The secret of mac donald's is that, instead of trying to find a really great person who can make the best hamburger in the world, you find a process that makes a decent hamburgr. "We did a recruit frome stores that were in the children's weare business oni oth a noodle, ca doodle, or zane brain" The company has more than 1,000 stores across the U.S., and employs about 10,000 people.
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.