Build-A-Bear reviews

3.8

59% would recommend to a friend

(1,769 total reviews)

Sharon John

60% approve of CEO

51% positive business outlook

Build-A-Bear has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 1,769 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Build-A-Bear employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

2K reviews
4.0
Oct 8, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's fun to work at build-a-bear, pretty easy. Easy to move up. Learn how to talk to people, interact with guests of all ages. I learned a lot about how to talk with kids (useful thing for any job or just in life)

Cons

When management would push me to sell more things, I felt it was silly for parents to be spending $300 on a bear just to avoid temper tantrums. Equity isn't there, you work hard and don't get paid well.

2.0
May 6, 2013

Not Warm and Fuzzy

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Has the potential to be a great place to work. - Get to have fun and be silly with the customers. - Get paid on your Birthday without coming to work!

Cons

In a word: the management. It's possible that other Build-A-Bear locations are awesome but the head-manager at the place that I worked made the atmosphere nearly unbearable. She has unrealistic expectations and becomes furious when they aren't met, which is most of the time. I'm a straight-A college student, a hard-worker, and I would still be reprimanded on a daily basis. The drive to push sound sales and to force people to sign up for our rewards program became a huge source of stress. The store has had to hire a new set of bear-builders at least once every year because of how many people can't stand the negative atmosphere anymore and quit. Other minor cons include being "On-call" for shifts and having to push products such as sounds/heartbeats that don't work well. Also, large flagship stores have to deal with unavoidable long lines during the holidays and as a result, aggravated customers.

5.0
Aug 25, 2012

Wonderful 3 years

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

A lot of fun, great people to work with, not to hard. Parties can be difficult if you aren't comfortable with kids and all that goes into the parties.

Cons

Retail hours Could have been paid better not enough hours at the end.

Viewing 43 - 45 of 1,769 Reviews

Glassdoor has 1,850 Build-A-Bear reviews submitted anonymously by Build-A-Bear employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Build-A-Bear is right for you.