 build a bear also started selling zhu zhu pets a line of electronic hamsters by cepia llc . also in 2010 build a bear introduced some smaller bears in boxes and already stuffed bears called smallfrys . a variety of smallfrys were available ranging from normal bears and rabbits to blue tigers and purple giraffes . just like the normal 30 40 cm bears they had clothes and accessories but not as big a variety as the larger bears . starting in 2011 build a bear added victoria justice as their new spokesperson . in the mid year she began appearing in all build a bear workshop commercials . build a bear also released a feature film available on ipad through mopix in december 2011 . 7 it has been recently announced in february 2015 that in the fall of the same year lalaloopsy will be coming to build a bear . citation needed other brands edit bearville edit in late october 2007 build a bear workshop opened an online virtual world called bearville previously clarification needed named build a bearville developed in association with frima studio . it allowed users to play games explore an expanding world and chat in a safe community . while codes were included with products bought at build a bear workshops and could be used to redeem in game gifts anyone including non owners of the brand s toys could create an account and play the majority of the bearville game . the site was closed in march 2015 . make your own mascot edit the make your own phanatic shop at citizens bank park in philadelphia pennsylvania now closed . make your own mascot stores are trade at progressive field cleveland great american ball park cincinnati at & t park san francisco nationals park washington d.c. and busch stadium st. louis featuring the home team s respective mascots as well ones for boston red sox mascot wally the green monster in the faneuil hall marketplace store and mr. met the mascot of the new york mets at their fifth avenue store in manhattan new york city . 8 a location at citizens bank park philadelphia closed at the end of the 2010 season . friends 2b made edit friends 2b made was an interactive store that allowed customers to make dolls and purchase related accessories launched by build a bear in 2005 . the store was open briefly in nine locations before closing in 2009 . build a dino edit build a dino allows customers to create a stuffed dinosaur and purchase related accessories . the first location was located inside the t rex cafe in kansas city in partnership with landry s restaurants . the first stand alone store was a temporary holiday location at chesterfield mall in chesterfield missouri which closed after the 2006 holidays to relocate to the st. louis science center . there is also a build a dino inside a second t rex cafe at disney springs in walt disney world and located within the new york city and myrtle beach build a bear workshop flagship stores . build a bear at the zoo edit build a bear at the zoo can be found at the saint louis zoological park . this store features several types of zoo animals 9 many of which are endangered and some which are part of the wwf collectibear series . for each collectibear purchased one dollar is donated to the wwf . references edit new build a bear ceo upbeat on turnaround future . st. louis post dispatch . 19 january 2014 . retrieved 31 july 2011 . seventeen special 10 best companies apply for jobs at these great companies . build a bear workshop donates 1 million for world wildlife fund 7 march 2006 build a bear workshop r featured in mcdonald s r happy meal r and mighty kids meals ; summer of happy meal fun series includes first ever plush collection with removable clothing 10 may 2006 http www.buildabear.com my little pony stuffed animals hello kitty and sanrio friends celebrate sanrio s 50th anniversary at build a bear workshop build a bear workshop jones juston 2008 08 29 . building a young audience at ballparks . the new york times . retrieved 2009 04 08 . maxine clark the chairwoman and chief executive of the company said build a bear workshop has opened five stores so far in major league baseball stadiums shop at the zoo saint louis zoo external links edit official website build a dino v t e teddy bears bear manufacturers build a bear workshop chad valley j. k. farnell gund ideal toy company margarete steiff gmbh merrythought teddy atelier stursberg teddy hermann ty inc vermont teddy bear company types of bear ag bear beanie babies boyds bears care bears coffee bean bears forever friends freddy teddy gund snuffles holiday beanie babies me to you bears werebears teddy bear museums teddy bear museum dorset teddy bear museum teddy bear museum of naples famous teddies aloysius archibald ormsby gore benjamin bear berlino duffy the disney bear fozzie bear freddy fazbear grizzly teddy lotso microsoft bear misha nassur nev paddington bear pooky pudsey bear rilakkuma roosevelt rupert bear rupert family guy smokey sooty superted teddy mr. bean teddy ruxpin uszatek mr whoppit winnie the pooh yogi bear film and television the adventures of teddy ruxpin bear behaving badly becky and barnaby bear c bear and jamal colargol disney s adventures of the gummi bears issi noho old bear stories paddington the secret world of benjamin bear superted ted ted 2 the teddy bear master teddy edward the yogi bear show boonie bears books corduroy little bear old bear and friends teddy dressing the berenstain bears uppo nalle winkie winnie the pooh music let me be your teddy bear psycho teddy teddy bears picnic the teddy bear song video games build a bear workshop hubert the teddy bear winter games naughty bear op ration teddy bear related topics the bear club peter bull gummy bears round and round the garden sgul teddy bear hospital richard steiff sudanese blasphemy case teddybear airdrop minsk 2012 teddy bear parachuting teddy bear review teddy bear toss teddy grahams theodore roosevelt authority control worldcat identities viaf 130405920 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title build a bear workshop & oldid 740204301 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies based in st. louis county missouriretail companies established in 1997retail companies of the united statestoy companies of the united statestoy retailersteddy bear manufacturershidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from july 2015wikipedia articles needing clarification from may 2016wikipedia articles with viaf identifiers navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages danskdeutschfran ais svenska edit links this page was last modified on 19 september 2016 at 18 02 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view