Build-A-Bear Workshop — Local services in City of White Plains

2/20/21 Went 12pm this afternoon with 6y/o nephew to fill a Combo Panda bear. Yasmin and the two other staff (man and a woman) were AMAZING!!! They were personable, patient, sweet and funny with a special needs child that was super excited to be there. We pre-ordered the unstuffed bear and other accessories and came to get it filled, we thankfully didn’t get any upsell whatsoever on the showroom FULL of other plushies/stuffies and accessories - bears, unicorns, minions, bat car with sound - which of course we DID buy anyway (converse, roller skates and yip, that bat car) because it’s all adorable and not that expensive and we spoil this child. The store was totally covid-compliant and immaculate, the vibe was relaxed and positive. The entire experience from greeting, finding out what we needed, guiding my nephew through the adorable bear-filling process and seamlessly completing our sale was done while engaging my (talkative and energetic) nephew the entire time.

I read lots of reviews about various locations and they were a mixed bag, I was dead-set on going to another mall but I’m very happy we went to the Westchester, and will be returning. He wants minions and all of Combo Panda’s friends. Also, I thought the process was pretty fast, so unlike another reviewer thought it’d be good for birthdays up to 10 kids without any real lag time between each child while they look and play throughout the store. Also, if you have a specific stuffy (Combo, etc), call ahead and find out if they have in store or if you can get it delivered to store in time for your visit. Seriously, a very stress-free, no hover, overall...

I stopped by this past Monday with a few friends to get some bears. My first issue was my friends was on Ft with his daughter so she could pick out the bear and one of the employees immediately rushed over and screamed at him saying no recording, once we explained he was on ft she calmed down. We asked about a voice recording heart and she just pointed to the machine with no further explanation . We struggled but eventually figured it out. While the bears were getting stuffed , the employee litteraly just stuffed the bear and put the heart in. Which is VERY DISAPPOINTING. I remember they would make you rub the heart, spin , and make a wish. The experience was not magical whatsoever for kids. Even as adults they would make you make a wish. The employee was more focused on us not recording or taking pictures than actually doing their job. I was very disappointed , even after checking out i had to ask the employee if they still do birth certificate’s or not. I should not have had to ask , she should have told me. Very bad experience , the employee’s showed no enthusiasm at all . This is a kids store after all. It was two African American...

I love Build a bear workshop but this one was the worst. The one lady was nice and helped my daughter make the animal with the heart etc. Then I asked the other girl where the cat things were, and she was like, "what cat things?" and I was confused because every other time we have been there the lady showed us where the accessories for the animal are located- and she was like, "they all fit" and went back to stocking...thanks a lot. It is a cat that stands, not the bear-esque kind, so many of the dresses would not have worked- and then I was like "I don;t know, like a bed or leash, collar thing" and she was like "a leash for a cat?" so I just went to find a cat bed myself in the store that luckily my daughter liked a lot, it is super cute. Morale at this store is low. Next time I will ride the train to the manhattan store, which has a much larger selection and the people were a little nicer. Every other BBW I have been to has super nice people but...