Feb 27, 2012
Build-A-Bear reviews
3.8
59% would recommend to a friend
Sharon John
60% approve of CEO
51% positive business outlook
Build-A-Bear has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 1,771 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Build-A-Bear employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail & Wholesale industry (3.5 stars).
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Reviews by job title
2K reviews
2.0
Feb 3, 2012
Disappointing management contrary to being one of the "best places to be employed"
Anonymous employee
Former employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
A lot of customer interaction, OK pay.
Cons
No communication between managers and associates, they seem disinterested whenever you talk to them, definitely chooses favorites.
3.0
Dec 28, 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook
Pros
-Automatic Pay above state minimum wage (Pro and Con) -Made to feel like family and have a great comfort level among employees -Atmosphere has a "lighter, more fun" feel than any other company I have worked in. You are supposed to have fun when you work. -Many customers are enjoyable to work with and the regulars are awesome -Having fun with children and knowing you are working somewhere that they LOVE -Management cares a little more about personal lives of employees than other jobs I have had -Management works with needing time off and emergencies even if it is not advanced notice -Great potential to be an amazing place to work at even more -Paid time-off birthdays are awesome for everyone to get even if you average only 3/4 hours of work. -Food is in the budget on busy mall days such as holidays and big mall gatherings so employees do not have to venture out and waste their money and break time on food -Raises are yearly and are based on a review(like most other companies) and you should always receive a yearly raise unless you completely suck at your job -Many choices and great products that are offered to customers -If you are a manager you have an awesome job with great raises, benefits, and bonuses -Staff who work their tend to stay for years. It's either you are there for a year or less(short time) or you stay 5+ years as many of the staff have. -It's great if you are a college student who just wants a little extra money or something else to do. -Short shifts can be great when you aren't feeling "on" since this job does require a lot of positivity and being way upbeat and energetic which leaves you feeling exhausted at the end of the day -Great support when dealing with conflicts or difficult customers, management will always be there to help and 85% of the time have your back and back what you say unless it is some weird situation. -Lots of materials to help learn and grow when new, especially with parties -It's not a tense job! You can have fun if you choose to!
Cons
-Pay is above minimum, but with limited shift days and lengths of shifts it makes it impossible to rely solely on only BABW for a main job. -Payroll has become very limited which makes it hard for the staff to get hours, hard for management to schedule busy days accordingly which limits customer satisfaction as well as not every area is covered. -Hires the "right" personality, with the "it" factor, which at my work ends up being not right and they are unreliable or do not work well -With limited hiring the staff is small and has been decreasing due to work hours, college, and not liking members of management. -BABW is great-as a second job- it makes sense to work just the weekend or if you only need 15 extra hours a week. -Management does not work as well together as they should; staff can tell when there is tension and it affects the authority level of management and the cohesiveness of the entire team -Corporate tries to make the stores do to much on holidays or upselling and it becomes a burden and doesn't happen like it should or it can't because of limited man power they want on payroll. -Upselling is mandatory and open ended questions are not wanted. Suggestive selling is what you should be good at if you want to make it at this company and in a lot of other companies. -When someone needs to be fired it takes such a long time since corporate requires so much paperwork and evidence and by that time the staff member just stops showing up and it affects all of us. -Birthday parties are sometimes chaos to do when busy and they do not make sense to have at BABW in some ways -The giant difference between management and bear builders(bonuses and raises) I know that it is expected in companies, but I don't feel like management should get the amount of bonuses they do based our their and the bear builders(sales associates) work when the sales associates do more than just stock clothing and stuff a bear to help get them their bonuses -Not much room for advancement or growth unless you have been there for awhile and a manager happens to leave, even then there is a chance of them not hiring within and they tend to choose others from outside BABW
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