Bull Market for Bears

ST. LOUIS-The appetite among consumers for stuffed animals appears to be quite strong these days, with Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc., a chain that specializes customized stuff animals, reporting a comp-store sales increase of 23.3% in the company’s fourth fiscal quarter, which ended Jan. 1, compared with the fourth quarter of 2003. Its net sales increased 35.3% to $98.8 million (about $0.30 per share), compared with the same period a year ago.

“Our fourth quarter comp-store growth outpaced the quarterly growth performance we achieved in the three previous quarters of 2004,” notes Maxine Clark, chairman and “chief executive bear” of Build-A-Bear. “This growth reflects the success of our holiday efforts, the performance of our online business, and our ongoing brand-building strategies.”

During the fourth quarter, the company opened six new Build-A-Bear stores in the United States and Canada, as compared with seven new stores during the same period a year ago, bringing the total number to 165 in the United States and five in Canada. In October, the company signed a franchise agreement to open Build-A-Bear stores in Sweden; other countries that already have the franchise are the U.K., Japan, Denmark, Australia, South Korea, France and Taiwan. During the quarter the company also opened its first two Friends 2B Made stores, a new interactive retail concept focused on making personalized dolls.