Build-A-Bear Workshop
Have you been to one of these places? One opened.. yesterday I think, in the mall near us. Oh my f'ing god.
The number of times I wanted to bust out into tears was.. pretty pathetic. I'd like to blame hormones, but I don't think that was it either. I'm not totally sure why, but I'm sure some of you who know me will pick up on it.
For those of you who haven't had the joy, here's how it goes. You walk in, and are greeted at the door by someone very cheerful who will explain the whole procedure. The place is very much decorated in primary colors, and is male and female child friendly. Music is store *custom*, songs for the different critters they've got on display - Cheerleader Bear was the theme of one song, and there are definitely many more songs.
Your first stop, picking your critter. They have bears, but that's not all! Bunnies, kitties (including hello kitty), moose (probably a Canadian only thing), and some specialty stuff (They had a Cookie Monster one there), also. They've got stuffed varieties on the shelves, but when you look down into the bins, it's just the outside skin (trust me, this is part of the fun).
Second stop, optionally (Arianna optioned out), is to get a little sound for your critter. You select the sound and somehow it spits out a little programmed voicebox type thingme for your critter. 1-5 (I think sounds). Kinda neat, and fun.
Third stop, the very important one, stuffing the critter. Considering I was fighting tears before this step, this one was a toughie. Staffers will take your critter shell, and you get to press the foot pedal while they properly fill your critter with stuffing, which you watch tumble around in this massive tumbling machine (to keep it all loose for stuffing purposes, with primary colored foils, and a cool light that changes rainbow colors to light it up pretty neat. This would be when your sound thing gets put in (I'm not sure if it's a paw feature or a hug/belly feature). Then they hand it back, and to the kids they tell them to give their critter a big hug and make sure their critter is just right (check arms and legs and belly for appropriate stuffing to the adults). Then, the kids get to pick out a heart (they had striped white and red ones, and all red ones), and the staffers make the kids do fun stuff (Arianna had to spin around so her kitty would chase it's tail, then jump up high - obvious, then hold it to her ear so her kitty would listen to all her secrets, and something else, then kiss both sides of the heart to show her kitty how much she was loved), and then everyone (adults and kids) hold the heart in both hands, make a special wish, and then they put the heart into the bear and tuck it in, along with a portion of the critter tag (see below for details). Then the stitch strings are pulled tight on the back of the critter, and everything is tucked in and closed up, snipped, and ready to go on to the next step.
Fourth Stop: BATH TIME! A little table set up with another presser pedal, but no water here folks! A laydown area and two jets spray out air to blow excess fluff away, and special combs are nearby to make sure any loose fluff/fur are taken off so that your new friend looks beautiful (and smart moms and dads take the opportunity there to brush fur out of the stitching, so if anything goes wrong it's fixed on the spot). There was little girl giggling here, and she made sure to brush even the bottoms of the paws and under the arms, too!
Fifth Stop: Time for DRESS UP! Outfits upon outfits upon outfits! Sports Jerseys, bride and groom outfits, fairy and angel wings, I love Canada (probably USA/New York, etc etc, too). Boxers for the boy critters and bikini-briefs for the girl critters, because you can't dress a critter without putting underwear on first! Not chintzy either, elastic and everything, just like big boy/girl underwear. Can anyone say Harley? Apparently Build-A-Bear can. I kid you not, pleather (at least) Harley Davidson Jacket. Disney? Yup. *Licensed* merchandise from sports teams and smart companies hooking into this phenomenon. OK: Figure/Hockey skate shoes. Sandals and work boots. Scrubs (and medical kit accessories), Cowboy/girl boots. And "Dressing Stations" with little mirrors. Did you want to try it on your critter to see if you like it? Sure! Feel free to take it out of the packaging and give it a try! Pom poms for the cheerleader outfits. Party hats for birthday time! Cellphones, sunglasses, "hair bows", good gods the accessories. Sleeping bags? Not to mention storage cases for outfits and the like (no I didn't take too close a look at these). And all of the bottoms have a little hole in the back cut just right so tails can stick out comfortably! Tiaras! I'm sure they had hard hats. Hockey helmets! Bucket and Cowboy hats. I didn't *see* a top hat but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. Ho-lee-fahk. The boys were going just as crazy as the girls at this stop, because there's something there for all the kids.
Sixth Stop: Registration. This is where you give Build-A-Bear the information to make up your critter's birth certificate, as well as stuff for mailing, and for the security registration (see below). You can select information by regular mail, email, or both, and they're up front about their privacy information, also. It's geared to the kids doing a majority of the work (enter key is the 'green' key, yes is a red heart key (in place of the f9 key), no is a blue diamond key (in place of f10), and they keys are in huge blue capital letters so it's easy to read them for the kids. The only tricky part is address information for the younger ones. Most 5 year olds don't know and don't care about a postal/zip code. If you're an adult, registration can take about 3-5 minutes. With kids, 5-10 (or more =P ).
Seventh Stop: The Checkout. This is where you pick up your critter's birth certificate, and they make up the ultra cute pet condo to put the critter in to go home. There's also a monthly information insert, wherein listed are the specialty bears (and items that are coming free), as well as monthly contests and various sweepstakes information. IE: August 11-13th is Snow Leopard Weekend, which gets you a free Bearhead clip and National Geographic Kids magazine when you buy the new critter ($34 Cnaadian). For every Snow Leopard critter sold, Build-A-Bear also donates $1 to World Wildlife Fund, to help *real* animals. This is also where you have your coronary, so make sure you've had your heart medication.
For you practical folk, prices range from $25-50 (high end for specialty critters), and this price includes the bear (or critter); stuffing; a special box "Critter Condo" that is color-in-able has windows and a door and a spot to put the critter's name and everything; a customized birth certificate (Date of birth, full name, height, weight, fur color, eye color and owner's name, see photo), with the quip (in red) "My furry friend is special. I brought it to life. I chose it. I stuffed it. I made it my own. I promise to love it and give it a home." If you read above, a portion of the tag on the critter was stuffed into it, and then you filled out name/address information for security registration. When you begin your certificate registration, you scan the other half of this barcode, which contains the pre-done identity of the critter (It already knew the critter was the orange kitty). It also serves an extra purpose after registration: If someone were to find the critter and take it to any Build-A-Bear workshop, the critters are trackable, and can be returned to the owner via the internal tag, which is barcoded. The Barcode is also printed on the Birth Certificate.
Price extras (All in Canadian funds): Sound - $5-15. Full outfit clothing: $14-40. Individual outfit pieces: $7-$25. Shoes: $5-9. Underwear/Boxers: $5. Accessories: $2.50-$20. Paw-combs: $5. Special stain remover spray: $10/bottle. Yes, clothing and accessories are where they kill you. Consider this: A 6 pack of kids' underwear can cost as low as 6 bucks and as much as 15 (for licensed underwear). $5 for a single pair? Ouch. BUT everything does appear to be really good quality stuff, built to last a kid's rough and tumble. The fur is very plush.
Build-A-Bear WebsiteArianna's Build-A-Bear, (kitten, Fluffy) Photo Album - Photos NOW IN! See Fluffy, Fluffy's house (pre-crayon/marker), and Arianna and her new critter!
For the girl who was voted most likely to "Always be a Toys R Us Kid", who loves cats and collects stuffed bears? Welcome to my new favorite place to avoid because I can't afford it. ;) =)
The number of times I wanted to bust out into tears was.. pretty pathetic. I'd like to blame hormones, but I don't think that was it either. I'm not totally sure why, but I'm sure some of you who know me will pick up on it.
For those of you who haven't had the joy, here's how it goes. You walk in, and are greeted at the door by someone very cheerful who will explain the whole procedure. The place is very much decorated in primary colors, and is male and female child friendly. Music is store *custom*, songs for the different critters they've got on display - Cheerleader Bear was the theme of one song, and there are definitely many more songs.
Your first stop, picking your critter. They have bears, but that's not all! Bunnies, kitties (including hello kitty), moose (probably a Canadian only thing), and some specialty stuff (They had a Cookie Monster one there), also. They've got stuffed varieties on the shelves, but when you look down into the bins, it's just the outside skin (trust me, this is part of the fun).
Second stop, optionally (Arianna optioned out), is to get a little sound for your critter. You select the sound and somehow it spits out a little programmed voicebox type thingme for your critter. 1-5 (I think sounds). Kinda neat, and fun.
Third stop, the very important one, stuffing the critter. Considering I was fighting tears before this step, this one was a toughie. Staffers will take your critter shell, and you get to press the foot pedal while they properly fill your critter with stuffing, which you watch tumble around in this massive tumbling machine (to keep it all loose for stuffing purposes, with primary colored foils, and a cool light that changes rainbow colors to light it up pretty neat. This would be when your sound thing gets put in (I'm not sure if it's a paw feature or a hug/belly feature). Then they hand it back, and to the kids they tell them to give their critter a big hug and make sure their critter is just right (check arms and legs and belly for appropriate stuffing to the adults). Then, the kids get to pick out a heart (they had striped white and red ones, and all red ones), and the staffers make the kids do fun stuff (Arianna had to spin around so her kitty would chase it's tail, then jump up high - obvious, then hold it to her ear so her kitty would listen to all her secrets, and something else, then kiss both sides of the heart to show her kitty how much she was loved), and then everyone (adults and kids) hold the heart in both hands, make a special wish, and then they put the heart into the bear and tuck it in, along with a portion of the critter tag (see below for details). Then the stitch strings are pulled tight on the back of the critter, and everything is tucked in and closed up, snipped, and ready to go on to the next step.
Fourth Stop: BATH TIME! A little table set up with another presser pedal, but no water here folks! A laydown area and two jets spray out air to blow excess fluff away, and special combs are nearby to make sure any loose fluff/fur are taken off so that your new friend looks beautiful (and smart moms and dads take the opportunity there to brush fur out of the stitching, so if anything goes wrong it's fixed on the spot). There was little girl giggling here, and she made sure to brush even the bottoms of the paws and under the arms, too!
Fifth Stop: Time for DRESS UP! Outfits upon outfits upon outfits! Sports Jerseys, bride and groom outfits, fairy and angel wings, I love Canada (probably USA/New York, etc etc, too). Boxers for the boy critters and bikini-briefs for the girl critters, because you can't dress a critter without putting underwear on first! Not chintzy either, elastic and everything, just like big boy/girl underwear. Can anyone say Harley? Apparently Build-A-Bear can. I kid you not, pleather (at least) Harley Davidson Jacket. Disney? Yup. *Licensed* merchandise from sports teams and smart companies hooking into this phenomenon. OK: Figure/Hockey skate shoes. Sandals and work boots. Scrubs (and medical kit accessories), Cowboy/girl boots. And "Dressing Stations" with little mirrors. Did you want to try it on your critter to see if you like it? Sure! Feel free to take it out of the packaging and give it a try! Pom poms for the cheerleader outfits. Party hats for birthday time! Cellphones, sunglasses, "hair bows", good gods the accessories. Sleeping bags? Not to mention storage cases for outfits and the like (no I didn't take too close a look at these). And all of the bottoms have a little hole in the back cut just right so tails can stick out comfortably! Tiaras! I'm sure they had hard hats. Hockey helmets! Bucket and Cowboy hats. I didn't *see* a top hat but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. Ho-lee-fahk. The boys were going just as crazy as the girls at this stop, because there's something there for all the kids.
Sixth Stop: Registration. This is where you give Build-A-Bear the information to make up your critter's birth certificate, as well as stuff for mailing, and for the security registration (see below). You can select information by regular mail, email, or both, and they're up front about their privacy information, also. It's geared to the kids doing a majority of the work (enter key is the 'green' key, yes is a red heart key (in place of the f9 key), no is a blue diamond key (in place of f10), and they keys are in huge blue capital letters so it's easy to read them for the kids. The only tricky part is address information for the younger ones. Most 5 year olds don't know and don't care about a postal/zip code. If you're an adult, registration can take about 3-5 minutes. With kids, 5-10 (or more =P ).
Seventh Stop: The Checkout. This is where you pick up your critter's birth certificate, and they make up the ultra cute pet condo to put the critter in to go home. There's also a monthly information insert, wherein listed are the specialty bears (and items that are coming free), as well as monthly contests and various sweepstakes information. IE: August 11-13th is Snow Leopard Weekend, which gets you a free Bearhead clip and National Geographic Kids magazine when you buy the new critter ($34 Cnaadian). For every Snow Leopard critter sold, Build-A-Bear also donates $1 to World Wildlife Fund, to help *real* animals. This is also where you have your coronary, so make sure you've had your heart medication.
For you practical folk, prices range from $25-50 (high end for specialty critters), and this price includes the bear (or critter); stuffing; a special box "Critter Condo" that is color-in-able has windows and a door and a spot to put the critter's name and everything; a customized birth certificate (Date of birth, full name, height, weight, fur color, eye color and owner's name, see photo), with the quip (in red) "My furry friend is special. I brought it to life. I chose it. I stuffed it. I made it my own. I promise to love it and give it a home." If you read above, a portion of the tag on the critter was stuffed into it, and then you filled out name/address information for security registration. When you begin your certificate registration, you scan the other half of this barcode, which contains the pre-done identity of the critter (It already knew the critter was the orange kitty). It also serves an extra purpose after registration: If someone were to find the critter and take it to any Build-A-Bear workshop, the critters are trackable, and can be returned to the owner via the internal tag, which is barcoded. The Barcode is also printed on the Birth Certificate.
Price extras (All in Canadian funds): Sound - $5-15. Full outfit clothing: $14-40. Individual outfit pieces: $7-$25. Shoes: $5-9. Underwear/Boxers: $5. Accessories: $2.50-$20. Paw-combs: $5. Special stain remover spray: $10/bottle. Yes, clothing and accessories are where they kill you. Consider this: A 6 pack of kids' underwear can cost as low as 6 bucks and as much as 15 (for licensed underwear). $5 for a single pair? Ouch. BUT everything does appear to be really good quality stuff, built to last a kid's rough and tumble. The fur is very plush.
Build-A-Bear WebsiteArianna's Build-A-Bear, (kitten, Fluffy) Photo Album - Photos NOW IN! See Fluffy, Fluffy's house (pre-crayon/marker), and Arianna and her new critter!
For the girl who was voted most likely to "Always be a Toys R Us Kid", who loves cats and collects stuffed bears? Welcome to my new favorite place to avoid because I can't afford it. ;) =)