Press Release

Build-A-Bear^® Brings More Fun to America's Largest Indoor Waterpark Resorts

ST. LOUIS, May 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) and Kalahari Resorts & Conventions, home to America's Largest Indoor Waterparks, announce a new partnership that brings Build-A-Bear to all four Kalahari Resort locations including Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Sandusky, Ohio, Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania and Round Rock, Texas.

Kalahari guests will delight in making customized furry friends to take home as a lasting reminder of their fun visit with the launch of the new Build-A-Bear Workshops. The new experience for guests is set to open at the end of May in all four locations. These Build-A-Bear Workshops are the latest in a series of new locations focused on theme park and tourist destinations.

"We love to bring the Build-A-Bear experience to places as fun and thrilling as Kalahari, and to provide guests the chance to create a furry friend as a keepsake of their visit to the resort," said Chris Hurt, Chief Operating Officer of Build-A-Bear. "Making memories is why our brand aligns so well with Kalahari and it is an exciting example of how we're bringing our iconic Build-A-Bear experience to more places than ever before."

"Kalahari is thrilled to partner with Build-A-Bear and offer another memorable experience for our guests. Our resorts offer many fantastic family experiences through dining, entertainment, retail shops, and so much more. This is another opportunity for guests of all ages to capture and make more memories," said Kalahari Corporate Retail Director, Nikki Coyle. "Our guests have been making memories for 20+ years across our resorts, and Build-A-Bear creates a special, sentimental token to remember these moments by."

Build-A-Bear has strategically shifted its location strategy beyond traditional malls to include non-traditional, tourist and destination locations that now account for approximately 35% of all sites through a combination of corporately and partner-operated experience locations, in settings such as family-centric tourist areas, amusement parks and resorts—all places that families go to create memories.

The new Workshops in Kalahari Resorts will offer the signature Build-A-Bear Make-Your-Own experience, with an assortment of furry friends that appeal to kids and adults alike. The store will also offer an exclusive Kalahari t-shirt, along with a selection of clothing and accessories.

At Build-A-Bear Workshop, kids—and kids at heart—make their way through a hands-on, interactive process to create their very own, personalized furry friends. Guests are supported by a Bear Builder^® associate to walk them through each step, from choosing a furry friend, to stuffing it with love and partaking in the signature heart ceremony.

About Build-A-Bear^® 
Build-A-Bear is a multi-generational global brand focused on its mission to "add a little more heart to life" appealing to a wide array of consumer groups who enjoy the personal expression in making their own "furry friends" to celebrate and commemorate life moments. Nearly 500 interactive brick-and-mortar experience locations operated through a variety of formats provide guests of all ages a hands-on entertaining experience, which often fosters a lasting and emotional brand connection. The company also offers engaging e-commerce/digital purchasing experiences on buildabear.com including its online "Bear-Builder", the animated "Bear Builder 3D Workshop" and its age-gated, adult-focused "Bear Cave". In addition, extending its brand power beyond retail, Build-A-Bear Entertainment, a subsidiary of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., is dedicated to creating engaging content for kids and adults that fulfills the company's mission, while the company also offers products at wholesale and in non-plush consumer categories via licensing agreements with leading manufacturers. Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. posted total revenue of $467.9 million in fiscal 2022. For more information, visit the Investor Relations section of buildabear.com.

About Kalahari Resorts & Conventions 
Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Sandusky, Ohio, Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, and Round Rock, Texas, delivers a beyond-expectations waterpark resort and conference experience all under one roof. The authentically African-themed Kalahari Resorts, privately owned by the Nelson family, are home to America's Largest Indoor Waterparks. All Kalahari Resorts feature well-appointed guest rooms, the full-service Spa Kalahari, a fun-filled family entertainment center, on-site signature restaurants, unique retail shops and a state-of-the-art convention center. For information, visit KalahariResorts.com

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SOURCE Build-A-Bear Workshop

Jaime Ludwig, pr@buildabear.com; Jacobson/Rost for Kalahari Resorts, John Stumpff, jstumpff@jacobsonrost.com