Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is an American retailer headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri that sells teddy bears, stuffed animals, and characters.

During store visits, customers go through an interactive process where the stuffed animal of their choice is assembled and tailored to their own preferences including varying scents, sounds, looks, and outfits.

[8] In 1997, Clark also offered to purchase Basic Brown Bears, who has been operating since 1985 in the do-it-yourself stuffed animals space.

[5] With store opening costs of $500,000 to $700,000 and estimated per-store sales at $2 million, Clark quickly found capital firms to invest in for the expansions.

[5] In 1999, the Workshop sent out legal letters with threats of federal lawsuits regarding supposed violations of its trademarks and copyrights to its competitors: Friends 2B Made LLC, Vermont Teddy Bear Co. Inc., and Basic Brown Bears Inc. With Friends 2B Made, the name was similar to Build-A-Bear's slogan "Where best friends are made"; the Workshop demanded that the company stop selling stuffed animals, recall its merchandise, and turn over its customer database and its proceeds.

Basic Brown Bears countersued, as the owners believed that Build-A-Bear swiped its information that was under a confidential disclosure agreement when Clark attempted to purchase the company in 1997 and from her visits to their Mall of America location, while Clark asserted that Basic Brown Bears had switched from plastic bags to copy the Workshops' signature cardboard carrier.

[9] The company settled with Basic Brown with a payment and a confidentiality agreement that hides any validity to these allegations.

[11] The company opened its first international franchise in Sheffield, England and licensed Hasbro a home bear-stuffing kit.

By October 1, 2009, they were all either shuttered or converted into expanded Build-A-Bear outlets, with their staff being offered jobs at Bear locations.

[18] In 2015, a lawsuit sought damages for discriminating against blind people and lack of blind-accessible point-of-sale machines in Build-a-Bear shops.

The event prompted a surge in public awareness of the Build-A-Bear brand, according to a subsequent YouGov poll, nearly all of which was negative.

[22] Sharon Price John, president and CEO, apologized; the company stated that those who had waited in line would receive vouchers.

Patrick Hughes (founder of Foundation Media Partners) and Harvey Russell (CEO) went on board to guide the label.

Fox Business reporting described some outrage from adult-themed bears, available online only, after they were introduced in January 2024, under a push into the "kidulting" trend, where nostalgic adults would seek out items or experiences that reflect childhood memories.