Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. to Bring Successful Retail Entertainment Concept to Great Britain.

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ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2001

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., announced today that the company will soon introduce stores in Great Britain giving teddy bear fans direct local access to their award-winning retail entertainment concept. After opening the first Build-A-Bear Workshop(sm) store in the USA in October l997 and expanding rapidly across America, the company is looking at a number of locations in the UK for 2002.

Build-A-Bear Workshop(sm), Where Best Friends Are Made(sm), has been planning its global strategy for several years, and opening stores in the UK is a natural next step for its international business growth. Commenting on the move, Build-A-Bear Workshop Founder and Chief Executive Bear Maxine Clark said, "Our decision to open stores in Great Britain is a response to the thousands of requests we have received from our Guests from the UK who have shopped in our stores in the United States and on our web site since 1997, both factors indicating a strong customer base and reputation throughout the UK. Build-A-Bear Workshop's expansion has continued to exceed our expectations during this past year and we look forward to bringing the store to our friends in the UK."

The timing of the UK expansion couldn't be better according to Maxine Clark, who added that 2002 is the 100th anniversary of the teddy bear. The teddy bear was made famous by our very own US President Teddy Roosevelt, when he spared a young bear cub while on a hunting trip, an act that was then immortalized in a cartoon in the Washington Post. "Build-A-Bear Workshop has planned a year of exciting activities to mark the Teddy Bear Centennial (TM) throughout 2002 and we guarantee our Guests will have fun as they help us celebrate this important event in teddy bear history," said Maxine Clark.

Since the opening of its first store, Build-a-Bear Workshop has been the developer and leader of the make-your-own-stuffed animal store concept for mall-based retailing. The company currently operates 72 stores across the US and has seen tremendous growth in its four short years. According to Tracy Mullin, President of the National Retail Federation (NRF), "Build-a-Bear Workshop's inventive and frolicsome approach obviously has resonated with consumers. Retailers know a great concept when they see it, too, and we are delighted to recognize Build-A-Bear Workshop with the industry's highest honor, the 2001 Retail Innovator of the Year."

Build-A-Bear Workshop continues to redefine the concept of mall-based entertainment retail. In doing so, the company has been recognized by the retail industry with numerous awards including: NRF's international 2001 Retail Innovator of the Year; Global Winner, Arthur Andersen's 2000 Best Practices: Exceeding Customer Expectations; ZD Net Interactive's 2001 Best Places to Work; St. Louis Business Journal's 2001 Laclede Award: Best Place to Work; St. Louis Business Journal's Fastest Growing Private Company for 1999;Toy Industry Association's 1998 Merchandising Achievement Award for Best Category Marketing and in its very first year of operation, Chain Store Age Best New Concept of l998.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, through an exciting bear-making interactive assembly line, combines experience with purchase. It is a unique and exceptional approach to the retail entertainment industry. The store Associates, known as Master Bear Builders(sm), create the experience by interacting with customers or Guests at each step of the bear-making process. Regardless of age, Guests enjoy the highly visual environment, the sounds and the magic of this special place as they go through the process and choose, stuff, stitch, fluff, name and dress their own stuffed animals.

At the Choose Me Station, Guests select from dozens of stuffed animal furs of all different shapes, sizes and colors. The Master Bear Builder then helps the Guest fill his or her new friend with stuffing at the Stuff Me Station. A very special step, unique to Build-A-Bear Workshop, called Heart Stuff(sm), also happens at this station. Each Guest selects a small satin heart, adds to it his or her own love and wishes, and carefully places it inside their new furry friend. For an additional cost, Guests can add a sound to their new friend by recording their own Build-A-Sound(TM) message, or by choosing from one of many pre-recorded sounds and songs such as "moos," "barks," "giggles," the very popular "I love you" and melodies like "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."

At the Stitch Me Station, a unique bar code is placed inside each animal to enter it into the Find-A-Bear(R) tracking system, which helps lost bears find their way back to their original owners. Each Guest selects a name for his or her furry friend and enters it into a computer at the Name Me Station, thereby creating a personalized storybook or birth certificate. And since no bear can go home "bare," the Dress Me Station has over 250 furry fashions to add pawsonality to their furry friend.

Finally, at the Take Me Home Station, each bear goes home in a Cub Condo(TM) carrying case, a Build-A-Bear Workshop exclusive. Guests then recite the Bear Promise, pledging to give their new furry friend a bear loving home.

When it comes to spreading hugs to the community, Build-A-Bear Workshop is a company with a big heart. The Stuffed with Hugs(sm) program has become a signature charity event for each new store opening, as over 15,000 thousand bears made by Guests made their way into the hearts and lives of children who needed the love of an extra hug. In recent months, Build-A-Bear Workshop expanded their Hug America program by donating another 8,000 bears to families affected by the events of September 11 in New York City and Washington DC.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is an interactive entertainment retailer that invites Guests to create their own customized stuffed animals. Build-A-Bear Workshop is the innovator and leader of the make-your-own-stuffed animal concept for mall- based retailing. The company currently operates 72 stores in 30 states across the country, including a very successful e-commerce business. The company opened its flagship store DOWNTOWN DISNEY(R) District, in Anaheim, California in November, capping off this year's expansion of 32 stores. The premier store opened in Saint Louis Galleria in October 1997. For more information, call 888/560-BEAR or visit the company's award-winning web site at www.buildabear.com.

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