Build-A-Bear Workshop newly imagined with Samsung SUR40

Build-A-Bear Workshop opens its first newly designed store at West County Center in St. Louis. The store is one of six that the company will open this year in select markets across the United States. The new store concept uses the Samsung SUR40 with Microsoft PixelSense to enhance the hands-on bear making process and enable new interactive features that are central to how kids play today. The updated store enables guests of all ages to personalize the bear making process and offers them a different experience each return visit.

“Build-A-Bear Workshop invented experiential mall-based retailing 15 years ago and has been the leader in providing interactive experiences for kids of all ages,” says Maxine Clark, Build-A-Bear Workshop founder and Chief Executive Bear. Build-A-Bear worked closely with developer Infusion to ensure that guests visiting the new store see noticeable changes building on the signature stuffed animal making experience including:

The Love Me Station enables guests to customize their furry friends with special personality attributes displayed as emoticons on the Samsung SUR40. Guests can add unique traits — like cuddly, brave, silly and smart — to their red satin hearts, which are inserted inside their furry friends during the Stuff Me process.


Love Me Station — Build-A-Bear Workshop

The Fluff Me Station enables guests to interact with their new furry friends at a “water rippling and splashing” digital bath tub. Microsoft PixelSense technology magically recognizes the items as they are placed on it and reacts with sensory effects such as virtual bubbles that appear when play soap is placed on the “water surface.”


Fluff Me Station — Build-A-Bear Workshop

The Name Me Station is where guests use a viewfinder or “bear-o-scope” to reveal the special attributes and personality added to the animal throughout the process. Guests create a personalized one-of-a-kind birth certificate that now includes a photo of their new furry friend.


Name Me Station — Build-A-Bear Workshop

“Since our inception, over 100 million stuffed animals have been made in our stores. With this new store design, we have combined the love of a teddy bear with the best of digital technology. We look forward to continuing our leadership in the interactive retail space," says Clark.


New Build-A-Bear Workshop storefront

There are more than 400 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Build-A-Bear Workshop is opening other new concept stores in the following premiere shopping centers throughout the United States: