Build-a-Bear Workshop

I visited this location on january eighteenth at around 145 pm. From the moment i walked in with my daughter it was a magical experience. First we were greated by Amy who was very friendly. My daughter had a build a bear catalog she had received in the mail and showed it to her because there was a particular bear she wanted. It was an off white color bear. So Amy went to the back and got the bear pristine condition untouched! So we proceeded to get the bear stuff at the stuff station where we met Karen who was also extremely friendly. Then Amy comes over and hands my daughter a coupon. At this point I would like to recommend this lady for a promotion lol. The store itself was not crowded and had a calm vibe. Which is not usual for midtown Manhattan but this place is an Oasis. So it was a great experience for both my daughter and I ! I would like to thank everyone who helped us. It was a great help to have the coupon. The only thing that I found was that this location is a lot smaller than the Rockafeller Center location on 5^th ave. But then again that location is also very crowded. We did find exactly what we were looking for. Everything was neat and organized easy to find. You could actually see things from a distance because things were merchandised perfectly. This store is new at the Empire State building so I assume it will only get better! After all that is what build a bear is all about one exciting thing after the next! We love this place!

I visited the Build a Bear location in the Empire State Building. This location is a lot smaller a very mediocre. I also really don’t understand why a location that throws parties for kids not have a bathroom!!!

I went with my 7 year old daughter and 4 year old boy, They get to build a cute little furry creature, stuff it, name it, and dress it, all for a fairly reasonable price.(Can easily be less than 30 bucks). Employees were fairly friendly and helpful and made the place fun…
If i could give one criticism it that I did spend 50 buckes for 2 kids it took way to fast the whole process less then half hour…
It recently moved to the Empire state building.

We attempted to visit the 5^th Ave flagship and discovered that it had moved to the Empire State Building.
The façade looked nice, but the store itself was much smaller than I expected and there was very little in the way of selection. The cashier wanted to ring up our order when we had literally just walked in the door — we hadn’t chosen anything yet. No other employees greeted us or offered to assist us at all.
Fortunately my daughter is easily pleased and fell in love with a pre-​stuffed sparkly pink cat and didn’t care one bit about the building experience. We bought the cat and two accessories for it and left. Sad that we didn’t get to have the flagship store experience I read about online, but my kid is thrilled anyway, so I’ll call it even.

Confession: I have a teddy bear collection. It’s both dorky and awesome.
I try to pick up a new teddy bear any time I travel. When we were in the city in April, we walked by Build-​a-​Bear, and I figured this was as good a place as any to pick up a New York bear. I saw the bear I wanted as soon as we walked in, and quickly found him a cute New York hoodie. The stuffing process was kind of fun, and the «heart tradition» was cheesy but cute. Checking out was fast and easy, and everyone we talked to was friendly.
This is almost definitely the most expensive bear in my collection, but what else would you expect at what apparently is the world’s largest Build-​a-​Bear Workshop? I usually only buy one bear per city so I probably won’t be back to shop for myself, but it’s a fun shopping spot for kids or kids-​at-​heart.

Lapin and I came here after the Guerlain spa as it was right in the neighborhood. We thought it would have been cute to celebrate our anniversary with a cute memento that we created together. Lapin wanted to create a minion (Despicable Me) and I wanted Toothless (from How to Train Your Dragon). Guess what we ended up… Toothless (if he knew what was good for him). We both liked how they had licensed merchandise instead of just «bears». Although, we both wished we could have bought Babu more accessories than just a harness, after all he has a diva for a mom.
The staff was extremely helpful to kids but as adults we kind of stood out. But, the woman who helped stuff Babu (as much as Lapin wanted to call him Vesper… puppy eyes always win) was extremely sweet and nice. When she found it was our anniversary she allowed us to put in two hearts and the heart ceremony we did together couldn’t have been cuter. Yes, we did drop a pretty penny on Babu but it was such a fun experience that we might make this into a tradition. (Although, who knows where we are going to find the space in our apartment since Lapin was eye-​ing half of the teddies on display).
P. S. the address listed above is wrong. The correct one is — 565 5^th Ave, New York, NY 10 017

Love this place this review is to help. You guys have the wrong directions it’s not in flatiron district. It’s on 5^th and 46^th get directions from the build a bear website. The map from Unilocal leads you too flatiron I was so frustrated today when I ended up in the wrong place and had to take a can back uptown which is where I already was.

Came here with my bf because we wanted to make something together. We were looking through the selection of unstuffed stuff animals and fell in love with the beige bear with curl pattern fur. We actually liked how it looked unstuffed compared to how it looked stuffed on display. It was just so much cuter and softer. We didn’t want to just buy it unstuffed because we thought that would be weird, so we decided to get it minimally stuffed at the stuffing station. When we got there, we told the lady employee that we wanted only very little stuffing because it was softer and cuter that way. She just nodded and kinda cut us off mid-​sentence as if she knew what we wanted. As she proceeded to stuff the bear, I noticed that she was putting too much stuffing in the arms and legs. I told her that was too much, but she just held up a hand to shush me in a «don’t worry, I got it» kind of manner. So I just let her finish doing her thing. When she was done, she held out the bear to us. I reached for it and she pulled away in a tsk-​tsk kind of way, and held it out to my bf because we told her in the beginning that the bear was going to be his. We told her it was too stuffed, so she took some stuffing out. It was still wayy too much stuffing than we wanted, and we told her again that we want it with very little stuffing. She then started criticizing and saying that it will look like a very mean teddy bear if we take any more stuffing out. And she joked and asked my bf if he was an «infant» because he wanted a limpy stuffed animal. We felt bad, and we were tired of telling her/​arguing with her to remove more stuffing (she is pretty stubborn about keeping the bear stuffed) so we just gave in. We later went back home and deconstructed the bear and sewed it up ourselves. I just thought it was very closed minded of her for not making the bear the way we wanted– after all, we are purchasing it.

I FEEL LIKE A LITTLE GIRL AGAIN! This place is so cute. They do have a bunch more clothing options online, but this place should have an efficient amount of clothes for your first bear.
I came here the evening before my birthday with my boyfriend. I didn’t know I was being taken here (but yes, I knew this place existed). The doorman greeted us nicely, opened the door to what looked like teddy bear heaven.
There’s an array of different bears to choose from. They even have special holiday edition bears. (Valentine’s day editions were out at this time.)
Waiting in line, we thought of names. And there’s a station where you can insert voices or sounds in your bear if you’d like. We chose to have a quiet bunny bear. Then came our turn, a really nice, fun, energetic chick helped us. She asked if it was my first at build-​a-​bear. I said yes, and I got a first timer sticker! :D then she asked if there was any special, specific reason why we were there. I said not really, but then my boyfriend said, «yes! Yes there is! Her birthday is tomorrow!»… so I got another sticker! :DD gosh I like stickers. I got a birthday sticker, with my name, and age-​to-​be: 21. (Don’t judge me, stuffed bears made with love and care are cute and fun at any age.)
She then explained that I’d have to do the heart ritual. The ritual that’s done before stuffing your bear with the desired heart of your choosing. I chose to have a beating heart (it’s plastic, no worries) inserted into my bear. c: and she asked if I wanted one or two special fabric hearts in my bear. (Being that my boyfriend was there) I chose to have two special fabric hearts. My bunny now has three hearts. She’s an octopus on the inside. (: …now, I won’t tell you how the heart ritual goes, you should go there and experience the fun yourself. You might or might not feel silly at first, but it sure was fun. I was treated like a kid, and that felt great to be honest. For a few minutes I was taken away from the adult world.
After the ritual, my bunny was stuffed to my liking. You can super stuff your bear, or stuff it soft enough to cuddle with. You can bring your bear back for re-​stuffing whenever you want, and it’s free. So if the excessive cuddling flattens out your bear, no worries. Build-​a-​bear will fix it.
Once my new plush bestfriend was stuffed and sewed up, it was time to find an outfit! So many options, I felt like I was shopping for a toddler. I wanted my bunny to be a nurse, so I got the scrubs outfit with black shoes. They didn’t have plain white shoes. It’s fine. She still looked cute. They had a 2 for $ 15 sale going on, but I figured I’d just come back some other day to get her dresses.
And yes, my bear is a girl. At least I chose to make it a girl. We named her Emma, because we couldn’t think any other name at the moment. Possibly because I was overwhelmed with joy making my first bear. SO FUN! :3
On our way to take her home, the chick at the register attending us asked if we’d like a box or bag to put her in. I picked the box. The box is cute. And she deserves the box on her way home! We also got her a Pawsport. So each time we went into a build-​a-​bear, it would get stamped. …did I go too far getting her a Pawsport (passport for bears)? I got really excited :(I have no shame admitting how excited I was. Sorry not sorry.
Our bunny bear’s certificate was printed out, her Pawsport was stamped, and she was gently put inside the box to take home. We walked out happy, and the doorman gave a bittersweet goodbye. Bitter because I wanted to make a hundred more bears.
It really was a super fun experience for me. (& the boyfriend I believe.)
He’s awesome for taking me here, and my bunny is the cutest.
Definitely coming back sometime soon.
*bear hugs for all*
***Unfortunately, Nurse Emma’s eyes were chewed off by a four legged animal that showed no mercy on her gentle, fluffy face. Due to Emma’s severe blindness, the boyfriend and I rushed her to Bear Hospital. I was kindly told that they do not replace eyes but I could send the bear to the hospital and wait 4 – 6 weeks… I hesitated since it seemed like forever. But then the girl says, «since you have your bear here, we can replace her. Free, no charge.”– Emma can be saved!
So we tried finding a bear that had the same unique nose. We restuffed another bear, put Nurse Emma’s hearts into the new bear, and made a new wish. I bought the new Emma a lab coat and poof– Doctor Emma! So glad they could replace her.

Everyone is extremely sweet and friendly. Very happy atmosphere. My niece loved this place! They have two floors, with a large variety of clothes and teddy bears. I love how it gives the children a chance to be creative and make things as they want. I would definitely come here again.

This place is a sanctuary of innocence! I stopped off here to buy a teddy before I headed home to England, and in the process got talking to a staff member named Meredith. She was absolutely lovely, and so attentive and genuine. I adored that, and for her energy alone, I would’ve bought more had I felt my luggage could accommodate it!

I have been coming to this Build-​A-​Bear for many, many years and spent a lot of money here. My dog chewed the eyes out of one of my bears so I called the 800 number and asked if it could be repaired. A cheerful representative told me that I could bring it into any Build-​A-​Bear and they will ship it to the Bear Hospital for repair free of charge. So I brought the bear into this Build-​A-​Bear store and was told that not only do they not repair eyes but they had no idea what I was talking about when I said they could send it to the Bear Hospital. They told me to «be creative» and «find buttons.» I was very discouraged and emailed customer service. They responded quickly with a postage paid label and instructed me to mail the bear to the Bear Hospital and it will be repaired and returned to me.
While I commend Build-A-Bear’s Customer Service Center for being so quick and attentive, they need to train the employees in the Fifth Avenue store better. They caused me a needless trip and frustration. I am sure I am not the first person who was misinformed.

My daughter’s favorite spot. She just loves stuffed animals but the concept of watching them being stuffed and then putting in the heart to bring them to life fascinates her. I brought her here for her birthday one year and now it’s a birthday trip every year or any chance she can sweet talk her way. Associates found out it was her birthday and had the whole store sing to her. she had a blast.

Doretha embodies customer service. I walked in with a tourist from Georgia who was excited to create personalized teddy bears for her son and daughter. Doretha assisted us with the voice recording and shared her passion for working at the Build-​a-​Bear Workshop. You could tell by her enthusiasm and excitement that she enjoyed the opportunity to watch children and their parents smile as they created furry friends. We experienced a little snafu with SpongeBob Squarepants who requires precise stitching. She was not happy with the finished product and was determined to make sure we were 100% satisfied so she started over. I truly appreciated the extra effort and her wonderful personality. I’ve visited this location before and created a furry friend with my best friend so I know how positive an experience any and everyone will have with the variety of options and helpful staff. If you haven’t been, you and your family will enjoy it.

If you love your kids, take them here and let them go crazy. I was almost knocked down by a group of 4 – 7 year olds that showed no mercy on me.
The staff is really great and super friendly, of course you have to be when working with a bunch of toddlers and young children. This place was also crawling with couples making bears together.

Great place to take the kids to butttt I came here with my gf to build our first child haha. Anything to make the gf happy. I did enjoy it tho just watch with the adult joke around the kids about the things you see that seem funny to put on a teddy bear lol.

I came in here hoping I could just pick out a bear, clothes, and be out the door but that wasn’t the case. It took us a good 30 minutes to figure out which bear we wanted, then at least another hour deciding which clothes we wanted for the bear and then another 20 minutes or so thinking about it’s name!
All in all, it was a fun experience. If you spend over $ 30, there is another bear behind the register you could purchase for only $ 5. It was a pretty good deal. All of the employees in here are very helpful. Everything in here is made in China so don’t go overboard with your purchase.

Nice size store that kids always go crazy for. They have a nice selection of plush animals which you put together with the help of staff. Their selection varies. From your traditional Teddy Bear to monkeys to Puerto Rico bear? Wtf?
Anyway, its a freakin’ madhouse I’m sure as you can expect. The line goes pretty quick though. I was in and out in less then 25 mins.
PS, NYers– Its across from Rockefeller Center so prepared to deal with annoying tourists, ESPECIALLY during the Holiday season.
Good Luck walking the sidewalks.

Came on a rainy afternoon and we were stuck in here for TWO hours (and I mean it in a good way)! I think just thoroughly looking thru all the bear skins and outfits on both floors took an hour. The next hour was spent making and dressing 2 bears ^_​^
The Break Down:
Skins — There’s a slight difference of selection on both floors, so make sure you look closely. Additionally, each skin is also different and unique in the face, so we took our sweet time digging the bins for the perfect eyes, perfect nose, perfect mouth, and perfect ears stitching. THIS DOLL IS FOR FOREVER (and ever), MAN! You best make sure it’s PERFECT!
Outfits — Mostly occupations and single pieces on 1^st floor (tops, bottoms, shoes, accessories). I wish they had more variety to choose from for non-​set tops & bottoms, but oh well. Lower level contains ethnic clothing like kimono, gondolier, bullfighter, etc… very cute if you want a cultural bear. There is a huge selection for Disney princes and celebrities, which is great for little girls (but I guess not for teens and above).
Stuffing — Our guy was very patient with me cuz I wanted the dolls stuffed to a specific softness (you can choose how tightly/​loosely stuffed your doll is). Grab a solid red or gingham heart, go thru the heart ceremony, and give the doll a squeeze to make sure it’s perfect, and they sew it up :]
Then take the dolls to the Fluffing Station to blow & brush off loose lint. Dress them up at the Dressing Station (cept shoes, those don’t come off the hangers). Then make a birth certificate (my favorite part), and take them home ^_​^
*current promotion* Free Easter baskets

My girlfriend’s leaving me…
For law school.
For 3 years.
Just kidding! Well, she IS leaving New York, but she’s not leaving me. In fact, I’m the newest member of the BoltBus rewards program in one of many steps we’re taking in our uninvited yet still necessary long distance relationship. But, she’ll come back a newly minted attorney and I will be that much closer to my own personal jacuzzi (*hint hint*).
Embarrassing fact #1: I cuddle with the teddy bear that she’s had for years whenever she gets up in the morning first and is no longer in bed with me.
Embarrassing fact #2: I would miss the teddy bear if she took it with her to Boston, but I didn’t want to say anything because it’s her bear…
Enter Build-​a-​Bear. The tourist-​driven long distance relationship saver of the universe. Even on a Saturday afternoon with children running wild, this was a really enjoyable experience. We picked out a bear and a Yankee hoodie for it to wear (because Margot’s a Yankees nutcase), and went through the motions of having it stuffed, birth certificate’d, and purchased. The staff was really nice which is doubly impressive because I think I’d kill myself if I had to work here and be just so darn cheerful the whole time. If the hood on the hoodie is pulled up over its ears, it looks like a damned Ewok. That hood will remain down forEVER.
However, I can see how one could rack up some serious $ here in short order. Like my personality, I wanted something simple and effective. Thus, I got a soft bear with a Yankee hoodie to remind me of Margot. Done and done. But there are options like leather jackets, camo bears, Mets heads, etc etc. Some of it borders on ridiculous, and some of it falls over that border.
Embarrassing fact #3: I love the new bear and will cuddle with it after my girlfriend leaves me… and by leaves me I mean heads to law school and our upcoming jacuzzi ownership. :-)