Declining footfall at shopping malls in 2019 has caused many retail stores to close in 2019, exceeding the previous year. However, Build-A-Bear has survived the onslaught.
Build-A-Bear Workshop CEO Sharon Price spoke to Stuart Varney from Fox Business on Monday about how a few years ago, when footfall in malls began declining, a diversification of locations and consumer bases began at the toy company and they entered the e-commerce industry.
Through this, they were able to find alternative locations and expanded the accessibility to various types of customers. They have now partnered with Walmart and are set to open up shops within shops inside six pilot stores in the holiday season that passed. Now, they are looking to expand into 25 more Walmart stores within 2019.
Prince mentioned on ‘Varney and Co.’ that Walmart is going to provide a separate consumer base to Build-A-Bear.
The experience of Build-A-Bear is an example of mitigation against the decline of walk in stores due to rise in e-commerce portals like Amazon, which are making retailers lose business.
She also said that Build-A-Bear makes a memory for a child or people who want to feel like children at heart, and this experience can be expanded in ways beyond retail shops.
Build-A-Bear Workshop saw a doubling of their earnings on Friday, as stocks rose with 27% gains in 2019.
