We didn't invent teddy bears. We just invented a way to take it into a new level, and we made it more human. And most every child names their teddy bear something. So we really made a big dentin the way people thought about a stuffed animal off a shelf. I don't think anybody buys them that way any more.
Stuff it, fluff it, stitch it, dress it: Build-a-Bear Founder and former CEO Maxine Clark built a retail-entertainment empire by letting people make their own furry friends. Two hundred million of them. What's the secret to her success? Listen as she tells EconTalk's Russ Roberts how she developed a customer-focused culture, why she sought to join (and not beat) her competition, and about some of the (seriously) strange things people have stuffed into their bears.