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By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal business writer
POSTED: 11:41 a.m. EDT, Apr 08, 2008
Sometimes the best ideas are standing right in front of you and can come from a child, says the founder and chairman of Build-a-Bear Workshop.
Maxine Clark said she came upon the idea 11 years ago for her interactive retail stores, where customers make their own stuffed animals and can accessorize them with clothes and other items, when she was shopping in her hometown of St. Louis with a young 10-year-old friend.
The pair were out shopping for then-popular Beanie Babies, said Clark, who is scheduled to speak at 5:30 p.m. today at the Tangier to a joint event sponsored by the Akron chapter of the Sales and Marketing Executives International and the Canton/Akron chapter of the American Marketing Association.
Clark recalled that she and her friend could only find one store that advertised in its window that it had Beanie Babies.
''They had only one little scraggly one. She looked at it and she was frustrated and said, 'These are so easy. We could make these.' She meant that we could go home and do a craft kit. But I heard something different,'' said Clark, who spoke from her office in St. Louis this morning before heading to Akron this afternoon.
Clark said she remembered how exciting field trips were when she was a child, so the idea started percolating that she could create a field-trip like experience in a mall.
When they got back to the house, the girl ''started getting the craft supplies and I went online to look at factories I could buy,'' said Clark, who also has the title of ''Chief Executive Bear'' of the company. ''That was the beginning of Build-A-Bear. Who would have thought that would have come from a shopping trip for a Beanie Baby?
''Some of your best ideas come when you're out there doing your regular stuff and you come across a need,'' said Clark, who had plenty of retail experience as president of the Payless ShoeSource from 1992 to 1996 and spent more than 19 years with May Co. Department Stores.
The company now has 321 company-owned stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France and 53 franchised stores in international locations, such as Australia, Japan, South Africa and Norway. Total revenue for the company for the fiscal year 2007 was $474 million and the company employs 1,200 full-time and 5,700 part-time employees.
Akron-area stores include Summit Mall and Westfield Belden Village.
Clark said she's always enjoyed being in Akron, having first come more than 30 years ago when she was with the May Co. and visiting the former O'Neil's store on Main Street.
''I always loved it and thought it was a great community,'' said Clark.
When asked how Northeast Ohio stores are faring in the economy, Clark said the Midwest always feels things such as rising gasoline prices, falling home values and rising costs of health insurance more.
''It's regular people who read the local paper and see about jobs and gasoline prices versus people in the big cities like New York and Chicago who aren't driving a car every day. Customers are impacted more,'' she said.
''It doesn't mean they don't go shopping. It just means they may go fewer times. Or sometimes they may trade down and go to an Applebee's instead of a fancy restaurant,'' Clark said. ''With stuffed animals, while we all need to have at least one, moms may say, 'Kids, the gasoline has gone up, let's just buy an outfit for the animal and buy an animal the next time.' ''
Clark said sales are still fairly steady for Build-A-Bear stuffed animals and accessories, but the company has also been working on giving customers a good value. Late last year, the company launched an interactive Web site, www.buildabearville.com,
where children can bring the stuffed animals to life and play games. All animals made since October have a special code to go on the site, but Clark said customers with animals made before October can go into a store for a special pass to start their online account.
When asked whether Build-A-Bear was building upon the success of Webkinz, stuffed animals popular with children that can also come to life online, Clark said she felt that Webkinz took the best of Beanie Babies and Build-a-Bear.
Clark also said her stuffed animals put more emphasis on the animal. ''It's not about a fad. The kids don't run in and get the latest one,'' she said. ''Our bears are going to college with their kids.''
But with the success of Build-A-Bear, Clark said she shares with audiences that when you have an idea, it takes time to expand it.
''Don't just think you can snap your fingers and something happens. It's the implementation of the ideas that turns it from something on a piece of paper into something successful.''
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@
thebeaconjournal.com.
Sometimes the best ideas are standing right in front of you and can come from a child, says the founder and chairman of Build-a-Bear Workshop.
Maxine Clark said she came upon the idea 11 years ago for her interactive retail stores, where customers make their own stuffed animals and can accessorize them with clothes and other items, when she was shopping in her hometown of St. Louis with a young 10-year-old friend.
The pair were out shopping for then-popular Beanie Babies, said Clark, who is scheduled to speak at 5:30 p.m. today at the Tangier to a joint event sponsored by the Akron chapter of the Sales and Marketing Executives International and the Canton/Akron chapter of the American Marketing Association.
Clark recalled that she and her friend could only find one store that advertised in its window that it had Beanie Babies.
''They had only one little scraggly one. She looked at it and she was frustrated and said, 'These are so easy. We could make these.' She meant that we could go home and do a craft kit. But I heard something different,'' said Clark, who spoke from her office in St. Louis this morning before heading to Akron this afternoon.
Clark said she remembered how exciting field trips were when she was a child, so the idea started percolating that she could create a field-trip like experience in a mall.
When they got back to the house, the girl ''started getting the craft supplies and I went online to look at factories I could buy,'' said Clark, who also has the title of ''Chief Executive Bear'' of the company. ''That was the beginning of Build-A-Bear. Who would have thought that would have come from a shopping trip for a Beanie Baby?
''Some of your best ideas come when you're out there doing your regular stuff and you come across a need,'' said Clark, who had plenty of retail experience as president of the Payless ShoeSource from 1992 to 1996 and spent more than 19 years with May Co. Department Stores.
The company now has 321 company-owned stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France and 53 franchised stores in international locations, such as Australia, Japan, South Africa and Norway. Total revenue for the company for the fiscal year 2007 was $474 million and the company employs 1,200 full-time and 5,700 part-time employees.
Akron-area stores include Summit Mall and Westfield Belden Village.
Clark said she's always enjoyed being in Akron, having first come more than 30 years ago when she was with the May Co. and visiting the former O'Neil's store on Main Street.
''I always loved it and thought it was a great community,'' said Clark.
When asked how Northeast Ohio stores are faring in the economy, Clark said the Midwest always feels things such as rising gasoline prices, falling home values and rising costs of health insurance more.
''It's regular people who read the local paper and see about jobs and gasoline prices versus people in the big cities like New York and Chicago who aren't driving a car every day. Customers are impacted more,'' she said.
''It doesn't mean they don't go shopping. It just means they may go fewer times. Or sometimes they may trade down and go to an Applebee's instead of a fancy restaurant,'' Clark said. ''With stuffed animals, while we all need to have at least one, moms may say, 'Kids, the gasoline has gone up, let's just buy an outfit for the animal and buy an animal the next time.' ''
Clark said sales are still fairly steady for Build-A-Bear stuffed animals and accessories, but the company has also been working on giving customers a good value. Late last year, the company launched an interactive Web site, www.buildabearville.com,
where children can bring the stuffed animals to life and play games. All animals made since October have a special code to go on the site, but Clark said customers with animals made before October can go into a store for a special pass to start their online account.
When asked whether Build-A-Bear was building upon the success of Webkinz, stuffed animals popular with children that can also come to life online, Clark said she felt that Webkinz took the best of Beanie Babies and Build-a-Bear.
Clark also said her stuffed animals put more emphasis on the animal. ''It's not about a fad. The kids don't run in and get the latest one,'' she said. ''Our bears are going to college with their kids.''
But with the success of Build-A-Bear, Clark said she shares with audiences that when you have an idea, it takes time to expand it.
''Don't just think you can snap your fingers and something happens. It's the implementation of the ideas that turns it from something on a piece of paper into something successful.''
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@
thebeaconjournal.com.
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