St. Louis, Missouri-based Build-A-Bear has partnered with Tablez, the retail arm of UAE-based Lulu Group International, to introduce the customized stuffed-animal retail-entertainment brand in India. Besides standalone stores, shop-in-shop formats of Build-A-Bear will be launched within Toys“R”Us as part of Tablez’s venture to reach as many as 9 million households in the top 15 cities in India by 2025.
Dorrie Krueger, Build-A-Bear Workshop chief strategy officer, said, “We look forward to embarking on this new partnership with Tablez India and helping establish and grow the Build-A-Bear brand in this important global market. As our international franchise portfolio continues to expand, we are further assured that the hug of a teddy bear is understood in any language.”
Tablez launched the first Toys“R”Us store in Bangalore in 2017. Last year four stores were operational. Build-A-Bear plans to expand to as many as sixty-five shop-in-shop format stores and twenty standalone stores in India over the next ten years.
