store manager

assistant manager

workshop manager

sales account manager

Build--a--bear-Workshop

A typical day at work would include, front of store greeting, bear stuffing, selling items on dress, helping with birth certificates and tills. You tend to do everything in a days work.
I learnt how to speak to customers and build friendships with co-workers.
We would be pushed into selling to the child. Not the parent. the child. We would be told we have to put a heartbeat in the kid's hands, we have to ask them if they want it. The phrase would be "and what sound/smell do you want in your bear today?" whilst putting the item into the child's hand. not asking the parent "would you like a smell/sound in the bear?". It just felt wrong. Another thing is putting clothes into a child's hand so the parent wouldn't say no or dressing the bear so a kid wouldn't want to take it off. It's horrible because 1. Your manager will pretend to be doing something near the stuffer and will listen to you and pull you up on it if you don't tell this child that they should have this over priced thing in their bear. And 2. You can tell if a parent really doesn't want to spend even more on products yet you still have to try to sell it.
All of the bear builders are lovely, you meet a lot of people who actually turn into your friends outside of work. It can be a fun environment although the same songs are played EVERYDAY. After a year you tend to drown them out. You are also told to always be smiling and happy which takes a big hit on how you feel mentally because it is emotionally draining to constantly look happy and act overly chirpy. 
My manager constantly talked about other staff members (and customers) rudely to other staff behind their backs. The assistant manager is lovely though. 
You can sometimes only get 4 hours a week and if you work anymore that week there is a chance you can be sent home if the store isn't busy even if you have only come in for 2 hours of your shift. You get minimum wage so an hour of that money is usually spent on travel there. Sometimes it just isn't worth it. 
Instead of holiday pay you get half an hour of pay on top of every 4 hours you work. 
The manager gets very annoyed if you get asked to do a shift the day of or night before and you say you have college or that you are already busy. Also she would text us on our personal numbers about shifts and things happening if you were in the following day but if you were to text her about a shift she would mention that it is her personal number and that it shouldn't be used for work related messages?
You are made to do parties with minimal training, you aren't paid any extra for parties and if a parent tries to give you a tip for the party then you aren't allowed to accept it.
The 30% off full priced items is pointless for our 'benefits'. Literally the only time it comes in partly handy is when it's your siblings birthday? 
You sometimes get weeks (usually around christmas) where staff get 50% off full priced items.

You tend to be hired if you look like a big sister/brother figure, build-a-bear aren't really into creative looks (odd hair colours, piercings etc).
Also with the hiring process the bear builders get quite a big say as to whether you progress or not. So try to be chatty. 

The best part about working there is the friendships that you make/the fridge usually has food and snacky bits and drinks.

The worst part is that the job is emotionally/mentally draining, the management isn't great and you have to sell items to the kids not the parents who are actually paying for the items.

Management within the shop are extremely helpful, understanding and can have a laugh with you when it is less busy, despite some exceptions. Although, I have had a few instances of being left in the dark and not having something explained to me, being treated as if I should already understand and made to feel a bit silly. Unfortunately, you do sometimes get difficult customers, but you’re bound to working in retail, but the easiest way to deal with them is ‘killing them with kindness’ and just put a smile on your face. I personally believe that BAB and Head Office have extremely high expectations, for example, when on stuff or till, you are required to upsell and push things onto adults/ parents when they clearly don’t want to or don’t care, and some of the time, customers can be nasty due to this. Aswell, Build-A-Bear really sells itself on great customer service, but sometimes it’s extremely difficult to do that especially if you are having a bit of a rubbish day, you have to try you’re very best to keep a big smile on your face as you are technically an entertainer, especially working with children. The pay is not great but as a teenager who is doing part-time and studying a-levels, it’s good to have on the side, however, I do feel as though sometimes I am overworked during holidays, being nearly on full time. I really do love the job as I, myself wish to work with children in the future as a career so this has made me feel much more comfortable and confident to work in that type of industry. If you work there, you have the opportunity to push yourself out there, which is something which I thrive well on, as I am running parties and entertaining children when I am scheduled to go inside the mascots, which would’ve never happened if it wasn’t for management supporting me when I became stressed and encouraging me to do it. Overall, it is a fantastic and enjoyable first job for those who have never worked before as it gives you a real understanding of working in retail. 

Firstly, BABW is one of the most fun places you could work, its relaxed and friendly. However it is also challenging as you have targets to meet such as trying to sell as many "add-ons" as you can. If you're a "Bear-Builder" which you will be unless you're management, then most of your shifts will be 4 hours each with occasional longer ones. You will be rotated each hour and placed on different stations. This is good as you are rarely ever bored as you're constantly moving and doing different things. It's an excitable place to work as the children's energy allows you to feel rewarded for making them happy. If you're reading this before deciding whether to work here then i strongly advise you don't if you're a shy person. Eventually you will be trained to host parties where you will need to shout, draw attention to yourself and ultimately be over the top excited. This job is very demanding when it comes to energy and confidence, it certainly isn't enjoyable with a hangover! In terms of money, it's not horrendous pay but by no means great. If you're looking for a full time job or a job that you need to help you pay for bills etc then this probably isnt for you. You're probably looking at taking about £300 in a month depending how much you earn. Which brings me on to the next factor. Weekday work is limited. They have about 2 bear builders working each day due to the slow amount of customers, meaning hours are tight. However, when it hits November, they're desperate for you to work. This is likely when you will earn most you're money as BABW is manic around Christmas with ques out of the door. Discount is decent, it's 30% always and twice a year you get 50% off (one is around Christmas too!). Overall, Build-A-Bear is a great place to work, it is the perfect place if you're looking for a first job and/or part-time job, but not good for anybody else unless you're interested in management.

it’s a fun job and definitely good for a first job as a teen but a lot is expected of you for so little pay. it can be physically and emotionally exhausting as you have to deal with all types of customers from little children to elder people (usually grandparents) with different types of expectations and personalities. usually you get rotated to different stations of the store but on busier and understaffed days you could be on the stuffer for 2-3 hours which heats up over time, making your body heat up and feel drained and exhausted, it can be hard to call it out to your manager/shift leader while on there.

your expected to send in your availability for the month at the very beginning but don’t get your schedule until a few days/a week before and it’s not even for the full month and makes it hard to plan your life outside of work and hard to get certain days off. 

however parties are very entertaining to do especially when you have a lot of energy and you have highly energetic kids,  usually a helper is with you for the party too. 

depending on the store manager, the teamwork is very good and there’s lots of opportunities for it such as training new employees and doing a double experience if the store is quiet. 

hours usually aren’t too bad and the typical bear builder doesn’t go over 6 hours per shift and you get a half an hour break but they are unpaid. 

discounts are generous with 30% usually and 55% off at selected times of the year, applies to family and friends and perfect to buy a small gift for someone.  

overall, it’s a decent job for those who enjoy working around children, looking for a part time job to pass them by while at school and want to work within an environment that keeps them active.

I worked for Build-A-Bear for 2 years, I started as a Christmas temp, it was an opportunity to be kept on and luckily I was.

Build-A-Bear is a company that encourages you to approach every customer and 'persuade them into buying'. For example, when you sit down to stuff someones bear, you CANNOT ask 'would you like a sound in it today' you have to ask 'what sound WOULD YOU LIKE in it today', which I find rude, you also cannot ask if they would like a scent in it, you have to ask 'what scent are we having and walk up to the scents, it's almost like you're selling to the child which is immoral. In the clothing section you are encouraged to bring clothes to the customer and tell them it would look AMAZING on it!

There are no security cameras in Build-A-Bear and shoplifters notice this, meaning that you can get very violet people and shoplifters in the store and little is done to prevent it.

Management will 'hide' near you or pretend to do something near you when you're with a customer to listen to every word you're saying which is off-putting. They also review you weekly and watch what you're doing however this is often incorrect as they will only note down what bad things they see you doing not positive things.

Pay is awful, especially for under 18's, it is £5.50 for under 18's which means that on one 4 hour shift (which is what shifts you are given,no more) one hour of pay is going on travel, for me any way.

I wouldn't recommend here if you don't have a severely upbeat personality. As with most jobs centering around young children and families, there's no room for a frown anywhere on shift.
That said, it definitely is one of the easiest jobs I've had, and they cater generously to the student schedule a lot of the staff adhere to. Just make sure to remind them and speak if there's a slip on the rota.
A definite case of patronising at times from management, which is never appreciated on any job, but if you do your job well (and again, it isn't a hard job) you'll form strong bonds with management and floor staff alike.
My only serious con is the ever-agonizing way the rota is never concreted. The photos taking up space on my phone from taking new photos of the same rota every single day because it changes every five minutes is definitely a bit annoying. I've heard long-time staff members get frustrated about it, also. There are staff who have been reprimanded for not showing for a shift they got given last minute and weren't contacted about, while having had no opportunity to see the rota and find out, otherwise. This didn't happen often, thankfully, but it takes a great deal of self discipline to not lose your temper when it does, and this is something that's needed fixed for a few years now - to no avail.

I was looking forward to working here during uni, seemed like a more casual job which I could actually enjoy. The contract you get given is 8-40 hours as a bear builder, meaning you could work as little as 8 hours a week but the most you were likely to get given is 20. Sometimes I would be given 4 hour shifts which were pointless but management love as they don't need to give you a break. They would let you know your shifts super late, changing them last minute- often ignoring your availability as a student. The preferred shifts were given to the favourites & if you weren't a favourite, you would be sat on the stuffer for a seemingly endless amount of time. Such a high turnover of staff.

You would also be made to upsell everything, which morally felt corrupt as the main consumers are children. These ranged from adding a scent to clothes to sounds etc. It felt very uncomfortable trying to guilt trip parents into buying a sound for the bear after making the child pick one out & only mentioning the price after the child had decided on it. The bears are already so expensive that you felt awful trying to upsell more to them. Management track their % of sales of these upsells & each day need to reach a certain % so will hound you if they don't hear you mentioning these upsells. You get a staff discount but that's about it. 

I would avoid to be honest 
There's 5 stations and different standards you have to not only meet but exceed on then if you don't meet your goals then your made to feel bad but to be honest I was felt bad for the guest because its add on and add on after add on its ridiculous. Your expected to do alot of work and only get paid minium for it aswell as that the hours are very inconsistent its a 4 to 40 contact (no-one ever gets 40 hours) so one week you could be doing 4 hours the next 20. The company also encourages managers to cut hours so if its quite they'll send you home which is okay on occasion but there's been some weeks where I've been sent home after being there 1 or 2 hours for the whole week. There's alot of pressure to hit plan for the day so that managers get there bonus' meanwhile the bear builders get nothing even though they've done all the hard work. Oh and the company claim to have heart and be a caring buisness however I had a complaint with a manager which went to HR and they couldn't care less about the bear builders just management.
Also because they're such small stores with no alot of staff if you call sick your made to feel guilty for being ill.


I had such a great time working at build a bear. The management and team as a whole were supportive and friendly, being very understanding during extenuating circumstances. The days had a decent amount of variety, being on the stuffing machine, the tills, preparing orders, etc. I was quite worried about the training beforehand, but I was really surprised by how easy everything is to pick up and how well the management trained me. During the weekend the shifts went reasonably quickly and were quite enjoyable due to the steady flow of customers to interact with. Only thing I'd say is the weekday shifts can really drag during school time. You run out of things to do VERY quickly. Also, since you're interacting with young kids and families and expected to create a special experience for everyone, it can REALLY drain your social battery. I found by the ends of shifts I'd sometimes need the night on my own to recharge. If you're a hardcore introvert it's gonna take a bit out of you but you'll get used to it and enjoy it! And if you're an extrovert, you'll love it! Lots of fun interactions with plenty of interesting people.

Similar duties to other retail jobs. There are fairly high targets to meet but you're not punished if they're not met which is nice. I had a great management team who weren't too hard on the workers and were accommodating of extra curricular activities and shift patterns. 

They don't pay more than minimum wage however and unfortunately the general public tend to treat the place as a creche just because it's a toy shop. The constant kids tunes soon become grating and it's a bit frustrating having to constantly do children's birthday parties and not receive anymore money for them, despite the extra work. 

However, management are good at praising the workers with cards and prizes on a pretty regular basis. It's nice to feel appreciated. There's not much career progression as you need to wait for somebody above you to leave and most managers have been in those positions for 10+ years so not much sign of moving up. Fairly typical for the job though. 

A pretty good place to work as something extra or as a student etc but maybe not the best permanent solution.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Store manager 1 salary reported	£30,500 per year
Assistant manager 1 salary reported	£17,500 per year
Workshop manager 1 salary reported	£17,000 per year
Sales account manager 1 salary reported	£17.23 per hour

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