<P> Build - A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is an American retailer headquartered in Overland, Missouri, that sells teddy bears and other stuffed animals . Customers go through an interactive process in which the stuffed animal of their choice is assembled and customized during their visit to the store . Build - A-Bear Workshop is the largest chain that operates in this style . The company has been acclaimed for the quality of its working environment, especially as a workplace for teenagers . </P> <P> The company's slogan was "Where Best Friends Are Made" from 1997 to 2013 . It is now "The Most Fun You'll Ever Make". </P> <P> Build - A-Bear Workshop was founded by Maxine Clark in 1997, with its first store in the Saint Louis Galleria . By 2010, the store had sold over 50 million bears and had over 400 stores in operation worldwide in Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom . The chain also originally had at least one store in Brazil and one in Oman, but both have since closed for reasons undisclosed . </P> <P> In 2006, the company acquired The Bear Factory from Hamleys and began operating in its flagship store in London . </P>

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