Build-A-Bear Tries to Bounce Back From Its 'Pay Your Age' Fiasco

CEO says no one could have predicted the crowd sizes

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It started out innocently enough, as such things often do. Build-A-Bear Workshop declared Thursday “Pay Your Age Day,” meaning customers could come in and build a bear at its workshops across the U.S., Canada and the U.K. for the price of their age. A standard Build-A-Bear creation can carry a price tag of $50, even before add-ons. What the company did not anticipate was a Black Friday-esque debacle, replete with law enforcement getting called in to quell the unrest.

“We ‘heart’ birthdays at Build-A-Bear, so we’re hosting the Pay Your Age Day to launch our year-round ‘Count Your Candles’ offer for Guests celebrating a birthday with us in stores—an experience we designed especially to commemorate birthdays in a memorable way,” said Build-A-Bear Workshop president and CEO Sharon Price John in a statement leading up to the day.

And

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