Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

So in the ones that are partner-operated or they can also be corporately operated, we do actively look for tourist locations. We shared that with you guys some years ago that we had done a cohort analysis of when we were still about 20% of our stores were unprofitable, trying to triangulate where we were successful. And one of the big insights there was that we over indexed on almost every key metric in an area where we calculated that 50% or more of the sales were to people 50 or more miles away. And it didn’t really matter if that was a mall, if it was Mall of America or a standing location at a beach. So they have an interesting dynamic, but we have since focused on those types of locations and again sometimes we operate those and sometimes they are partner operated, but that will be our focus on areas that we think clearly hurdle easily to some degree the metrics that we have in place to decide whether we open that location or not.

I think it’s important to note Voin’s comment about the international opportunity that we have and to reiterate some of the comments that I made in my script about that we did have some independent research about the concept of how many additional locations we believe are up there as an opportunity for Build-A-Bear to grow even domestically.

Voin Todorovic: Yes. And as we continue to look at some of these locations clearly what we have said in the past that we over indexed in tourist locations and as we grow definitely around the world especially as – with a couple of these stores that reopen in continental Europe, there are going to be some more of these tourist destinations and malls. And we – as we are working with our partners that are going to be opening majority of these locations, we want to be in best places that are going to drive traffic and really present our brand in the best possible way. And so – and 100 of these – 100% of these sales are going to be profitable for us, so we are very happy that we can do some of these things in an asset light model as we continue on the journey to expand our brand globally.

Michael Baker: Yes, yes, makes sense. Clearly, a positive develop – positive ideas. Two follow-ups. One, I’m always just curious can you talk about Bear Cave type sales versus birthday parties or those types of products. And then you had said, ticket per transaction down. Is that – do you think that’s an economic issue people sort of spending a little bit less each time they come in? Or just wondering if there’s any color as to why ticket – what’s going on with ticket per transaction? Thank you.

Sharon Price John: On the Bear Cave comment, we don’t breakdown the sales of the different specific areas particularly on our website. So Bear Cave is a micro site inside of buildabear.com that has an age gate that’s focused on the older consumer. And as you might – as some of you might have noticed, we get a lot of press about some of the products that we offer in Bear Cave, We were actually on the cover of The Wall Street Journal around Valentine’s Day with one of our devil bears, but they’re very cute and it’s – it – and we do a robust business. And most importantly about that business is it’s a consumer that’s outside the core – our core consumer base. These are adult purchases, often adult to adult gifting, and it fits right into our broader strategy of appealing to a multi-generational audience.

On the birthday business, we’ve often shared that sales associated with birthdays whether it’s a Birthday Treat Bear all the way to a party inside of one of our stores is about a third of our total business. Now, we love the birthday business and we created that Birthday Treat Bear which is a bear where you can come in and pay your age for in the month of your birthday and we use that as our number one acquisition tool for our core consumer. You have to be in the loyalty program to participate in the birthday treat program. And so that really builds our first party data and allows us to communicate again as I noted in the creation of this ecosystem to drive lifetime value. It gives us that direct communication of that consumer and to re-engage with them for other opportunities inclusive of the next birthday that their child may be hopefully wanting to participate at Build-A-Bear.

If they come in on the Birthday Treat Bear, we would clearly encourage maybe a party the next year. So it’s a great acquisition tool for us. And we still have although we’ve done a great job. I think we have a tremendous opportunity to keep stretching out that lifetime value with that strong acquisition tool.

Voin Todorovic: And to add a little bit more color on your question about changes in dollars per transaction, I’ll start first as I mentioned in our prepared remarks that our traffic was up on a full year basis, so we continue to execute on our initiatives to continue to drive traffic to stores and we are very pleased that we continue to outpace national traffic quarter-after-quarter, year-after-year. As customers are coming to our stores, there is some softness when we are and we said that our dollar per transaction is down. There are a couple of things that are impacted definitely. We believe there is some impact that external from the macro environment as you guys are reading about the reports from the overall toy industry and how it’s been challenging in the Q4 in particular, our performance and some of those changes are probably better and less impacted compared to the rest of the industry.