- Build-A-Bear is going to start selling Baby Yoda stuffed animals as demand for the adorable character from the "Star Wars" show "The Mandalorian" booms.
- "I'm excited to share we will be one of the first companies to provide the digital and internet phenomenon, who is trending higher than all the presidential candidates combined," Build-A-Bear CEO Sharon Price John said during a presentation at the ICR Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday.
- High-profile partnerships with companies like Disney and Lucasfilms are crucial to Build-A-Bear's business, as customers seek out iconic characters in stuffed-animal form.
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Baby Yoda is coming to Build-A-Bear.
The instantly popular character from "The Mandalorian" has been in high demand since the show debuted on Disney Plus in November. A Baby Yoda Funko quickly became a top-selling action figure on Amazon in early December - despite the fact that customers who preordered the toy will not receive it until May.
"I'm excited to share we will be one of the first companies to provide the digital and internet phenomenon, who is trending higher than all the presidential candidates combined ... We now will have The Child, also known as Baby Yoda," Build-A-Bear CEO Sharon Price John said during a presentation at the ICR Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday.
John - holding up a Baby Yoda stuffed animal to the audience - said that Baby Yoda will be available at Build-A-Bear workshops in the next few months.
"It's great, again, to be in business with best-in-class partners," John said. According to John, Build-A-Bear, Disney, and Lucasfilms worked quickly to make the Baby Yoda character a reality.
"We started this process almost with the first episode," John said.
High-profile partnerships are crucial to Build-A-Bear's business. Almost half of Build-A-Bear's sales are to tweens, teens, and adults, John said on Tuesday. According to John, the chain is seeing significant growth in adults shopping online, seeking out products produced in partnership with companies like Disney, Lucasfilms, and Warner Brothers.