Build-A-Bear’s web sales growth outpaces that of stores

Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc., No. 493 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide , grew its online sales by double digits in the third quarter while store sales showed a slight lift.

For the third quarter ended October 2, Build-A-Bear reported:

• Total e-commerce sales grew about 18% to $2.0 million from $1.7 million in the third quarter of 2009.
• Total sales increased 8.5% to $100.1 million from $92.3 million in the third quarter of 2009.
• Comparable-store sales increased 3.1%.

“We are pleased to report improved third quarter performance that included increased total sales, positive comparable-store sales, improvement in gross profit margin and a significant reduction in our quarterly loss for the period, as compared to the third quarter last year,” says Build-A-Bear Workshop CEO Maxine Clark. “We had strong performance online with total e-commerce sales up 18.1%, excluding the impact of foreign exchange. We also successfully launched our proprietary ‘smallfrys’ product line.” The smallfrys collection consists of pre-assembled seven-inch stuffed animals.

For the 39 weeks ended Oct. 2, the stuffed animal retailer  reported:

• Web sales increased 9% to about $6.5 million from about $5.9 million for the first nine months of 2009.
• Total sales increased 1% to $275.7 million from $272.8 million.
• Net loss was $8.2 million compared to $11.6 million in the prior year period.
• Comparable-store sales decreased 1.2%.

Build-A-Bear Workshop ended the 2010 third quarter with 347 stores—291 in North America and 56 in Europe.