Two Beloved Toy Companies 'Add a Little More
Heart' with the First Build-A-Bear Experience in Milan
ST.
LOUIS, Sept. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --
Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) is thrilled to announce its
partnership with the franchise, Giochi Preziosi, on the opening of
the first Build-A-Bear location in Milan,
Italy. The new location will be in the Hamleys at the Corso
Vittorio Emanuele II, and will be operated by Giochi Preziosi. The
partnership aims to bring even more joy and heartwarming
experiences to guests and tourists in Milan. This will be the first Build-A-Bear
location in Italy, and the first
opening in partnership with Giochi Preziosi, with additional stores
planned for the future.
This will be the first Build-A-Bear
location in Italy with additional
stores planned for the future.
The Build-A-Bear experience will provide guests with the
opportunity to create their own unique furry friends. From
participating in the iconic heart ceremony to choosing from a wide
assortment of accessories, this location promises an unforgettable
bear-building experience for children, teens, and adults alike.
"We are thrilled to bring to Build-A-Bear to Milan and in a beautiful and historic shopping
gallery, where we can serve even more guests from around the world,
and be part of creating special memories for them," said
Chris Hurt, Chief Operations Officer
at Build-A-Bear. "This location and our partnership with Giochi
Preziosi, is an example of our commitment to continued
international growth. As a global brand, we strive to find
opportunities to bring our renowned bear-building experience to
more locations."
Hamleys Milan is situated in the heart of Milan, at the renowned Corso Vittorio Emanuele
II, a well-known bustling thoroughfare adjacent to the historic
cathedrals of Piazza del Duomo and Piazza San Babila.
At Build-A-Bear Workshop, kids — and kids at heart — engage in a
hands-on entertaining process to create their very own,
personalized furry friends. The experience begins by choosing from
a wide array of plush animals and then stuffing them with love with
the assistance of a BEAR BUILDER® associate including
participating in Build-A-Bear's iconic Heart Ceremony. A wide range
of clothing and accessories allows each new friend to be customized
and unique. The process completes when Guests fill out a birth
certificate and then take the new furry friend home. The personal
nature of the interactive experience often fosters a lasting and
emotional brand connection.
ABOUT BUILD-A-BEAR
Build-A-Bear is a
multi-generational global brand focused on its mission to "add a
little more heart to life" appealing to a wide array of consumer
groups who enjoy the personal expression in making their own "furry
friends" to celebrate and commemorate life moments. Nearly 500
interactive brick-and-mortar experience locations operated through
a variety of formats provide guests of all ages a hands-on
entertaining experience, which often fosters a lasting and
emotional brand connection. The company also offers engaging
e-commerce/digital purchasing experiences on
buildabear.co.uk including its online, age-gated,
adult-focused "Bear Cave". In addition, extending its brand power
beyond retail, Build-A-Bear Entertainment, a subsidiary of
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., is dedicated to creating engaging
content for kids and adults that fulfills the company's mission,
while the company also offers products at wholesale and in
non-plush consumer categories via licensing agreements with leading
manufacturers.
ABOUT GIOCHI PREZIOSI
The GP Group was founded in 1978
by Enrico Preziosi as a wholesale
distributor of traditional toys. It subsequently began the
exclusive distributor of leading international toy manufacturers.
The first transformation of GP Group took place after a few years:
when the group began selling of internally developed toys. Later
on, the group gained accreditation with the main worldwide
licensors for the distribution of toy lines connected to famous
children's cartoons and films. Finally, by exploiting and
capitalizing on the experience gained in distribution activities
and in the development of its properties, GP Group became one of
the main partners of the international entertainment companies for
developing master toy licenses at the European level.
GP Group currently is one of the European market leaders for
traditional toys. It has strengthened its position through the
acquisition of the Spanish market leader, the Famosa Group. GP
Group is made up of more than 30 legal entities and operates in 6
European countries, in addition to Turkey and Mexico, through its subsidiaries. The group
serves the rest of the world via local distributors. GP Group
currently holds franchising agreements with around 400 Italian toy
stores operating under the own trademark "Giocheria" and during the
last two years, in the context of a development retail business
project, has opened 5 direct stores under the trademark "Giochi
Preziosi" and "Giocheria" in some of the main Italian cities.
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SOURCE Build-A-Bear Workshop