Press Release

Company celebrates Grand Opening by donating stuffed animals to Ronald McDonald House

ST. LOUIS (Dec. 6, 2010) –Build-A-Bear Workshop®, the interactive retailer of customized stuffed animals announced today that it is opening a new store at Las Americas Premium Outlets in time for the Christmas season. Opening Dec. 10, the store will make the experience of Build-A-Bear Workshop available to many more holiday shoppers this season and give customers the chance to discover the fun of making their own stuffed animals and great personalized gifts.

“We are excited to spread teddy bear hugs to San Diego with the store opening at Las Americas Premium Outlets,” said Maxine Clark, founder and chief executive bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop. “Build-A-Bear Workshop is a unique place for gift giving and celebrating important occasions throughout the year. During the holidays, our stores offer great seasonal merchandise and become extra special for kids of all ages.”

The company will be celebrating the Las Americas Premium Outlets store grand opening with special events including:

Fri., Dec. 10, 2010
Grand Opening of Build-A-Bear Workshop
8:00-9:00 a.m. ·

• Local children make the first stuffed animals to donate to Toys for Tots.
·
• Ribbon-cutting with Bearemy®, the company’s huggable mascot.

Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010
Stuffed with Hugs
9:00 a.m. ·

• First 100 Guests to the new Build-A-Bear Workshop store can make a special stuffed animal for free to donate to Ronald McDonald House, which will help distribute the stuffed animals to children in need of a teddy bear hug.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is based on the premise that nearly everyone, regardless of age, has a special fondness for stuffed animals. When Guests visit a Build-A-Bear Workshop store, they enter a lighthearted teddy-bear-themed environment. Guests choose from over 30 stuffed animals to make, including bears, dogs, cats, bunnies, monkeys and a series of Beary Limited® edition Collectibear® animals. They stuff their new friend, give it a heart filled with wishes – a Build-A-Bear Workshop trademark – and make a personalized birth certificate. Guests can further personalize their new friend by recording their own message to add inside the animal and choosing from a wide selection of unique fashions and accessories.

The fun doesn’t stop when a Guest leaves the store. Guests can now experience more fun and play at home in buildabearville.com®. Each stuffed animal’s birth certificate contains a code that allows Guests to bring their new best friend to life for free in the company’s virtual world. In this world stuffed with fun, Guests can create their own unique character, play games and quests to earn Bear Bills® (the in-world currency), purchase clothing and furniture for their Cub Condo® and even trade items they have created or acquired with other citizens in the world. Membership to the site is free and does not expire.

About Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is the only global company that offers an interactive make-your-own stuffed animal retail-entertainment experience. The company currently operates more than 400 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide, including company-owned stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France, and franchise stores in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and Mexico. Founded in St. Louis in 1997, Build-A-Bear Workshop is the leader in interactive retail. Brands include make-your-own Major League Baseball® mascot in-stadium locations, and Build-A-Dino® stores. Build-A-Bear Workshop extends its in-store interactive experience online with its award winning virtual world Web site at buildabearville.com®. The company was named to the 2009 and 2010 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® lists. Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) posted total revenue of $394.4 million in fiscal 2009. For more information, call 888.560.BEAR (2327) or visit the company's award-winning Web site at buildabear.com®.

Parental permission may be required to access buildabearville.com. Visit buildabearville.com for details.

TRADEMARKS
We would like to thank you for your interest in covering our business. As you write your story, we would ask that you use our full Name: Build-A-Bear Workshop and that when referencing the process of making stuffed animals you use the word “make” not “build”.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is our well-known trade name and our registered trademark of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. Build-A-Bear Workshop should only be used in capital letters to refer to our products and services and should not be used as a verb.

Note: Parental permission may be required to access buildabearville.com. Visit buildabearville.com for details.

Contact:
Jill Saunders
314-423-8000 ext. 5293
314-422-4523 (cell)
jills@buildabear.com

Shannon Lammert
314-423-8000 ext. 5379
314-556-8841 (cell)
shannonl@buildabear.com