Build-A-Bear CEO Sharon Price John reveals how she transformed the iconic mall-based toy retailer into a multi-platform brand. From a struggling stuffed animal store to a thriving intellectual property company, Price John shares the leadership strategies and creative vision that helped Build-A-Bear's stock soar over the past five years.

St. Louis

Build-A-Bear Workshop has experienced significant growth, with its stock price increasing by over 50% since the beginning of the year. The company attributes this success to a strategic pivot from being a mall-based children's retailer to a branded intellectual property company, expanding its reach and diversifying revenue streams. 

CEO Sharon Price-John highlights the importance of a collaborative team, consistent business fundamentals, and adapting to market trends such as the nostalgia economy and increased demand from teens and adults. Despite challenges like tariffs and economic uncertainty, Build-A-Bear has maintained strong profitability and continues to innovate within experiential retail.

Why Build-A-Bear has been on a Nvidia-like run

The actual experience of building a bear can be equated to what it takes to be successful in business. You're picking something that you really like, you're stuffing it with the exact things that you need, and then you're willing to put your heart into it. You're going to increase your level of success for sure. My name is Sharon Price-John, and I'm the president and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop. First you get to choose your unstuffed furry friend. I really work very hard to assure that I have people on the team that are the best in the business. Now, you know, we're going through a lot of changes right now. We're growing really, really fast. Any suggestions, any thoughts about what we can do? We try to create a really collaborative experience. We give the team an ability to bring forward ideas independently of what, you know, we think is next. So I had a golden retriever. Her name was Katie, so I'm going to build Katie today. The next step is to put all the goodies inside. We went through a process of pivoting the company from what was a mall-based retail stuffed animal store for kids to a branded intellectual property company that just happened to have vertical retail as one of its revenue streams. When you can monetize a feeling, that's a much more diversified approach, and that creates a much more resilient approach to business. Build-A-Bear is a pioneer in experiential retail. So we were doing that back in 1997, and really there isn't anyone that does exactly what we do. Rub it on your heart so she's full of love, on your head so she's full of your fond memories of Katie, and on your shoulders so you always have her to lean on when you miss her. Give it a big kiss. And we have to put that inside so we always feel like we love her. There's a magical moment with this where in the mind of a child, the stuffed animal almost comes to life. Good job. Say thank you. Thank you. Call it a bear market on a bull run. One of the best performers in the stock market this year, rising over 50% since the beginning of the year. The consistency on the quarter-on-quarter deliverables, we've been not only consistent from a business perspective, but we've kept a very clean balance sheet, we have tremendous cash flow. For those who would compare it to a meme stock, how is Build-A-Bear different? Our stock appreciation is based on the fundamentals. If you just break down what we've been able to do from an increase in profitability, it starts to add up. How have tariffs and supply chain shifts affected your gross margins? Tariffs are a challenge for any company that's importing. And we've diversified our supply chain significantly, but that still does not keep us unimpacted by tariffs. We're going to have to cover some of these costs. We will not be able to cover it all. And we won't pass it all on to the consumer. But there'll be a balance. What is your lead on consumer discretionary spending on the current economy? We are not recession-proof, but toys are often very recession-resilient, particularly during the holidays. There you go. Thank you. And when you think about how we're kind of in this crosshairs of the nostalgia economy, there's condulting, DIY, and we're sort of mashing a lot of that stuff together. We've actually doubled the teen and adult business to be 40% of the total sales. And I'm hoping that we'll be able to enjoy that trend for a while. The secret sauce of Build-A-Bear's success thus far is that we believe in what we do and we believe that what we do matters. If you can recognize that it's probably going to be a long game and you have your heart in what you're doing, you're really increasing your odds. Build-A-Bear.

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