Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. has announced the opening of a newly imagined at Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California on January 24, 2014. The company currently operates approximately 30 locations in this new store format with additional locations planned for 2014. Guests who visit the new store will see a noticeable change to the company's trademarked stuffed animal-making experience including an interactive storefront that is enabled by Microsoft's Kinect technology and interactive touch elements.

Guests can play games and view the latest product offerings as they enter the store. The Love Me station allows Guests to customize their furry friends with special personality attributes displayed as emoticons on an interactive table. Guests add unique traits - like brave, silly, and smart - to their red satin heart, which is added to their stuffed animal during the Stuff Me process.

The Hear Me station features an assortment of high quality sounds that can be added to stuffed animals. Using an interactive touch screen, Guests can select and load popular hits from current music, sounds, or their own voice onto a chip to further personalize their stuffed animal. The Fluff Me station features a digital bath tub that recognizes the items as they are placed on it and reacts with sensory effects such as virtual bubbles that appear when play soap is placed on the "water surface".

The Name Me station, where Guests use a viewfinder or "Bear-O-Scope" to reveal the special attributes they added to their stuffed animal. At Name Me, Guests also create a birth certificate that includes a photo of their new furry friend. Through these interactive elements, Guests can personalize the bear-making process and have a different experience each time they visit.

The store includes a number of technology platforms that enable Build-A-Bear Workshop to continue to update the store experience. Similar to how one might download a new app to a mobile device, the company is able to update the stations inside the store with interactive experiences that are relevant to certain product launches and seasons.