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Common stock, shares authorized (in shares) Common Stock, Shares Authorized (in shares) Forfeited, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) Common stock, shares issued (in shares) Canceled or expired, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) Sales and value added taxes payable us-gaap_ValuationAllowanceDeferredTaxAssetChangeInAmount Valuation Allowance, Deferred Tax Asset, Increase (Decrease), Amount Granted, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) Exercised, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) Accrued expenses Total Accrued wages, bonuses and related expenses Current income taxes payable Statistical Measurement [Domain] Operating cash flows for operating leases Maximum [Member] Lessee, Operating Leases [Text Block] Minimum [Member] Accounts payable Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Other (2) us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsOutstandingNumber Outstanding (in shares) Outstanding (in shares) Product and Service [Axis] Product and Service [Domain] Statistical Measurement [Axis] us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsExpirationsInPeriod Canceled or expired (in shares) Credit Facility [Axis] Credit Facility [Domain] Preferred stock, par value $0.01, Shares authorized: 15,000,000; 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Store asset impairment Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] Property and equipment, net Property and equipment, net bbw_LesseeOperatingLeaseLeaseNotYetCommencedAmount Lessee, Operating Lease, Lease Not yet Commenced, Amount Amount of lessee's operating lease not yet commence. Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 [Member] Less: Earnings allocated to participating securities Accounting Standards Update [Domain] Operating lease costs Amount of amortization expense attributable to right-of-use asset from operating lease. Long-term Debt, Type [Axis] Long-term Debt, Type [Domain] Gift cards and customer deposits Amount of obligation related to gift cards and customer deposits. Deferred revenue and other Amount of deferred revenue and other current liabilities. Accounting Standards Update [Axis] Costs and expenses: Cash flows used in investing activities: Prepaid gift card fees Amount of asset related to consideration paid in advance for gift card fees that provide economic benefits within a future period of one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. (Loss) income per common share: Retained Earnings [Member] Earnings Per Share [Text Block] Revenue Net sales to external customers us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramRemainingAuthorizedRepurchaseAmount1 Stock Repurchase Program, Remaining Authorized Repurchase Amount Accounts payable and accrued expenses us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInAccountsPayableAndAccruedLiabilities Letter of Credit [Member] Additional Paid-in Capital [Member] Share Repurchase Program [Domain] Common Stock [Member] us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramAuthorizedAmount1 Stock Repurchase Program, Authorized Amount Line of Credit [Member] Income tax (benefit)/expense Equity Components [Axis] Share Repurchase Program [Axis] Equity Component [Domain] Retail [Member] Time-based and Performance-based Shares [Member] Represents both time-based and performance based stock. us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesExtraordinaryItemsNoncontrollingInterest (Loss) income before income taxes (Loss) Income before income taxes us-gaap_DebtInstrumentTerm Debt Instrument, Term (Year) Less: Restricted cash from long-term deposits us-gaap_RestrictedCash Comprehensive Income (Loss) Note [Text Block] us-gaap_LineOfCredit Long-term Line of Credit, Total Cash and cash equivalents Total cash and cash equivalents us-gaap_AllocatedShareBasedCompensationExpense Share-based Payment Arrangement, Expense Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block] Vesting Upon Achievement of 2018-2020 Consolidated Total Revenues Growth Objectives [Member] Represents the unearned shares vesting upon achievement of 2018-2020 consolidated total revenues. bbw_EstimatedPercentageOfGiftCardRedemptionsWithinFirstTwelveMonths Estimated Percentage of Gift Card Redemptions Within First Twelve Months The estimated percentage of gift card that would redeem within first twelve months. bbw_GiftCardRedemptionPeriod Gift Card Redemption Period (Year) The redemption period of gift card. Commercial Product and Service [Member] Licensing the intellectual properties for third-party use and wholesale sales of merchandise, including supplies and fixtures. Document Quarterly Report Vesting Upon Achievement of 2018-2020 Consolidated Pre-tax Income Growth Objectives [Member] Represents the unearned shares vesting upon achievement of 2018-2020 consolidated pre-tax income. Amendment Flag Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code Accounting Policies [Abstract] us-gaap_ComprehensiveIncomeNetOfTax Comprehensive (loss) income Document Transition Report City Area Code bbw_SegmentRevenueOfConsolidatedRevenuePercentage Segment Revenue of Consolidated Revenue, Percentage The percentage of a segment revenue of consolidated revenue. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses [Member] Entity Interactive Data Current Direct to Consumer [Member] Represents information pertaining to the direct to consumer operating segment. Gift cards and customer deposits us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInContractWithCustomerLiability Security Exchange Name Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares) Commercial [Member] Represents information pertaining to the commercial segment. Preferred stock, outstanding (in shares) Government Grants Policy [Policy Text Block] Disclosure of accounting policy for government grants. International Franchising [Member] Represents information pertaining to the international franchising segment. Title of 12(b) Security Other Geographic Region [Member] Represents information pertaining to other geographic regions. Other us-gaap_StockholdersEquityOther Current Fiscal Year End Date Vesting Upon Achievement of 2017-2019 Consolidated Pre-tax Income Target [Member] Represents the unearned shares vesting upon achievement of 2017-2019 consolidated pre-tax income. Variable lease costs us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInPrepaidDeferredExpenseAndOtherAssets Prepaid expenses and other assets us-gaap_OperatingLeaseWeightedAverageDiscountRatePercent Operating Lease, Weighted Average Discount Rate, Percent Document Fiscal Period Focus us-gaap_OperatingLeaseCost Total Operating Lease costs Document Fiscal Year Focus Short term lease costs bbw_LitigationReceivableGross Litigation Receivable, Gross The amount of receivables before reserves in a litigation dispute. Lease, Cost [Table Text Block] Document Period End Date Income Statement Location [Axis] Income Statement Location [Domain] us-gaap_OperatingLeaseWeightedAverageRemainingLeaseTerm1 Operating Lease, Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term (Year) Entity File Number Entity Emerging Growth Company bbw_LitigationReceivablesReserve Litigation Receivables, Reserve The amount of reserve receivables in a litigation dispute. Document Type bbw_LitigationReceivablesNet Litigation Receivables, Net The amount of receivables after reserve in a litigation dispute. Impairment of right-of-use assets and fixed assets us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges Asset Impairment Charges, Total Entity Small Business Entity Shell Company Document Information [Line Items] Document Information [Table] us-gaap_NumberOfStores Number of Stores Entity Filer Category Entity Current Reporting Status Segments [Axis] Segments [Domain] us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInReceivables Receivables, net us-gaap_ImpairmentOfLeasehold Impairment of Leasehold us-gaap_ImpairmentOfLongLivedAssetsHeldForUse Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-for-use us-gaap_SharePrice Share Price (in dollars per share) us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount (in shares) Diluted (in shares) us-gaap_WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - dilutive (in shares) Stock-based compensation us-gaap_AdjustmentsToAdditionalPaidInCapitalSharebasedCompensationRequisiteServicePeriodRecognitionValue Entity Tax Identification Number Entity Central Index Key Entity Registrant Name Entity [Domain] us-gaap_CapitalizedContractCostAmortizationPeriod Capitalized Contract Cost, Amortization Period (Year) Legal Entity [Axis] Statement [Table] Entity Address, Address Line One Statement of Financial Position [Abstract] Diluted (in dollars per share) Diluted (loss) income per common share attributable to Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. stockholders (in dollars per share) Basic (in shares) Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - basic (in shares) Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities Disclosure [Text Block] Entity Address, City or Town us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateContinuingOperations Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Percent, Total Entity Address, Postal Zip Code Basic (in dollars per share) Basic (loss) income per common share attributable to Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. stockholders (in dollars per share) Entity Address, State or Province Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract] Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding us-gaap_StockRepurchasedAndRetiredDuringPeriodValue Stock Repurchased and Retired During Period, Value us-gaap_StockRepurchasedAndRetiredDuringPeriodShares Stock Repurchased and Retired During Period, Shares (in shares) Income Statement [Abstract] Other comprehensive income (loss) Schedule of Accrued Liabilities [Table Text Block] us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories Inventories, net Trading Symbol Local Phone Number us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityRemainingBorrowingCapacity Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodSharesStockOptionsExercised Exercised (in shares) us-gaap_TableTextBlock Notes Tables us-gaap_GainLossOnDispositionOfAssets1 Gain on disposal of property and equipment us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity Selling, general and administrative expense Provision for doubtful accounts Issuance of restricted/performance stock Granted (in shares) Cash flows used in financing activities: us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsForfeituresInPeriod Forfeited (in shares) us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, at Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate, Percent Other liabilities Line of Credit Facility, Lender [Domain] Lender Name [Axis] bbw_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumIncreaseInBorrowingCapacity Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Increase in Borrowing Capacity The maximum amount of increase in borrowing capacity under the line of credit facility. us-gaap_LiabilitiesAndStockholdersEquity Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity bbw_PercentageOfLeasesWithVariableRentStructures Percentage of Leases with Variable Rent Structures The percentage of leases with variable rent structures. PNC Bank [Member] Represents PNC Bank. The August 2017 Share Repurchase Program [Member] Represents information pertaining the August 2017 share repurchase program. U.S. Bank National Association [Member] Represents U.S. Bank National Association. bbw_DebtInstrumentAnticipatedAnnualCosts Debt Instrument, Anticipated Annual Costs The amount of anticipated annual costs of the debt instrument. Retained (deficit)/earnings Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit), Ending Balance Accumulated other comprehensive loss Swingline Loans [Member] Represents swingline loans. bbw_DebtInstrumentCovenantAvailabilityPercentage Debt Instrument, Covenant, Availability Percentage The percentage of availability that must be maintained under the covenant of the debt instrument. bbw_DebtInstrumentCovenantAvailabilityAmount Debt Instrument, Covenant, Availability, Amount The amount of availability that must be maintained under the covenant of the debt instrument. bbw_DebtInstrumentDefaultIncreaseInInterestRateAndFees Debt Instrument, Default, Increase in Interest Rate and Fees The percentage of increase in interest rate and fees in the event of default of the debt instrument. 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