Lots of choice prices ranging from £10-£50 for bears and bears with everything (Build a Bear)

Member Name: sarah101

Product:	Build a Bear
Date:	06/09/08 (218 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Friendly staff, good choice, bearville.com, lovely shopping experience

Disadvantages: Nothing!

First discovered this a fair few years ago when it used to be The Bear Factory - or at least it was in the branch local to me. The only difference I have noticed since the name change is that they stopped doing winter sales!

The bears themselves are excellent quality and they start from £8 and go up to £18. The majority of the bears seem to be £12 or £15. The £18 bears are usually special editions - like the High School Musical bear that was out recently, or Hello Kitty and Winnie The Pooh but saying that the Westie bear I bought recently was also £18.

Since first walking into the store I have bought a Tiger, Cat, Dinosaur, Pink and white bear, Blue and white bear, Red Christmas bear, Brown bear, Velvet dog bear, British bear, 4 leaf clover bear and a Westie!! These are the only ones I can actually see now or remember buying recently! This alone tells how happy I am with every aspect of Build A Bear.

As soon as you walk through the entrance to a brightly lit store a member of staff will approach you and ask if you need any help, dont worry though its not an over pushy person they have always come across very well to me. More than once have helped choose a suitable bear when I was struggling to decide on which one to get - the most recent for the birth of a friends baby by pointing out the Velvet bear which does not have any hair that a baby could pull out. Right through to saving HMS tops when they came out just before last Christmas.

Once you have decided upon your bear they will ask if you would like a sound. They have cat, dog, monkey... I love you and record your own as well as others, the price ranges from £3 to £5 for record your own (or it was last year which was the last time I bought a sound) They do last a long time the I Love You one did become inaudible after a few months but that was because it was pressed constantally. They then get you to choose a heart to put into the bear and stuff the bear to how soft or firm you want. Once you have done that you can choose an outfit and get a birth certificate for the bear.

Getting the birth certificate is not only nice for the child but if you ever loose the bear and someone takes it back to a store they somehow manage to get it back to you - something to do with the tag on the bear that you scan in the computer to do the birth certificate and it must have a chip or something inside the bear which corresponds to it.

The choice of clothes and accessories is wonderful, they have everything from night clothes, beds, dog carriers, pushchairs, wheelchairs, glasses, bags, shoes, wigs, guitars.... character costumes - batman, spiderman and disney princess. The choice is great. Again the prices here range from £2 for a basic top to £15 for an outfit. You can pick up dresses for £6 and outfits for £10 within this, the shoes tend to be £5, the bags £3.50 - £5.

They also do some mini bears which are cute and around £4.

At the lower end it is possible to pick up a bear with a tshirt for around £10 right the way up to £50 for a bear with outfit and accessories.

Last Christmas they also had a special offer on which I will be looking out for again this year, which was spend around £20 and get a red bear for £5 which was a lovely bear and suitable for all year round not just december!

Finally they put the bear and certificate in a box - along with bows of your choice and off you go!

They have added a great feature for older children recently in the form of the Bearville where they can play games online with their bears.

They also send through offers for your childs birthday which this year was a £5 off any bear voucher, once in store they said it was also valid for clothes and accessories.

Summary: Lovely place to buy that perfect bear