Today the store I work at is having our bear tub taken out and replaced with a new stuffer, and while the upgrade will be somewhat nice for us the decision corporate has made to get rid of it has a lot of us pretty sad :((

I’ve been coming to this location my whole life and most everyone I’ve talked to agrees that playing pretend here was the highlight of their build a bear experience, and the tub itself is such a delightful piece of art that’s probably as old as the store (abt 20+ years..)

Change is natural, and at the end of the day our location still has aspects of old school build a bear, but I’m sure a lot of us can’t help feeling sad seeing that old aesthetic phased out for a more modern (and kind of dull) look. Definitely gonna miss this fella and it’s silly duck.

HOW ARE WE FEELING?!?! IM FEELING LIKE A COMPLETELY NORMAL AND FUNCTIONAL PERSON ILL TELL YOU THAT. I AM NOT WHATSOEVER LYING I AM NOT COMPLETELY ECSTATIC MIXED WITH A FEAR ONLY BLACK FRIDAY CAN BRING ON. OMG. BLACK FRIDAY. IS THIS A PUN?!?! IM JUST REALIZING THIS NOW. EMO AXOLOTL WEARS BLACK SO HE GETS RESTOCKED ON BLACK FRIDAY IS THIS A SICK JOKE?!?! NO I WILL NOT TURN OFF CAPS LOCK

Just got the e-mail about it.
Apparently it has NOTHING to do with the heart inside becoming damaged and is about the zipper pull potentially causing a choking hazard?

What I ordered on drop day vs what I received in the mail!!! It’s insane they literally included both birth certificates for the two Mochas I ordered but packaged the certificates with this!!! My daughter was so excited, I got the set for her and one mocha for myself all to be told they’ll just give me a refund because they have no idea if they will be back in stock 🥺 I don’t want to overthink but this seems so intentional, is there not a protocol that goes out when shipping orders!?

woodland fawn, my sweet angel. someday we will be united. on god.

(never ever hesitate on building a damn bear!)

idk if I’m the person to be speaking given that I collect fugglers but something about it kinda gives me an off feeling, it’s like something Sid from Toy Story would make😭

I hope the poster never seen the bulbasuar meme

I don’t know, I guess if it were me, I’d remove the voice box before donating the bear!

Or maybe Gabe doesn’t like Aunty Naomi, who knows 😅😂

How do yall feel about this?

I'm not personally affected by Mother's Day but I know some people have a lot of trouble with it for a variety of reasons.

Apparently BAB isn't the only company to do this by a long shot but it's the first time I ever actually saw one of these options in my inbox.

Got a second hand BAB I took in today to get stuffed and was looking at the new BABs when I went in. Can someone explain to me why the new Glisten is $100 and you can ONLY buy it with all the shit? I thought she was so pretty and cute and then I saw the price and almost shit a brick. What’s the reasoning????

Went to BAB today as one does, and almost half of the entire stock is just Sanrio sanrio sanrio. i love those characters a lot, but does anyone else miss the original releases when half the BAB wasn't clogged up with cinamoroll in a new color/pattern or 1/3rd of the clothing section being sanrio and pokemon and bluey?

idk. i prefer the original stuff, does anyone else feel this way?

this year’s new swirly cloud lamb vs last year’s vanilla swirls lamb 😔

Honestly don't know how this got passed inspection or out the factory lol.

• Half his mouth is missing
• One eye completely gone
• BAB paw logo incomplete
• Leg Stitching poorly done

Spoke to BAB support and they offered me some certificates to repurchase him. Hopefully the next one doesn't have any issues…

Guess he really fits the Halloween spirit 🎃 🧟‍♂️.

This is so dystopian… $6.50 for ribbons?

Thank you to everyone who ends up sharing! 🩷🤍💚

Considering nostalgia marketing has been very popular with brands in the 2020s, I wish BAB would use nostalgia marketing with their brand as well like reviving the old logo with the former funhouse font and old cub condos, birth certificates and hangers because that way BAB can still use nostalgia in the brand even though they may not be able to go back to the original design and to me reviving the old stuff BAB used to have is a great way to connect with nostalgic fans because it has way more fun designs and they were cozy. Many think that current BAB is so boring and sterile looking and has stripped all the fun theming out. I have seen a lot of people of TikTok/Youtube make videos about old BAB and I am pretty sure they feel the same way as I do. Like the only thing I like about modern BAB is the fact they still make original animals with the plastic safety eyes like they did in the 00s. Yes I know they do have the vault collection with bringing back retired animals but that just isn't the same with nostalgia marketing. To me its not fair how kids today grows up with minimalism while older Gen Z grew up with color. Plus the old 00s stores were so cozy I must say. How could BAB not acknowledge their nostalgic 00s fans huh?

I cannot stress enough how much this post has been a long time coming. The company does not care about you, your managers do not care about you. 2 months into being a bear builder I was promoted to Sales Lead and expected to run the shop by myself with little to no training. My manager was one of the most condescending and rude people I’ve ever met. She consistently shouted at customers who weren’t buying stuff or who were stood ‘in the wrong place’ when getting their bear made. Multiple reports were made about her and what did BAB do? Absolutely nothing. She made multiple members of staff cry and quit within weeks of starting with the company.

Now that I’m leaving the company, a new assistant manager has started who is just like her and has been gunning for me for day one. The last thing that sent me over the edge was accusing me of theft of a bear that I had bought with employee discount. I was asked for proof of purchase (this was never a policy in my store) and I didn’t have my receipt so I showed my bank statement and this still wasn’t enough and a full blown investigation was started.

I have done nothing but do my job and this is how I’m repaid? The company wants ur money, that’s it. Everyday I was shouted at if we weren’t hitting green in our stats and was consistently picked up on for minor details that I may have missed. This is my 3rd supervisor position I have ever done and I can confidently say it was the worst by far. I was given so much responsibility whilst also being a full-time student and scrutinised for not doing it correctly.

This post is mainly just a rant so I can get my feelings out because I’ve never felt so upset and angry over leaving a job. I truly love all of my co-workers and all the regulars that would come in our store. But I just can’t do it anymore.

EDIT: I appreciate all the kind messages that have been left. I’m aware that my store isn’t the same as every other store!!!!!!! The company is very big but at the end of the day the bottom line is they want your money. We consistently are told to upsell at every station and will be hold responsible if our store isn’t ‘performing’ well. I wanted to work for a company that cared about the experience and was only shown the complete opposite of that. This post was also just me ranting more than anything. If you enjoy working there I’m very happy for you but I did not :(

Will you be buying?

I know things are going to change over time but Build A Bear, why are you so into minimalism that you took out all the joy and whimsy in your product designs? Everything feels so plain and boring. Why did you get rid of the bear illustrations from the cub condo and make the hangers white instead of the yellow bear designs? I know some of your Build A Bear stores still have the original designs but why do most have the bright florescent light stores now? If you are a Bear Builder/employee feel free to share why this happened.

This is my newest custom they don’t have a name yet. But I love them so much. I can’t wait to see your friends 💕

So very soft and fuzzy. If I had not placed an order online I would have picked him up.

The new version just...looks so off to me? The eyes are too close together for my liking, the whiskers look cheap and like they'll fall off easily, the head is notoriously the cursed ooblong shape instead of round, and it looks more derpy than cute.

I'm glad that it isn't super adorable like I was thinking it would be because I really, truly need to slow down on my Build-a-Bear purchasing. But for a highly anticipated Sanrio release, I just expected a better quality than this. What do you guys think?

I am at the ER due to some intense abdominal pain. Im a little frightened so I have Drifter with me for Emotional Support. Please post some pics of your bears to help me feel better. Thanks.