Press Release
The Joe Torre Safe At Home™ Foundation and Build-A-Bear Workshop® Team Up to Make Bears for Children Affected by Domestic Violence
WHO: Joe Torre and the Joe Torre Safe At Home™ Foundation Build-A-Bear Workshop® Guests
WHAT: On Saturday, September 24, the first 500 Guests into the Build-A-Bear Workshop store in Manhattan will be invited to make a free Stuffed with Hugs™ bear that will be donated to the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation. These bears will be given to children that have been affected by domestic violence.
WHERE: Build-A-Bear Workshop
5th Avenue and 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
WHEN: Friday, September 23, 2005
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Press Arrival: 10:30 am
• Joe Torre and his wife, Ali, will be at Build-A-Bear Workshop to make the first bears that will be donated to the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Stuffed with Hugs
10:00 am
• The first 500 Guests to the Build-A-Bear Workshop store in Manhattan can make a free bear to donate to children affected by domestic violence.
WHY: As part of the company's commitment to helping children, Build-A-Bear Workshop invites their Guests to participate in Stuffed with Hugs™ and give the hug of a teddy bear to children in need.
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:
• Joe Torre, Chairman, Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation and Manager of the New York Yankees
• Build-A-Bear Workshop® representative
About the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation
Joe Torre's personal commitment to the issue of domestic violence stems from the fear he lived with growing up as a child in Brooklyn. Spurred by the abuse he witnessed and endured, Torre and his wife, Ali, have created the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation – in memory of Joe's mother, Margaret. The Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that all children have an opportunity to grow up in a safe and abuse-free environment. Its goal is to raise awareness and to develop educational programs aimed at ending the cycle of domestic violence and saving lives. For more information about the Foundation, please visit www.joetorre.org.
About Build-A-Bear Workshop
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW), with fiscal 2004 total revenue of $302 million, is the only national company that offers Guests an interactive make-your-own-stuffed animal retail-entertainment experience. The first store opened in St. Louis in 1997; the company currently operates over 190 stores in the United States and Canada. With the opening of its store in Sheffield, England, in the fall of 2003 and the addition of international stores in Japan, Denmark, Australia, South Korea and France, Build-A-Bear Workshop has become the global leader in the teddy bear business. In November 2004, the company opened two friends 2B made® stores, the newest concept based on the doll-making experience. For more information about the company and its products, call 888.560.BEAR (2327) or visit the company's award-winning web site at www.buildabear.com.
Media Contacts:
Deborah Sternberg
Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation
(212) 576-2700, x235
(917) 921-1821 (cell)
dsternberg@goodmanmedia.com
Shawn Bertani
Build-A-Bear Workshop
(314) 423-8000, x5366
(314) 452-6391 (cell)
shawnb@buildabear.com