Build-A-Bear is a money-making machine

This was not the stuffing we expected to be talking about during the back half of November.

Click here to read the story at thehustle.co.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is a retailer?
2. What kind of business is Build-A-Bear?
3. How does Build-A-Bear make money?
4. What is profit?
5. According to this story, is Build-A-Bear profitable?
6. In 2012, the company lost more than $25 million. Based on what you learned in this news story, how do you think the company was able to turn things around?
7. According to this news story, 80% of visits were planned with Build-A-Bear as the destination. How do you think marketing has helped the company to become a retail destination?
8. What is positioning?
9. How would you describe the company’s positioning strategy?
10. Who do you think might represent the company’s target market?
11. What is digital marketing?
12. How might a company website be used for marketing?
13. According to this story, the company has a redesigned website. How has that translated to sales?
14. What is e-commerce?
15. How has e-commerce helped Build-A-Bear to grow?
16. What is licensing?
17. Why is licensing important to Build-A-Bear?
18. Based on this news story, what are some examples of characters that Build-A-Bear has licenses for?
19. What is one example of one of its own characters that Build-A-Bear is creating?
20. Why might that be important to the company’s continued growth?