Build-A-Bear, the 11-year-old company where customers create customized stuffed toys, reported a $2-million net loss on its Q3 earnings call yesterday.
$1.7 million of the loss was attributed to the shutdown of its closing down its Friends 2B doll business. The company is now focusing on expanding its core operations: Build-A-Bear retail stores, the website and virtual world BuildaBearville.com.
Retail offerings collection will include four $12-bears in addition to six bear options priced at $10, said Maxine Clark, Build-A-Bear's founder, chairman and CEO. Of course, extra items — bear outfits, sound effects — will likely bring the price over twice that amount. Sponsored clothing, like a fuchsia Hannah Montana outfit, for example, can sometimes run up to $20.
Pointing to the negative impact of the economy on retail sales, Clark emphasized promotion of Build-A-Bearville (population: 6 million), a virtual world where bear buyers can interact with furry friends and spend money on virtual items.
To monetize the virtual world, Build-A-Bear will sell $10 Bear Build game cards, which provide players with 10,000 "Bear Builds" to spend on virtual items and virtual transportation: a hoverboard or propeller hat, for example.
In addition to virtual goods, Build-A-Bear expects to generate more revenue from add-on experiences and spaces in Build-A-Bearville, as well as other value options per retail purchase, Clark added.
As gas prices rise and shoppers buckle down, people increasingly turn to online shopping for entertainment and discretionary spending. But in the case of virtual worlds, brick-and-mortar retailers have discovered their true merits lie in whether they can send users back into stores, reports Virtual World News.
"If people engage, we are finding that it does give us a chance to let them know what's happening in our stores and drive that traffic back into our stores," explained Dory Krueger, Managing Director of Strategic Planning.
After Mattel's successful launch of Barbie.com and the popularity of kid-focused Webkinz and Club Penguin in the past several years, retailers began casting an acquisitory eye in the direction of other solvent virtual opps.
