Build-A-Bear Workshop eCommerce Sales Slow Down Significantly in Fiscal 2021

Investors didn’t respond kindly to Build-A-Bear’s fiscal 2021 earnings report Thursday (March 10), dropping its stock about 15% in early trading after the company said its eCommerce business jumped only slightly in Q4 and store closures hampered the business for most of the three months.

For Q4 ending Jan. 29, 2022, consolidated eCommerce demand (orders generated online to be fulfilled from either the company’s warehouse or its stores) increased 3.5% compared to Q4 of fiscal 2020, a penetration of 20.7% of net retail sales. Build-A-Bear’s eCommerce demand increased 114.7% compared to Q4 in fiscal 2019.

“We attribute the majority of our positive performance to the cumulative effect of the disciplined execution of a multi-year strategy to elevate and monetize our iconic brand even with external pressures that have reshaped consumer shopping habits,” said Sharon Price John, Build-A-Bear Workshop president and chief executive officer, in the company announcement.

The company continues to “evolve into a digitally driven, diversified omnichannel entity enhanced by a dynamic and efficient vertical retail presence with a solid financial position to invest in growth initiatives,” she said.

Build-A-Bear also kicked off its 25th anniversary celebration at the beginning of 2022.

“While we recognize that the external environment remains volatile with ongoing inflationary pressure, we believe we have the building blocks in place to drive further profitable growth to continue to enhance shareholder value,” said Price John.

Build-A-Bear’s third-party retail model returned to some sense of stability as the COVID-19 pandemic became less of a global threat and locations associated with Carnival Cruise Lines, Great Wolf Lodge Resorts, Landry’s and Beaches Family Resorts were mostly reopened.

Several of BBW’s international franchise locations continued to be negatively impacted by the pandemic, with closures or restrictions in place for some parts of fiscal 2021.

Related: Build-A-Bear Workshop Rolls Out Online Program ‘Workshop Wednesdays’

In April, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. debuted its Workshop Wednesdays online program, designed to provide activities, recipes for snacks, coloring sheets, story times and an online bear builder.

Build-A-Bear has 346 stores around the world, where customers can customize products, with corporately managed locations in the U.S., U.K., Canada and China, among other countries.