Build-A-Bear and Sanrio on Their First Licensed Retail LocationBuild-A-Bear and Sanrio on Their First Licensed Retail Location

License Global previously reported that Build-A-Bear Workshop opened its first Hello Kitty-themed workshop at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. The new Build-A-Bear x Hello Kitty & Friends Workshop, created in partnership with Sanrio, celebrates Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary and invites fans to experience personalized shopping with exclusive Hello Kitty-themed products.   

To dive deeper, License Global chatted with Sharon Price John, chief executive officer and president, Build-A-Bear, and Jill Koch, senior vice president, marketing, sales and business development, Sanrio North America, about the launch of this retail location.  

License Global: What inspired you to open a Sanrio-specific Build-A-Bear store?  

Sharon Price John: There's not a bad thing that you can say about it. It's a great idea. I wish that these were always the kinds of things the team brought to me because this one was easy for us to say, "That's terrific." When you get down to the details, we have been in business with Sanrio for almost 20 years at this point, and not only have we evolved with that company over the years, but we're also multi-generational now. Both companies are. This is in honor of Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary, and Build-A-Bear is about to turn 30. There are multi-generational, not just parents who were Build-A-Bear or Hello Kitty fans when they were little, but they now bring those memories to their kids, and they want to have those experiences and memories. It's a great place to share with your children, but we're also very popular in the kidult-ing trend. That phenomenon has been around for a while. Still, it started resurging during COVID because the data says people wanted to reconnect with their childhood and things that brought nostalgia and comfort, like Hello Kitty and Build-A-Bear. Bringing these together right now was a magical time. It's hard to pull a collab together, but when you've been in business with a company that long, and feel like you know each other as well as we do, it takes some challenges out of it. We're super excited and this couldn't be a better location.  

Related:Sanrio's Hello Kitty Reaches a Landmark Milestone

Jill Koch: We've worked with Build-A-Bear for many years, evolved the partnership and decided it was time for a full Sanrio Build-A-Bear workshop for the fans. We've been planning this for a while and we're excited to see it finally launch.   

Is this Build-A-Bear's first dedicated IP store?  

SPJ: Yes, it is. This is the first and the only location right now. We've built this not only from the ground up with Sanrio but also created specific and exclusive products, so it's very special. The teams worked hard, and it was a labor of love, full of passion.  

Related:Build-A-Bear, Hello Kitty to Open Collaborative Workshop in LA

Sanrio is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty right now, and Build-A-Bear decided to launch in Los Angeles. Are there any exclusive products for the 50th anniversary that people should know about?  

JK: There is an exclusive 50th anniversary Hello Kitty plush at all the Build-A-Bear locations, and then there are Los Angeles-exclusive items including plush, clothing and accessories.  

Sanrio's partnership with Build-A-Bear spans back years. How has the partnership evolved?  

JK: It's important to note as the partnership has evolved, we've added a lot more characters such as Pochacco, Cinnamoroll and Kuromi, so there's something for everyone now, and that's an important part of how we developed this collaboration. Gudetama is here at this location first, and he will eventually be in the other stores. We have such a variety of characters now and we've also introduced the character's friends as mini plush, so that's new as well. Beginning in January, for My Melody's birthday and 50th anniversary, Build-A-Bear is launching birthday parties at this location so fans of both brands can book a Sanrio Build-A-Bear-themed birthday party. They host parties in all the stores, but this one is the fully branded Sanrio party.  

Since releasing the news, has Build-A-Bear received any requests from others to do a collab space? Can fans of Build-A-Bear expect this to be a continued thing?  

SPJ: Fans of Build-A-Bear expect us to be able to do so. We have a lot of long-term relationships with a tremendous cadre of best-in-class licenses. This has come up in the past, but it takes a lot of heavy lifting and a very special relationship to do this, so Sanrio was the perfect partner to work our way through some of what could be challenges or details. The answer, with all that preamble, is yes. It'll have to do with what I think will be, and most of us believe it will be a successful endeavor. That'll give us data on the decision to or not to do that or who to do that with. It opens our minds, though, particularly if fans respond as we hope they do.  

How do you know when a collab will be the right fit for Build-A-Bear fans, and how did Build-A-Bear and Sanrio know this was the right move?  

SPJ: I think it's important in collabs like this that both brands are powerful and well known, that you try to find that balance and respect each other's intellectual property. You try to strike that perfect approach because you're not quite sure from the fan base which edge they're coming in on, and you want to make sure that you're equally appropriate for all the fans that walk in. We have struck that balance when you walk in here. You know it's Hello Kitty, but you know it's Build-A-Bear. That's an important piece: equal power. Secondly, it's helpful when you have that history that we have, great relationships and success, and our fan bases telling us this is a great idea. In the world of social media, where everyone has a voice, and I know both of our companies listen to those voices, this was reinforced along the way as a great idea. That success of building out exclusive products over the years and selling over 3 million units of these different products throughout our relationship gives you the confidence to find the right path.  

So, there are a couple of different things: financial success, whether both brands are willing to step up to the plate with equated power, and whether there is a certain surge. Is there a passion behind it – not just for your two companies but your fan bases? That gives you an idea of how to think about these collaborations.  

Will this store stay exclusively Sanrio, or will there be more Sanrio-branded Build-A-Bear stores in the future?  

SJP: As long as it's here, this is the Build-A-Bear Sanrio store. This is a collab location, and that's our intention. With the lease we signed with the landlord and our relationship from a partnership perspective, we expect this to be the same.  

JK: Right now, this is the only one we've launched, but you never know.