The hell that is Build-a-Bear.

[Orangeanddemons]

Because it is he'll.

A queue that doesn't move. At. All.
Just when the queue seems to get smaller you realise that the family in front has 3 children to do.
The yoofs who stuff them. Clearly on minimum wage
The joy of creating the birth certificate whilst a million other people are shoving and pushing round you.
The queue for the till. As above.
The joy of receiving the birth certificate and noting that it is signed by the founder. Who is raking it in. A charming touch.

Just....

[LadyIsabellasHollyWreath]

I think the staff are normally pretty good. If you're of a soppy disposition then it's probably quite a fun job despite the shit wages, sure beats frying chips for drunks at Chicken Shack.

[VoodooChimp]

Yes the design a bear clothes definitely fit build a bears. I doubt they'd fit the more unusually shaped ones like ponies or reindeers, but they defo fit the ordinary bears/rabbits/cats.

We have that furby costume orangesandlemons DD's cute little bunny rabbit is currently dressed as an evil purple furby

[Chippednailvarnish]

I think I'd be sullen if I was nearing retirement age and my career had ended with me in a Build a Bear branch stuffing Ursidaes (is that the right term?).

Does anyone know if the Argos "Design a Bear" range clothing fit the bears from "build-a-bear"? Or am I being sucked in by the alleged uniqueness of Build-a-bear?

[EddieVeddersfoxymop]

Our local Build a bear seems to be entirely staffed by old men......

It's very strange to see a chap in his 50s, with a bear strapped to his back in some sort of sling, pretending that he gives a shiny shite which outfit you've chosen for your stuffed bear. My DD is scared of men him and it puts her off going in, which is a crying shame as she loves dressing her bears. He's there all the time, along with other blokes who all share the same sullen, kill me now expression. Where are all the bouncy young things studentsto enthuse the kids and con the parents?

[Hoppinggreen]

The staff are great in there but I remember going once and as we queued up with our hello kitty or cat, or dog, or rabbit ( no idea which one as we've got them all) me nd DD noticed that the rather camp gentleman on the till was wearing EXACTLY the same outfit as the bear displayed on the counter!!! Serious fit of the giggles from both of us. I actually asked if the outfits came in human size but he just looked at me blankly
By the way it was trousers and a shirt -- not Tinkerbell, but very funny even so

[Orangeanddemons]

Omg. I have just looked at Argos, there is a design a bear Furby dress up outfit on there.

I need to lie down. 2 nightmares together.

[17leftfeet]

We got trapped once

Dd got vouches for her birthday which is the week before Christmas -picked her bear and got in the stuffing queue
One of the assistants then started talking to dd and wrote her name on the label and asked what the bear was called and wrote that on the label too

Well we were past the point of no return by that point

I have MS and can only stand pain free for 20 minutes or so -we were there for an hour and 20 sodding minutes!!

[notallwhowander]

Think build a bear is definitely on a par with soft play on the parent torture scale...

[notallwhowander]

Tu

[makemineabacardi]

FIL bought DD a build-a-bear for her birthday but without any clothes cheapskate. Now every time we walk past the bloody shop she starts pestering about her 'poor naked teddy'. I refuse to set foot in there even if secretly I'd love a My Little Pony .

And the bastard (bear, not FIL) has a small hole in it. How close it must have come to exploding...

[VoodooChimp]

6 yo DD loves her Build A Bear teddies but I agree the shop is hellish and the clothes are overpriced.

Top tip for BAB fans: you can get clothes and accessories from Argos that fit the Build a Bear teddies perfectly, and are loads cheaper especially in the sale. They're called design a bear.

[WireCatGlitteryBaubles]

Oh my god, Build a Bear is HELL.

I was in the Westfield Stratford branch at the end of November.

My ds2 loves Pudsey Bear so I decided to get him one for Christmas.

Joined the queue.

There was also a children's party going on. On the shop floor. Very noisy.

They then shut one of the 2 stuffing stations to use for the party. The people in front had loads of bears. And the stuffers did all the usual questions etc...

But the assistants were also going up & down the queue trying to add extras to the bears, like sounds and stuff. The woman in front was getting quite annoyed as she didn't want any extras but her boy was enticed.

By the time we left the shop, I was a sweaty lump & needed a drink.

Every time I go to the shop I say it's the last time I will ever go.

It was worth it though, ds2 loves his Pudsey.

[Purplepoodle]

Went in one when it first opened near where we live with ds1,2 in tow, in buggy so must have been quite young.

Little creeped out by unstuffed toys, then looked at the prices for outfits ect, eyes watered and made a swift exit. No soft toy is worth that amount of money.

Sorry exploding bear made me laugh but probably so awful for your dd at the time.

Beating heart?!? Now I'm just creeped out.

[GhostsInSnow]

We were in LA when DD discovered BAB. This presented us with a couple of issues. 1. She had lots of money she'd saved up 2. She loved the place.

Between LA, San Deigo and Vegas she cleaned out all the BAB's to the point we had to buy an additional suitcase to get the bloody stuff back. Katie the Panda had pirate outfits and mouse ears from Disneyland, Anaheim Angels baseball outfits and even a ruddy car.
She's 16 now, Katie still sits on the end of her bed and every now and again she'll change her outfit.

I spent more time in BAB USA than anywhere else so for that reason alone YANBU.

[TheNightIsDark]

DD has Pinkie Pie. It's lovely

Naked though. As a pony should be.

[Tubemole1]

Exploding bear!

So sorry but that's an image which will stay with me a long time!

[womblesofwestminster]

Yeah, the exploding bears are one thing, but WTF is up with the prices???!!!

I wanted a MLP but I'm not paying £40 for one.

[VikingVagine]

Oh, found it!

[VikingVagine]

I remember a thread a while back discussing a site where you could order a package for birthday parties (a load of ready to stuff toys and accessories to do at home), a quick google search hasn't been fruitful, can anyone remember the name?

[MadeOfStarDust]

my girls were very sensible - "Bears don't wear clothes - how would they do the buttons up??"

So we have 2 bears that growl but don't wear clothes (other than the babygrows they had when little if "pretending")

[oldgrandmama]

Oh, grrrrrr ... took two of the grandkids to a famous toy store. Said they could choose something each, price limit a tenner. Then grandkid one saw the Build a Bear concession and that was it ... both little girls were desperate for one of the bloody things. So I weakened (said it would be early Christmas present). Older girl chose a bear, sparkly shoes, roller skates (!), frock. Her little sister was taken with a sodding thing that was meant to be a unicorn. Of course she wanted the clothes, shoes, roller skates ...

By now I was worn out (I'm in my seventies, dodgy hips), so I asked the Build A Bear assistant to help select dress for the unicorn (she was a very nice girl, by the way). We grabbed one of the dresses she showed us, then queued up for stuffing, birth certificate, thing that makes the animal 'speak', god knows what else. Cost of the things eyewatering and I was toying with saying they were not just early Christmas presents, but birthday presents too (I didn't).

Got the kids and toys back. Older child dressed her bear, very happy with it. BUT there was NO way we could get the dress onto the unicorn - it just wouldn't work. I had to tell child that that's how unicorns wear clothes (I had to sort of lay dress on its back, with hoofs forced through two sleeves) and don't think she was convinced, even though she's only three.

I did think of taking unicorn and dress back to store but couldn't face it.

[LuciusMalfoyisSmokingHot]

That exploding bear has made laugh so much.

Put seriously, i hate build a bear, expensive, crowded and crap.

[Spinkle]

We love Build a Bear. But we never go on busy days.

My DS (9) has ASD and never liked soft toys much. We took him in there and the staff were lovely with him (sometimes I have to have a quick word about his ASD but didn't on this occasion) He built a bear! Small thing to parents with average kids but meant the world to us. That bear is now very very important to him and he goes everywhere with him and is his good friend.

So to us Build a Bear is a very positive thing.

[FamiliesShareGerms]

DS loved his Build-a-Bear party when he was five, as did all the other friends. They were there at the very start of the day and were the only ones in the shop and they treated them all so well. Also great re keeping to the budget we set ahead.

Best bit of the party? No party bag needed...

[sashh]

Skrifa

Maybe she is going to torture it like Alan B'Stard in the new statesman