Sharon Price, CEO of Build-A Bear Workshop BBW, said in an interview on Yahoo Finance Live that BBW is tapping into teens and adults in an effort to boost sales.
Price said that as consumers cut back on discretionary spending elsewhere, the importance of celebrations and memory making is still high as consumers want to be a little lighthearted and have some fun together. The end game: Build-A Bear fans purchasing more gifts and collectibles.
She said it's a big trend. Adult consumers want to reconnect with their inner child.
Such offerings are intended for an audience of 18 years of age and older. The After Dark lineup now makes up a growing part of the chain's business. We expanded our addressable market. 40% of our sales are teens and adults with collectibles and gifting, Price said.
Net sales were $138.2 million, up 10% from the same quarter a year ago, according to the latest quarter of Build-A Bear Workshop.
The Bear Cave collection includes themed teddy bears for St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, 21st birthdays, Happy Hour and Spring Break, among others. It also includes Collabs, which are a huge draw-in for older customers with 75 different licenses to create bears tied to pop culture, including Pok mon, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Super Mario, Peeps, Disney and most recently, Ted Lasso.
An older audience also means a boost to online sales. In a call with investors, Price said that the e-commerce business tends to over-index with the older teen and adult consumer who have diverse product and participations. It's more important to give a gift for more than just kids' birthdays and collectibles. Price told Yahoo Finance that the older consumer wants to do the most frictionless, fewer clicks. Another plus of bears for adults is the ability to set higher prices. There is a broader range of price options for the chain to implement, because they're targeted toward the older consumer, like Harry Potter or Ted Lasso. The Ted Lasso Bear Bundle can be purchased for more than $60.
CEO Price said that Build-A Bear tries to keep costs lower with children. She said that they want to be accessible to their kid consumers, with a low entry level price point, like its Birthday Treat Bear.
She said that because the company is a vertical retailer, it makes everything from start to finish. Price said that it is able to control what it charges with a lot of price discretion.
The investors should be happy. The S&P 500 GSPC, which is down more than 10%, increased nearly 35% compared to last year.
Brooke DiPalma is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at BrookeDiPalma or email her at bdipalma yahoofinance.com.