After 29 Years Without a Wholesale Partner, Build-A-Bear Picked Walmart.
Build-A-Bear Workshop launched its first wholesale partnership with Walmart on March 16, according to a company press release. Mini Beans, the newly introduced collectible Micro Mini Beans, and a Build-A-Bear x Bluey collection developed with BBC Studios are now in more than 1,500 Walmart stores nationwide, available through May 15 while supplies last. It is the brand’s first wholesale relationship with any retailer in its nearly 30-year history.
Build-A-Bear Translated Its Workshop Experience, Not Just Its Products
The question any experiential brand faces when entering mass retail is what survives the translation. According to the company press release, Build-A-Bear addressed this by building curated in-store displays around its signature “Choose Me, Name Me, Dress Me” journey, giving Walmart shoppers the ability to select a plush and personalize its look with outfits and accessories. Mini Beans come with hang tags inspired by the brand’s birth certificate, and the plush on shelves contain Build-A-Bear hearts, both elements drawn directly from the workshop experience, according to the company. The Bluey collection, built with BBC Studios, includes characters across Mini Beans, Micro Mini Beans, and full-size plush, dropping into a licensed-character section Walmart shoppers already navigate.
The Micro Mini Beans format is new territory for the brand entirely. The Toy Book reported that the mystery-pack plush figures, available in singles, three-packs, and six-packs, tap into the growing popularity of surprise collectibles and trading among kids and collectors, a format Build-A-Bear had not offered before this launch. Chief revenue officer Dave Henderson described the partnership in the company’s press release as a way to reach customers who may not live near a store or may be discovering the brand for the first time.
Build-A-Bear Arrives at Walmart From a Position of Strength
The wholesale move is not a response to pressure. Build-A-Bear reported $529.8 million in total revenues for fiscal 2025, its fifth consecutive year of record results, according to the company. Retail TouchPoints reported that the brand simultaneously announced plans in December 2025 to bring its co-branded Hello Kitty stores to American Dream and the Mall of America, following a November 2024 opening at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, and is opening a multi-level retailtainment experience at Icon Park in Orlando in the first half of 2026. The Walmart launch came one week after Build-A-Bear announced that CEO Sharon Price John will retire effective June 11, with chief operations and experience officer Chris Hurt named as her successor, according to the company.
Build-A-Bear operates more than 650 company-owned, partner-operated, and franchise experience locations across more than 30 countries, according to the company press release. The Walmart partnership adds a distribution channel that runs alongside that footprint rather than in place of it.
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