BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP INC - Annual Report: 2023 (Form 10-K)

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains certain statements that are, or may be considered to be, “forward-looking statements” for the purpose of federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements that reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. We generally identify these statements by words or phrases such as “may,” “might,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “predict,” “future,” “potential,” “will,” “could,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” or “continue,” the negative or any derivative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include, among other things, projections or statements regarding:

These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including those factors discussed under the caption entitled “Risk Factors” as well as other places in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We operate in a competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all the risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all the risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as a prediction of actual results.

You should read this Annual Report on Form 10-K completely and with the understanding that our actual results may be materially different from what we expect. Except as required by law, we undertake no duty to update these forward-looking statements, even though our situation may change in the future. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and, where appropriate, its subsidiaries.

The following discussion contains references to fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021, which represent our fiscal years ending January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, respectively.

PART I

Overview

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., a Delaware corporation, was formed in 1997 as a mall-based, experiential specialty retailer where children and their families could create their own stuffed animals. Over the last 25 years, Build-A-Bear has become a brand with high consumer awareness and positive affinity with over 225 million furry friends sold. We are leveraging this brand strength to strategically evolve our brick-and-mortar retail footprint beyond traditional malls with a versatile range of formats and locations including tourist destinations, to expand into international markets primarily via a franchise model, grow the total addressable market beyond children by adding teens and adults with entertainment/sports licensing, collectible and gifting offerings as well as add product categories beyond plush such as gift boxes and pajamas. Build-A-Bear's pop-culture and multi-generational appeal have also played a key role in our digital transformation which includes a meaningful e-commerce/omni-channel business that has delivered sustained growth, engaging consumer loyalty program and robust digital marketing and content capabilities with industry-leading partners. 

As of January 28, 2023, we operated 350 corporately-managed locations, including 312 stores in the United States (“U.S.”) and Canada, 38 stores in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) and Ireland, 70 locations operated through our "third-party retail" model in which we sell our products on a wholesale basis to other companies that then, in turn, execute our retail experience, and 68 franchised stores operating internationally, all under the Build-A-Bear Workshop brand. In addition to these stores, we sell products on our company-owned e-commerce sites and third-party marketplace sites, our franchisees sell products through sites that they manage as well as other third-party marketplace sites and other parties sell products on their sites under wholesale agreements.

Segments and Geographic Areas

Our business is conducted through three reportable segments consisting of direct-to-consumer (“DTC”), commercial, and international franchising. Our reportable segments are primarily determined by the types of customers they serve and the types of products and services that they offer. Each reportable segment may operate in many geographic areas. Financial information related to our segments and the geographic areas in which we operate is contained in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” See Note 15 — Segment Information to the consolidated financial statements for information regarding sales, results of operations and identifiable assets of the Company by business segment and by geographic area.

Description of Operations

Build-A-Bear Workshop offers interactive entertainment experiences via both physical and digital engagement, targeting a range of consumer segments and purchasing occasions through digitally-driven, diversified omnichannel capabilities. We operate a vertical retail channel with experience locations that feature a unique combination of interactivity and product in which guests can “make their own stuffed animals” by participating in the stuffing, fluffing, dressing, accessorizing and naming of their own teddy bears and other stuffed animals. We also operate e-commerce sites that focus on gift-giving, collectible merchandise and licensed products that appeal to consumers that have an affinity for characters from a range of entertainment, sports, art, and gaming properties. Our engaging digital purchasing experiences include our online “Bear-Builder”, the animated “Bear Builder 3D Workshop”, an age-gated adult-focused “Bear Cave” and the “HeartBox” gift site. Our retail stores also act as “mini distribution centers” that provide efficient omnichannel support for our digital demand. The primary consumer target for our retail stores is families with children while our e-commerce sites focus on collectors and gift givers that are primarily tweens, teens and adults. We have also extended our business model by leveraging our brand strength and owned intellectual properties through the creation of engaging content for kids and adults while also offering products at wholesale and in non-plush consumer categories via outbound licensing agreements with leading manufacturers.

We seek to provide outstanding guest service and experiences across all channels and touch points including our retail locations, our e-commerce sites, our mobile sites and apps as well as traditional, digital and social media. We believe the hands-on and interactive nature of our experience locations, our personal service model and engaging digital shopping experiences result in guests forming an emotional connection with our brand which has multi-generational appeal that captures today’s zeitgeist including desire for engaging experiences, personalization and “DIY” while being recognized as trusted, giving, and a part of pop culture.

We believe there are opportunities to extend the reach and size of our diverse consumer segments through expanded products and licensing relationships, evolved experiences, and incremental occasions, partnerships, and marketing activities. We believe we can further develop our business by creating a continuous circle of engagement with expanded programs including outbound branded licensing and entertainment that drives retail performance and leverages our brand equity which may in turn positively impact other channels of distribution.

Operating Strategies

We believe we have built the infrastructure to respond with greater agility to deal with ongoing and future potential uncertainty, and we did deliver continued growth in total revenues and profit in fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021. While we believe that we have seen benefits from select pandemic-driven factors such as pent-up demand and stimulus packages, we believe that the initiatives and investments that were put in place prior to the pandemic, and in many cases accelerated during the pandemic, are driving improved results, which we expect to continue. We remain focused on our strategic priorities which are centered primarily on three key areas: 

Merchandise Sourcing and Inventory Management

Our stores and e-commerce sites offer an extensive and coordinated selection of merchandise, including a wide range of different styles of plush products to be stuffed, pre-stuffed plush products, sounds and scents that can be added to the stuffed animals and a broad variety of clothing, shoes and accessories, as well as other brand appropriate toy and novelty items including family sleepwear, sourced from multiple vendors primarily in Vietnam and China. Our plush products and clothing are produced from high quality, man-made materials or natural fibers, and the stuffing is made of a high-grade polyester fiber.

We believe we comply with governmental safety requirements specific to each product category and country where there are Build-A-Bear Workshop locations. Specifically, we believe all of the toy products sold in our stores and through our e-commerce sites meet Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requirements including the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) for children’s products. We also believe we comply with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM-F963), European Toy Safety Standards (EN71), China National Toy Standards (GB6675/GB5296.5), China Compulsory Certification (CCC), Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS 8124), Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act Toys Regulation (CCPSA), Chile Standard on Safety of Toys NCh 3251 and India Safety of Toys (IS:9873). Our products are tested through independent third-party testing labs for compliance with toy safety standards. Packaging and labels for each product indicate the age grading for the product and any special warnings in accordance with guidelines established by the CPSC or other applicable authority. We require our supplier factories to be compliant with the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) Ethical Toy Program certification or with other comparable third-party social compliance programs. The ICTI Ethical Toy Program process is a social compliance program to promote ethical manufacturing in the form of fair labor treatment, as well as employee health and safety in the toy industry supply chain worldwide. In order to obtain this certification, each factory completes a rigorous evaluation performed by an accredited ICTI agent on an annual basis.

The average time from product conception to the arrival in stores is approximately 12 months, including approximately 90 to 150 days from the beginning of production to in-store delivery. Through an ongoing analysis of selling trends, we regularly update our product assortment by increasing quantities of productive styles and eliminating less productive styles. Our relationships with our vendors generally are on a purchase order basis without contractual obligation to provide adequate supply or acceptable pricing on a long-term basis.

As of January 28, 2023, our inventory balance was $70.5 million, a decrease of $1.3 million compared to January 29, 2022. We are comfortable with the composition and level of our inventory, which supports increased consumer demand and critical seasonal products.

Distribution and Logistics

We own a 350,000 square-foot distribution center in Groveport, Ohio (near Columbus) that serves the majority of our stores in the U.S. and Canada. We also contract with a third-party warehouse in southern California to service our West Coast stores. The contract has a one-year term and is renewable. In Europe, we contract with a third-party distribution center in Selby, England under an agreement that ends in January 2025, to fulfill our store and e-commerce fulfillment needs. This agreement contains clauses that allow for termination if certain performance criteria are not met. In Asia, we contract for office space and a third-party distribution center in Shanghai, China, with the office space contract ending in August 2023 and the distribution center contract ending in April 2024.

Transportation from the warehouses to stores is managed by several third-party logistics providers. In the U.S., Canada and Europe, merchandise is shipped by a variety of distribution methods, depending on the store and seasonal inventory demand. Shipments from our distribution centers are scheduled throughout the week in order to smooth workflow, and stores are grouped together by shipping route to reduce freight costs. All items in our assortment are eligible for distribution, depending on allocation and fulfillment requirements, and we typically distribute merchandise and supplies to each store once every other week or once a week on a regular schedule, which allows us to consolidate shipments in order to reduce distribution and shipping costs. Back-up supplies, such as stuffing for the plush animals, are often stored in limited amounts at regional pool points.

During fiscal 2020, we introduced "Buy Online, Ship From Store" and "Buy Online, Pick Up In Store" for orders placed in the U.S. and "Click and Collect" for orders placed in the U.K. These ongoing programs allow our brick and mortar locations to operate essentially as mini distribution centers allowing us to leverage the geographic proximity of stores, available inventory and labor to fulfill digital demand.

Employees

As of January 28, 2023, we had approximately 1,000 full-time and 3,200 regular part-time employees in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland. The number of part-time employees at all locations fluctuates depending on our seasonal needs. None of our employees is represented by a labor union, and we believe our relationship with our employees is good.

Competition

As our company has diversified and evolved, we view our competition through a number of categories. For our retail stores, we view the Build-A-Bear Workshop store experience as a distinctive combination of entertainment and retail with limited direct competition. We are aware of several small companies that operate “make your own” teddy bear and stuffed animal stores or kiosks in retail locations, but we believe none of those companies offer the breadth of assortment nor depth of experience or operate as a national or international retail company.

Since our signature products, teddy bears and other stuffed animals, are included in the toy category, we compete indirectly with a number of companies that sell plush products or premium children’s toys, including, but not limited to, Ty, Mattel, Hasbro, Lego, Ganz, and Steiff. We also compete with toy retailers including online and mass merchandisers such as Amazon, Walmart or Target as well as specialty stores such as The Entertainer Toy Shop, Smyths Toys Superstores and Hamleys.

As our gift-giving and affinity business has grown, our competitors include diverse retail and online companies such as Vermont Teddy Bear, Funko, or 1-800 Flowers. Since we sell a product that integrates merchandise and experience, we also view our competition as any company that competes for family time and entertainment dollars, such as movie theaters, amusement parks and arcades, other mall-based entertainment venues, party venues and online entertainment.

Intellectual Property and Trademarks

We believe our copyrights, service marks, trademarks, trade secrets, patents and similar intellectual property are critical to our success, and we intend, directly or indirectly, to maintain and protect these marks and, where applicable, license the intellectual property. Our patents do not expire until the years 2032 and 2033.

We have developed licensing and strategic relationships with leading retail and cultural organizations. We plan to continue to collaborate with companies that have strong, family-oriented brands and provide us with attractive marketing and merchandising opportunities. These relationships for specific products are generally reflected in contractual arrangements for limited terms that are terminable by either party upon specified notice. Specifically, we have key strategic relationships with select companies in which we feature their brands on products sold in our stores, including Disney®, NBCUniversal, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros., Pokémon, ViacomCBS, Nintendo, and major professional sports leagues along with other culturally relevant brands.

Availability of Information

We are subject to the reporting and information requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). As a result, we file periodic reports and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). We make these filings available free of charge in the Investor Relations section of our corporate website, the URL of which is http://ir.buildabear.com, as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. You may also request copies of these materials without charge by writing to our Investor Relations department at World Headquarters, 415 South 18th Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. The SEC maintains a website, http://www.sec.gov, that contains our annual, quarterly and current reports and other information we file electronically with the SEC. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into, and does not constitute a part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We operate in a changing environment that involves numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could materially affect our operations. The risks, uncertainties and other factors set forth below may cause our actual results, performances or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. If any of these risks or events occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.

MACROECONOMIC AND INDUSTRY RISKS

Consumer interests can change rapidly, and our success depends on the ongoing effectiveness of our marketing and online initiatives to build consumer affinity for our brand and drive consumer demand for our products and services.

We continue to update and evaluate our marketing initiatives, which are focused on building our brand, sharing relevant product news, executing timely promotions and adapting to rapidly changing consumer preferences. Our future growth and profitability will depend in large part upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our integrated marketing and advertising programs, access to leading entertainment relationships resulting in licensing relationships in a profitable manner and future marketing and advertising efforts that we undertake, including our ability to:

Our planned marketing expenditures may not result in increased total sales or generate sufficient levels of product and brand awareness, which could also have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and profitability. Additionally, we have shifted a number of our marketing programs to digital outlets which may not continue to be as effective as our more traditional, historical programs.

We depend upon the shopping malls and tourist locations in which our stores are located to attract guests. Continued or further volatility in retail consumer traffic could adversely affect our financial performance and profitability.

While we invest in integrated marketing efforts and believe we are more of a destination location than other retailers, we rely to a great extent on consumer traffic in the malls and tourist locations in which we are located. We rely on the ability of the malls’ anchor tenants, generally large department stores, and on the continuing popularity of malls and tourist locations as shopping destinations to attract high levels of consumer traffic. We cannot control the development of new shopping malls nor the closure of existing malls, the addition or loss of anchors and co-tenants, the availability or cost of appropriate locations within existing or new shopping malls or the desirability, safety or success of shopping malls. While we have had significant growth in our e-commerce sales compared to pre-pandemic levels and continue with initiatives intended to develop and strengthen our online business, the majority of our sales are generated from our physical store locations. Consumer traffic may also be reduced due to factors such as the economy, civil unrest, actual or threatened acts of terrorism or other crime in shopping locations, the impact of weather or natural disasters or a decline in consumer confidence resulting from international conflicts or war. A decrease in consumer traffic could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and profitability.

Global or regional health pandemics or epidemics, including COVID-19, could negatively impact our business, financial position and results of operations.

Our profitability could be adversely affected by fluctuations in petroleum products prices.

The profitability of our business depends to a certain degree upon the price of petroleum products, both as a component of the transportation costs for delivery of inventory from our vendors to our stores and as a raw material used in the production of our plush products and stuffing. Volatility in petroleum prices can be due to many external factors that are beyond our control including political, environmental, and economic factors such as hostilities or other conflicts in oil producing areas (including the current Russia-Ukraine conflict), limitations and/or disruptions in refining and pipeline capacity, and worldwide demand for petroleum. We are unable to predict what the price of crude oil and the resulting petroleum products will be in the future. We may be unable to pass along to our guests the increased costs that would result from higher petroleum prices. Therefore, any such increase could have an adverse impact on our business and profitability.

Our business may be adversely impacted at any time by a variety of significant competitive threats.

We operate in a highly competitive environment characterized by low barriers to entry. We compete against a diverse group of competitors. Because we have mall-based locations, we see our competition as other retailers that compete for prime mall locations, including various apparel, footwear and specialty retailers. As a retailer whose signature product is a stuffed animal that is typically purchased as a toy or gift, we also compete with big box retailers and toy stores, as well as manufacturers that sell plush toys. Since we offer our guests an experience as well as merchandise, we also view our competition as any company that competes for our guests’ time and entertainment dollars, such as movie theaters, restaurants, amusement parks and arcades. In addition, there are several small companies that operate “make your own” teddy bear and stuffed animal experiences in retail stores and kiosks. Although we believe that none of these companies currently offer the breadth and depth of the Build-A-Bear Workshop products and experience, we cannot be certain that they will not compete directly with us in the future.

Many of our competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources, and greater name recognition. We cannot be certain that we will be able to compete successfully with them in the future, particularly in geographic locations that represent new markets for us. If we fail to compete successfully, our market share and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

The retail sector has experienced an immense increase in sales initiated online and using mobile applications, as well as online sales for both in-store or curbside pick-up. Online and multi-channel retailers continue to focus on delivery services, with consumers increasingly seeking faster, guaranteed delivery times and low-cost or free shipping. Our ability to be competitive on delivery times and delivery costs depends on many factors, and our failure to successfully manage these factors and offer competitive delivery options could negatively impact the demand for our products and our profit margins.

OPERATIONAL RISKS

If we are unable to generate interest in and demand for our interactive retail experience and products, including being able to identify and respond to consumer preferences in a timely manner, our sales, financial condition and profitability could be adversely affected.

We believe that our success depends in large part upon our ability to continue to attract new and repeat guests with our interactive shopping experience, and our ability to anticipate, gauge and respond in a timely manner to changing consumer preferences, such as online buying, and fashion trends including licensed relationships. We cannot be certain that there will continue to be a demand for our “make-your-own stuffed animal” interactive experience, including our store design and brand appearance, or for our stuffed animals, related apparel and accessories. A decline in demand for our interactive shopping experience, our stuffed animals, related apparel or accessories, or a misjudgment of consumer preferences, fashion trends or the demand for licensed products, including those that are associated with new movie releases, could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, negative commentary regarding our company or the products we sell may be posted on social media sites and other platforms at any time and may negatively impact our reputation or business. 

Our future success depends, in part, on the popularity and consumer demand for brands of licensors such as Disney, NBCUniversal, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros., and Nintendo. If we are not able to meet our contractual commitments or are unable to maintain licensing agreements with key brands, our business would be adversely affected. There can be no certainty that our access to licensed brands will continue to be successful or enable us to maintain high levels of sales in the future and the timing of future entertainment projects may not coincide with the timing of previous successes impacting our ability to maintain sales levels. In addition, if we miscalculate the market for our merchandise or the purchasing preferences of our guests, we may be required to sell a significant amount of our inventory at discounted prices or even below costs, thereby adversely affecting our financial condition and profitability.

Failure to successfully execute our omnichannel and brand expansion strategy and the cost of our investments in e-commerce and digital transformation may materially adversely affect our financial condition and profitability.

The retail industry continues to rapidly evolve and consumers continue to increasingly embrace digital shopping. As a result, the portion of total consumer expenditures with retailers occurring through digital platforms is increasing and the pace of this increase could continue to accelerate.

Our strategy, which includes investments in e-commerce platforms, digital technology, and other consumer initiatives, may not adequately or effectively allow us to continue to grow our e-commerce business, increase sales, or grow our position in the specialty retail and gifting and collectibles markets such as adult to adult gifting (e.g. Heartbox), adult driven affinity (e.g. The Bear Cave), and occasion gifting (e.g. graduation, Valentine's Day). The success of our strategy will depend on our ability to continue building and delivering a seamless omnichannel shopping experience for consumers. With an increasing allocation of capital expenditures focused on digital initiatives, our failure to successfully execute on individual components of this initiative may adversely affect our financial performance. In addition, a greater concentration of e-commerce sales could result in a reduction in the amount of traffic in our brick-and-mortar locations and materially adversely affect our financial performance.

Furthermore, the cost of certain investments in e-commerce and digital technology may adversely impact our financial performance in the short-term and failure to realize the benefits of these investments may adversely impact our financial performance over the longer term.

If we are unable to renew, renegotiate or replace our store leases or enter into leases for new stores on favorable terms, or if we violate any of the terms of our current leases, our revenue and profitability could be harmed.

We lease all of our corporately-managed store locations. The majority of our store leases contain provisions for base rent plus percentage rent based on sales in excess of an agreed upon minimum annual sales level. Some store leases only include a provision for a percentage of a store's total sales, instead of a fixed base rent amount. A number of our leases include a termination provision which applies if we do not meet certain sales levels during a specified period, typically in the third to fourth year and the sixth to seventh year of the lease, which may be at either the landlord’s option or ours. Although we have largely shifted our leases in North America to shorter term leases to provide flexibility in aligning stores with market trends, this strategy has risk if we renew leases at a time when commercial rental rates are higher than the rate we could have secured with a longer-term lease. Furthermore, some of our leases contain various restrictions relating to change of control of our company. Our leases also subject us to risks relating to compliance with changing shopping location rules and the exercise of discretion by our landlords on various matters within these locations. We may not be able to maintain or obtain favorable locations within these desirable shopping locations. The terms of new leases may not be as favorable, which could cause an increase in store expenses negatively impacting overall profitability. If we execute termination rights, we may incur expenses and charges associated with those closures that could negatively impact our profitability.

Additionally, several landlords dominate the ownership of prime malls, particularly in the U.S. and Canada, and because of our dependence on these landlords for a substantial number of our locations, any significant erosion in their financial conditions or our relationships with these landlords could negatively affect our ability to obtain and retain store locations. Further landlord consolidation may negatively impact our results of operations.

Our leases in the U.K. and Ireland also typically contain provisions requiring rent reviews every five years in which the base rent that we pay is adjusted to current market rates. These rent reviews require that base rents cannot be reduced if market conditions have deteriorated but can be changed “upwards only.” We may be required to pay base rents that are significantly higher than we have projected. As a result of these and other factors, we may not be able to operate our European store locations profitably. If we are unable to do so, our results of operations and financial condition could be harmed, and we may be required to record significant additional impairment charges.

We are subject to risks associated with technology and digital operations.

Our operations are subject to numerous technology related risks, including risks related to the failure of the computer systems that operate our point of sale and inventory systems, websites and mobile sites and their related support systems. We engage key third-party business partners to support various functions of our business, including, but not limited to, information technology, web hosting and cloud-based services. We, and those third-party businesses that support us, are also subject to risks related to computer viruses, telecommunications failures, and other disruptions. Also, we may require additional capital in the future to sustain or grow our technological infrastructure and digital commerce capabilities.

Business risks related to technology and digital commerce include risks associated with the need to keep pace with rapid technological change, internet security risks, risks of system failure or inadequacy, governmental regulation and legal uncertainties with respect to the internet, and collection of sales or other taxes by additional states or foreign jurisdictions. If any of these risks occur, it could have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, as our online sales have increased and have become critical to our growth, the risk of any interruption of our information technology system capabilities is heightened.

We may not be able to evolve our store locations over time to align with market trends, successfully diversify our store formats and business models in accordance with our strategic goals or otherwise effectively manage our overall portfolio of stores which could adversely affect our ability to grow and could significantly harm our profitability.

Our future results will largely depend on our ability to optimize and maintain store productivity and profitability by strategically evolving our real estate portfolio to align with market trends while selectively opening new locations and systematically refreshing our store base. For example, our real estate development initiatives includes a focus on tourist locations due to changing consumer preferences and declining traditional mall traffic and we cannot be certain that this strategy will be successful. Our ability to manage our portfolio of stores in future years, in desirable locations, as well as to operate stores profitably, particularly in multi-store markets, are key factors in our ability to achieve sustained profitable growth. We cannot be certain when or whether desirable locations will become available, the number of Build-A-Bear Workshop stores that we can or will ultimately open, or whether any such new or relocated stores can be profitably operated. We may decide to close other stores in the future.

Additionally, in fiscal 2022 we operated 25 stores located within other retailers’ stores and 70 stores through our "third-party wholesale" model and as such are subject to the operational risks of these companies, including but not limited to, ineffective store operations, labor disputes and negative publicity, all of which could have a negative impact on our sales and operating performance.

Our company-owned distribution center that services the majority of our stores in North America and our third-party distribution center providers used in the western U.S. and Europe may be required to close and operations may experience disruptions or may operate inefficiently.

The operation of our stores is dependent on our ability to distribute merchandise to locations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe in a timely manner. We own a 350,000-square-foot distribution center in Groveport, Ohio and rely on this warehouse to receive, store and distribute merchandise for the majority of our North American locations and to our third-party retail partners. To operate this distribution center, our ability to meet changing labor needs while controlling our costs is subject to external factors such as labor laws, regulations, unemployment levels, prevailing wage rates, and changing demographics. In addition, we rely on third parties to manage all of the warehousing and distribution aspects of our business in the western U.S. and Europe. For example, as noted above, in Europe, we contract with a third-party distribution center in Selby, England under an agreement that ends in January 2025. Any significant interruption in the operation of the distribution centers due to natural disasters or severe weather, events such as fire, accidents, power outages, system failures, public health issues such as the COVID pandemic (or other future pandemics or health risks), or other unforeseen causes could damage a significant portion of our inventory. These factors may also impair our ability to adequately stock our stores and fulfill e-commerce orders and could decrease our sales and increase our costs associated with our supply chain.

INTERNATIONAL RISKS

We rely on a few global supply chain vendors to supply substantially all of our materials and merchandise, and significant price increases or any disruption in their ability to deliver materials and merchandise could harm our ability to source products and supply inventory to our stores.

We do not own or operate any factories that produce our plush products, clothing, shoes or accessories. In both fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021, we purchased 77% of our merchandise from five vendors. These vendors in turn contract for the production of merchandise with multiple manufacturing facilities. Prior to 2020, over 90% of merchandise received annually was produced in China, however, our efforts to diversify our supply chain reduced China sourcing to 58% of merchandise received as production shifted primarily to Vietnam, which provided 34% of our merchandise in 2022. Our relationships with our vendors generally are on a purchase order basis and do not provide a contractual obligation to provide adequate supply or acceptable pricing on a long-term basis. Our vendors could discontinue sourcing merchandise for us at any time. If any of our significant vendors were to discontinue their relationship with us, or if the factories with which they contract were to suffer a disruption in their production, we may be unable to replace the vendors in a timely manner, which could result in short-term or long-term disruption to our inventory flow or quality of the inventory as we transition our orders to new vendors or factories which could, in turn, disrupt our store operations and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such disruptions may result from public health issues such as the COVID pandemic (or other future pandemics), weather related events, natural disasters, trade restrictions, tariffs, changes in local laws, work stoppages or slowdowns, shipping capacity constraints, supply or shipping interruptions, geopolitical issues or other factors beyond our control. Additionally, in the event of a significant price increase from these suppliers, we may not be able to find alternative sources of supply in a timely manner or raise prices to offset the increases, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to effectively manage our international franchises, attract new franchisees or if the laws relating to our international franchises change, our growth and profitability could be adversely affected, and we could be exposed to additional liability.

As of January 28, 2023, there were 68 Build-A-Bear Workshop international franchised stores. We cannot ensure that our franchisees will be successful in identifying and securing desirable locations or in operating their stores. International markets frequently have different demographic characteristics, competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our corporately-managed markets, which may impact the performance of these stores. Additionally, our franchisees may experience financing, merchandising and distribution expenses and challenges that are different from those we encounter in our corporately-managed markets. The operations and results of our franchisees could be negatively impacted by the economic, public health (such as COVID), or political factors in the countries in which they operate or foreign currency fluctuations. These challenges, as well as others, could have a material adverse effect on their business and in turn negatively impact our own business, financial condition and results of operations.

The success of our franchising business depends upon our ability to attract and maintain qualified franchisees with sufficient financial resources to develop and grow their operations and upon the ability of those franchisees to successfully develop and operate their franchised stores. Franchisees may not operate stores in a manner consistent with our standards and requirements, may not hire and train qualified managers and other store personnel, may not operate their stores profitably and may not pay amounts due to us. As a result, our franchising operations may not be profitable. Moreover, our brand image and reputation may suffer. If franchisees perform below expectations, we may transfer those agreements to other parties, take over the operations directly or discontinue the franchise agreement. Furthermore, the interests of franchisees might sometimes conflict with our interests. For example, whereas franchisees are concerned with their individual business objectives, we are responsible for ensuring the success of the Build-A-Bear brand and all of our stores. In addition, we have recently terminated franchise agreements covering Mexico, Thailand and Germany resulting in the closure of all stores in these territories.

The laws of the various foreign countries in which our franchisees operate as well as compliance with U.S. laws affecting operations outside the U.S., such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, govern our relationships with our franchisees. These laws, and any new laws that may be enacted, may detrimentally affect the rights and obligations between us and our franchisees and could expose us to additional liability.

LEGAL, TECHNOLOGY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RISKS

We are subject to a number of risks related to disruptions, failures or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure. If we improperly obtain or are unable to protect our data or violate privacy or security laws or expectations, we could be subject to liability as well as damage to our reputation.

Information technology is a critically important part of our business operations. We depend on information systems to process transactions, manage inventory, operate our websites, manage consumer databases, purchase, sell and ship goods on a timely basis, and maintain cost-efficient operations. There is a risk that we could experience a business interruption, theft of information, or reputational damage as a result of a cyber-attack, such as an infiltration of a data center, or data leakage of confidential information either internally or at our third-party providers. We may experience operational problems with our information systems as a result of system failures, system implementation issues, viruses, malicious hackers, sabotage, code anomalies, “Acts of God,” human error or other causes.

Our business involves the storage and transmission of consumers’ personal information, such as personal preferences and credit card information. We invest in industry-standard security technology to protect our data and business processes against the risk of data security breaches and cyber-attacks. Our data security management program includes identity, trust, vulnerability and threat management business processes, as well as enforcement of standard data protection policies such as Payment Card Industry compliance. We measure our data security effectiveness through industry accepted methods and remediate critical findings. Additionally, we certify our major technology suppliers and any outsourced services through accepted security certification measures. We maintain and routinely test backup systems and disaster recovery, along with external network security penetration testing by an independent third party as part of our business continuity preparedness. Internet privacy is a rapidly changing area and we may be subject to future requirements and legislation that are costly to implement and may negatively impact our results.

While we believe that our security technology and processes are adequate in preventing security breaches and in reducing cyber security risks, given the ever-increasing abilities of those intent on breaching cyber security measures and given our reliance on the security and other efforts of third-party vendors, the total security effort at any point in time may not be completely effective, and any such security breaches and cyber incidents could adversely affect our business. Failure of our systems, including failures due to cyber-attacks that would prevent the ability of systems to function as intended, could cause transaction errors, loss of consumers and sales, and could have negative consequences to us, our employees, and those with whom we do business. In addition, due to lingering affects of COVID, our workforce is in a state of transition to a combination of remote work and flexible work schedules opening us up for cyber-security threats and potential breaches as a result of increased employee usage of networks other than company-managed. Any security breach involving the misappropriation, loss, or other unauthorized disclosure of confidential information could also severely damage our reputation, expose us to the risks of litigation and liability, and harm our business. While we carry insurance that would mitigate the losses to an extent, such insurance may be insufficient to compensate us for potentially significant losses.

We currently obtain and retain personal information about our website users, store shoppers and loyalty program members. Federal, state and foreign governments have enacted or may enact laws or regulations regarding the collection and use of personal information, with particular emphasis on the collection of information regarding minors. Such regulation may also include enforcement and redress provisions. We have a stringent, comprehensive privacy policy covering the information we collect from our guests and have established security features to protect our consumer database and websites. While we have implemented programs and procedures designed to protect the privacy of people from whom we collect information which may include information regarding their children, and we intend for our websites to be fully compliant with all applicable regulations including the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, there can be no assurance that such programs will conform to all applicable laws or regulations. If we fail to fully comply, we may be subjected to liability and damage to our reputation. In addition, because our guest database primarily includes personal information of the parents of children and children frequently interact with our websites, we are potentially vulnerable to charges from parents, children’s organizations, governmental entities, and the media of engaging in inappropriate collection, distribution or other use of data collected from children. Additionally, while we have security features, our security measures may not protect users’ identities and our online safety measures may be questioned, which may result in negative publicity or a decrease in visitors to our sites. If site users act inappropriately or seek unauthorized contact with other users of the site, it could harm our reputation and, therefore, our business and we could be subject to liability. For example, the EU General Data Protection Regulation - 2016/679 (“EU GDPR”) and related guidance together with the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR," collectively with the EU GDPR, the "GDPR"), and the California Consumer Privacy Act 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act 2020 (collectively "CCPA"), greatly increase the jurisdictional reach of EU and California law, respectively, and adds a broad array of requirements related to personal data, including individual notice and opt-out preferences and the public disclosure of significant data breaches. Additionally, violations of GDPR can result in fines calculated as a percentage of a company’s annual revenue and CCPA provides civil penalty violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches. Other governments have enacted or are expected to enact similar data protection laws and are considering data localization laws that require data to stay within their borders. All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs and regulatory risks that are likely to increase over time.

A determination that there have been violations of laws relating to our practices under communications-based laws could also expose us to significant damage awards, fines and other penalties that could, individually or in the aggregate, materially harm our business. In particular, because of our marketing and other promotional texts, emails and other communications we send to our users, communications laws that provide a specified monetary damage award or fine for each violation (such as those described below) could result in particularly large awards or fines. For example, the Federal Communications Commission amended certain of its regulations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, in 2012 and 2013 in a manner that has increased our exposure to liability for certain types of telephonic communication with customers, including but not limited to text messages to mobile phones. Under the TCPA, plaintiffs seek actual monetary loss or statutory damages of $500 per violation, whichever is greater, and courts could treble the damage award for willful or knowing violations. Given the varied number of communications we send to our users, a determination that there have been violations of the TCPA, or other communications-based statutes, has exposed us to significant damage awards that could, individually or in the aggregate, materially harm our business. We are currently subject to a punitive class action lawsuit, containing allegations that our business violated the TCPA.

We may fail to renew, register or otherwise protect our trademarks or other intellectual property and may be sued by third parties for infringement or misappropriation of their proprietary rights, which could be costly, distract our management and personnel and result in the diminution in value of our trademarks and other important intellectual property.

Other parties have asserted in the past, and may assert in the future, trademark, patent, copyright or other intellectual property rights that are important to our business. We cannot be certain that others will not seek to block the use of or seek monetary damages or other remedies for the prior use of our brand names or other intellectual property or the sale of our products or services as a violation of their trademark, patent or other proprietary rights. Defending any claims, even claims without merit, could be time-consuming, result in costly settlements, litigation or restrictions on our business and damage our reputation.

In addition, there may be prior registrations or use of intellectual property in the U.S. or foreign countries for similar or competing marks or other proprietary rights of which we are not aware. In all such countries, it may be possible for any third-party owner of a national trademark registration or other proprietary right to enjoin or limit our expansion into those countries or to seek damages for our use of such intellectual property in such countries. In the event a claim against us was successful and we could not obtain a license to the relevant intellectual property or redesign or rename our products or operations to avoid infringement, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be harmed. Securing registrations does not fully insulate us against intellectual property claims, as another party may have rights superior to our registration, or our registration may be vulnerable to attack on various grounds.

We may suffer negative publicity or be sued if the manufacturers of our merchandise or of Build-A-Bear branded merchandise sold by our licensees ship any products that do not meet current safety standards or production requirements or if such products are recalled or cause injuries.

Although we require our manufacturers to meet governmental safety standards, including food safety regulations for certain locations, and our product specifications as well as submitting our products for testing, we cannot fully control the materials used by, or the workmanship of, our manufacturers. Additionally, through our agreements, our licensees are required to ensure that their manufacturers meet applicable safety and testing standards. If any of these manufacturers ship merchandise that does not meet our required standards, we could in turn experience negative publicity or be sued.

Many of our products are used by small children and infants who may be injured from usage if age grading or warnings are not followed. We may decide or be required to recall products or be subject to claims or lawsuits resulting from injuries. For example, we have voluntarily recalled six products in the past ten years due to possible safety issues. While our vendors have historically reimbursed us for certain related expenses, negative publicity in the event of any recall or if any children are injured from our products could have a material adverse effect on sales of our products and our business, and related recalls or lawsuits with respect to such injuries could have a material adverse effect on our financial position. Additionally, we could incur fines related to consumer product safety issues from the regulatory authorities in the countries in which we operate. Although we currently have liability insurance, we cannot assure you that it would cover product recalls or related fines, and we face the risk that claims or liabilities will exceed our insurance coverage. Furthermore, we may not be able to maintain adequate liability insurance in the future. While our licensing agreements typically indemnify us against financial losses resulting from a safety or quality issue from Build-A-Bear branded products sold by our licensees, such indemnification may not fully protect us financially and, whether or not it does, our brand reputation may be negatively impacted.

We may suffer negative publicity or be sued if the manufacturers of our merchandise violate labor laws or engage in practices that consumers believe are unethical.

We rely on our sourcing personnel to select manufacturers with legal and ethical labor practices, but we cannot control the business and labor practices of our manufacturers. If one of these manufacturers violates labor laws or other applicable regulations or is accused of violating these laws and regulations, or if such a manufacturer engages in labor or other practices that diverge from those typically acceptable in the U.S., we could in turn experience negative publicity, reputational harm, increased compliance and operating costs or be sued.

We may suffer negative publicity or a decrease in sales or profitability if the products from other companies that we sell in our stores do not meet our quality standards or fail to achieve our sales expectations.

We may expand our product assortment to include products manufactured by other companies. If sales of such products do not meet our expectations or are impacted by competitors’ pricing, we may have to take markdowns or employ other strategies to liquidate the product. If other companies do not meet quality or safety standards or violate any manufacturing or labor laws, we may suffer negative publicity and may not realize our sales plans.

We may suffer negative publicity and damage to our reputation if we do not continue to evolve environmental, social, and governance initiatives in a timely manner.

The appeal of our brand may also depend on the success of our environmental, social and governance ("ESG") initiatives, which require company-wide coordination and alignment. We are working to manage risks and costs to us, our licensees and our supply chain that are exposed to the effects of climate change as well as diminishing fossil fuel and water resources. These risks include any increased public focus, including by governmental and non-governmental organizations, on climate change and other environmental sustainability matters, including packaging and waste, emissions, and land use. We may receive increased pressure to publish an ESG report or otherwise expand our disclosures in these areas, make commitments, set targets or establish additional goals and take actions to meet them, which could expose us to market, operational and execution costs or risks. If we publish an ESG report or otherwise expand our ESG disclosures, the metrics we disclose whether they be based on the standards we set for ourselves or those set by others, may influence our reputation and the value of our brand. Our failure to achieve progress on any goals or objectives that we set on a timely basis, or at all, could adversely affect our business, financial performance, and growth. By electing to publicly set and share these metrics and expand upon our disclosures, we would also face increased scrutiny related to ESG activities. As a result, we could experience damage to our reputation and the value of our brands if we fail to act responsibly in the areas in which we report. Any such harm to our reputation or any failure or perceived failure by us to adequately address ESG-related activities, including setting of metrics or enhancing disclosures, could adversely affect our business, financial performance, and growth.

Risks Related to Owning Our Common Stock

Fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations could cause the price of our common stock to substantially decline.

Retailers generally are subject to fluctuations in quarterly results. Our operating results for one period may not be indicative of results for other periods, and may fluctuate significantly due to a variety of factors, including:

If our future quarterly results fluctuate significantly or fail to meet the expectations of the investment community, then the market price of our common stock could decline substantially.

Fluctuations in our operating results could reduce our cash flow, or trigger restrictions under our credit agreement, and we may be unable to repurchase shares at all or at the times or in the amounts we desire, or the results of our share repurchase program may not be as beneficial as we would like. 

From time to time, we have repurchased shares under plans authorized by our Board of Directors, including a $50 million program adopted in August 2022. Such programs generally do not require us to repurchase any specific number of shares, and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time without prior notice. Shares repurchased under the program will be subsequently retired. If our cash flow decreases as a result of decreased sales, increased expenses or capital expenditures or other uses of cash, we may not be able to repurchase shares of our common stock at all or at times or in the amounts we desire. As a result, the results of any share repurchase program may not be as beneficial as expected. In addition, our credit agreement restricts our ability to repurchase shares when certain liquidity conditions exist.

Our relatively low market capitalization can cause the market price of our common stock to become volatile.

During fiscal 2022, the trading price of our common stock fluctuated between $12.47 and $26.87 per share. The market price of our common stock may be significantly affected by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, actual or anticipated variations in our operating results or those of our competitors as compared to analyst expectations, changes in financial estimates by research analysts with respect to us or others in the retail industry, and announcements of significant transactions (including mergers or acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, stock repurchases, dividends, or other strategic initiatives) by us or other similar companies. In addition, the equity markets have experienced price and volume fluctuations that affect the stock price of companies in ways that have been unrelated to an individual company’s operating performance. The price of our common stock may continue to be volatile, based on factors specific to our company and industry, as well as factors related to the equity markets overall. Moreover, we believe that such volatility has attracted the interest of activist shareholders in the past and may continue to do so. Responding to activist shareholders can be costly and time-consuming, and the perceived uncertainties as to our future direction resulting from responding to activist strategies could itself then further affect the market price and volatility of our common stock.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that may prevent or frustrate attempts to replace or remove our current management by our stockholders, even if such replacement or removal may be in our stockholders’ best interests.

Our basic corporate documents and Delaware law contain provisions that might enable our management to resist a takeover. These provisions:

These provisions may:

GENERAL RISKS

We may not be able to operate successfully if we lose key personnel, are unable to hire qualified additional personnel, or experience turnover of our management team.

The success of our business depends upon the quality of associates throughout our organization and our ability to attract and retain qualified key employees. The loss of certain key employees, our inability to attract and retain other qualified key employees or a labor shortage that reduces the pool of qualified candidates could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be unsuccessful in acquiring businesses or engaging in other strategic transactions, which may negatively affect our financial condition and profitability.

We may from time to time engage in discussions and negotiations regarding acquisitions or other strategic transactions that could affect our financial condition, profitability or other aspects of our business. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify suitable acquisition targets that we believe complement our existing business. There can also be no assurance that if we acquire a business, we will be successful in integrating it into our overall operations, or that any such acquired company will operate profitably or will not otherwise adversely impact our financial condition.

Not applicable.

Stores

We lease all of our store locations. As of January 28, 2023, we operated 350 retail stores located primarily in major malls throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland in our DTC segment.

Non-Store Properties

In addition to leasing all of our store locations, we own a warehouse and distribution center in Groveport, Ohio, which is utilized primarily by our DTC segment. The facility is approximately 350,000 square feet and includes our North American e-commerce fulfillment center. We lease 51,600 square feet in a building that we use as our corporate headquarters in downtown St. Louis, Missouri with a lease of eleven years commencing in June 2020. We also lease an approximately 9,250 square foot portion of our prior headquarters in Overland, Missouri with the lease commencing in July 2020 and continuing through June 2023. In the U.K., we lease approximately 6,500 square feet for our regional headquarters in Slough, England under a lease that commenced in March 2016 with a term of 10 years. We also contract with a third-party warehouse in southern California to service our West Coast stores. The contract has a one-year term and is renewable. In Europe, we contract with a third-party distribution center in Selby, England under an agreement that ends in January 2025. This agreement contains clauses that allow for termination if certain performance criteria are not met. In Asia, we contract for office space and a third-party distribution center in Shanghai, China, with the office space contract ending in August 2023 and the distribution center contract ending in April 2024.

From time to time, we are involved in ordinary routine litigation typical for companies engaged in our line of business, including actions seeking to enforce our intellectual property rights or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Information with respect to certain legal proceedings is set forth in Note 10 Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements (included in Part IV of this form 10-K) and is incorporated herein by reference.

Not applicable.

PART II

Common Stock

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “BBW.” Our common stock commenced trading on the NYSE on October 28, 2004.

Holders

As of April 10, 2023, the number of holders of record of the Company’s common stock totaled approximately1,963.

Dividends

 Our Board of Directors declared a special cash dividend of $1.50 per share that was paid on April 6, 2023, to all stockholders of record as of March 23, 2023, following a $1.25 per share special cash dividend declared on November 30, 2021.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

 Refer to Part III, Item 12, for information related to our equity compensation plan. 

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

There were no sales of unregistered securities during the past three years.

Not applicable.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those discussed in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following section is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information, including our financial statements and the notes thereto, which appears elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Business Overview

Build-A-Bear Workshop started as a mall-based, experiential specialty retailer where children and their families could create their own stuffed animals. Over the last 25 years, Build-A-Bear has become a brand with high consumer awareness and positive affinity with over 225 million furry friends sold to guests around the world. We seek to provide outstanding guest service and experiences across all channels and touch points including our stores, our e-commerce sites, our mobile sites and apps as well as traditional, digital and social media. We believe the hands-on and interactive nature of our experience locations, our personal service model and engaging digital shopping experiences result in guests forming an emotional connection with our brand which has multi-generational appeal that captures today’s zeitgeist including desire for engaging experiences, personalization and “DIY” while being recognized as trusted, giving, and a part of pop culture.

We operate a vertical retail channel with stores that feature a unique combination of experience and product in which guests can “make their own stuffed animals” by participating in the stuffing, fluffing, dressing, accessorizing and naming of their own teddy bears and other stuffed animals. We also operate e-commerce sites that focus on gift-giving, collectible merchandise and licensed products that appeal to consumers that have an affinity for characters from a range of entertainment, sports, art, and gaming properties. Our engaging digital purchasing experiences include our online “Bear-Builder”, the animated “Bear Builder 3D Workshop”, an age-gated adult-focused “Bear Cave” and the “HeartBox” gift site. Our retail stores also act as “mini distribution centers” that provide efficient omnichannel support for our growing digital demand. The primary consumer target for our brick-and-mortar locations is families with children while our e-commerce sites focus on collectors and gift givers that are primarily tweens, teens and adults. We have also extended our business model to develop a circle of continuous engagement by leveraging our brand strength and owned intellectual properties through the creation of engaging content for kids and adults while also offering products at wholesale and in non-plush consumer categories via outbound licensing agreements with leading manufacturers.

Our strategy includes leveraging our brand strength to continue to strategically evolve our brick-and-mortar retail footprint beyond traditional malls with a versatile range of formats and locations including tourist destinations, expand into international markets primarily via a franchise model, and broaden the consumer base beyond children by adding teens and adults with entertainment/sports licensing, collectible and gifting offerings. Build-A-Bear’s pop-culture and multi-generational appeal have also played a key role in our digital transformation with a focus on accelerating our initiatives to expand our digitally-driven, diversified omnichannel capabilities that offer interactive entertainment experiences via both physical and e-commerce engagement, targeting a range of consumer segments and purchasing occasions.

As of January 28, 2023, we had 350 corporate-managed stores globally, 70 locations operating through our "third-party retail" model in which we sell our products on a wholesale basis to other companies that then in turn execute our retail experience, and 68 franchised stores operating internationally under the Build-A-Bear Workshop brand. In addition to our stores, we sold product on our company-owned e-commerce sites.

We operate in three segments that share the same infrastructure, including management, systems, merchandising and marketing, and generate revenues as follows:

Selected financial data attributable to each segment for fiscal 2022 and 2021 are presented in Note 15 — Segment Information to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our year-over-year results discussed below are impacted by prior year store closures and operating hour reductions as a result of the pandemic. At the beginning of fiscal 2021, our U.S. store portfolio was open and operating while our stores in the U.K., Ireland and Canada remained temporarily closed due to the pandemic. In April 2021, stores in the U.K. reopened as the government lifted lockdown restrictions resulting in almost all of our stores operating at the end of the 2021 first fiscal quarter with the remaining stores in the U.K. and Ireland opening in the second fiscal quarter thereby ending that period with all stores open in those geographies. The majority of our Canadian stores remained temporarily closed at the beginning of the second quarter with the majority reopening in June 2021 and with all stores ending the second fiscal quarter open. No stores were closed as a result of the pandemic in fiscal 2022.

Our consolidated net income was $48.0 million in fiscal 2022 compared to net income of $47.3 million in fiscal 2021. We believe that we have a concept that has broad demographic appeal which, for North American stores open for the entire year averaged net retail sales per store of $1.2 million and $1.0 million in fiscal 2022 and 2021, respectively. 

We ended fiscal 2022 with no borrowings under our credit agreement and with $42.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash after investing $13.6 million in capital projects throughout the year. During the third quarter of fiscal 2022, we completed the $25.0 million stock buyback program authorized by our Board of Directors in November 2021. On August 31, 2022, we announced that our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $50.0 million, and during fiscal 2022, we had utilized $24.1 million in cash to repurchase 1,533,503 shares under both stock buyback programs. Additionally, our Board of Directors declared a special cash dividend of $1.50 per share that was paid on April 6, 2023, to all stockholders of record as of March 23, 2023, following a $1.25 per share special cash dividend declared on November 30, 2021 and paid in December 2021 in the prior year.

Following is a description and discussion of the major components of our statement of operations:

Revenues

Net retail sales, commercial revenue and international franchising: See Note 3 — Revenue to the consolidated financial statements for additional accounting information.

We use net retail sales per square foot as a performance measure for our business. The following table details net retail sales per square foot for stores open throughout the fiscal year other than periods of temporary government-mandated closures, for the periods presented:

Costs and Expenses

Cost of merchandise sold: Cost of merchandise sold is driven primarily by our retail segment. Cost of merchandise sold – retail includes the cost of the merchandise, including royalties paid to licensors of third party branded merchandise, store occupancy cost, including store depreciation and store asset impairment charges (if not disclosed separately due to materiality) (See Note 6 — Property and Equipment, net to the consolidated financial statements for additional accounting information regarding store asset impairment), cost of warehousing and distribution, packaging, stuffing, damages and shortages, and shipping and handling costs incurred in shipment to customers. Retail gross profit is defined as net retail sales less the cost of merchandise sold - retail. For the commercial segment, cost of merchandise includes the cost of merchandise sold to third-party retailers on a wholesale basis for sale within their stores. For the franchise segment, cost of merchandise includes the sale of furniture, fixtures, and supplies to our franchise partners.

Selling, general and administrative expense (“SGA”): These expenses include store payroll and benefits, advertising, credit card fees, store supplies and normal store pre-opening and closing expenses as well as central office general and administrative expenses, including costs for management payroll, benefits, incentive compensation, travel, information systems, accounting, insurance, legal and public relations. These expenses also include depreciation of central office assets and the amortization of other assets. Certain store expenses such as credit card fees historically have increased or decreased proportionately with net retail sales. In addition, bad debt expenses and recoveries and accounts receivable related charges are recorded in SGA. 

Stores

Corporately-Managed Locations:

The number of Build-A-Bear Workshop stores in the U.S. and Canada (collectively, North America), the U.K. and Ireland (collectively, Europe) and China for the last two fiscal years is summarized as follows:

During fiscal 2022, our retail business model continued to evolve to address changing shopping patterns by diversifying our locations, formats and geographies. We are updating our store portfolio with our Discovery format, which represented 45% of our store base as of January 28, 2023. During fiscal 2022, we executed 9 planned new store openings in North America, with 6 being opened under the Discovery format and 3 of which were in tourist sites. Temporary locations generally have lease terms of two to eighteen months. These specific sites are designed to capitalize on short-term opportunities. In the future, we expect to close certain stores in accordance with natural lease events as an ongoing part of our real estate management and day-to-day operational plans.

Third-Party Retail Locations:

The number of third-party retail locations opened and closed for the periods presented below is summarized as follows:

Through our third-party retail model, there were 70 stores in operation at the end of fiscal year 2022 with relationships that included Carnival Cruise Line, Great Wolf Lodge Resorts, Landry's and Beaches Family Resorts. The third-party retail model is capital light for us, with the partner company building out and operating the workshops including providing the real estate location and covering the cost of labor and inventory, which is purchased on a wholesale basis. These locations are heavily-weighted to the hospitality industry, which allow us to further advance our focus on experience location expansion in non-traditional and tourist areas, as well as shop-in-shop arrangements within other retailers’ stores.

International Franchise Locations:

Our first franchisee location was opened in November 2003. All franchised stores have similar signage, store layout and merchandise assortments as our corporately-managed stores. As of January 28, 2023, we had six master franchise agreements, which typically grant franchise rights for a particular country or group of countries, covering an aggregate of 10 countries.

The number of international, franchised stores opened and closed for the periods presented below is summarized as follows:

As of January 28, 2023, the distribution of franchised locations among these countries was as follows:

In the ordinary course of business, we anticipate signing additional master franchise agreements in the future and terminating other such agreements. We source fixtures and other supplies for our franchisees from China which significantly reduces the capital and lowers the expenses required to open franchises. We are leveraging new formats that have been developed for our corporately-managed locations such as concourses and shop-in-shops with our franchisees.

Results of Operations

2022 Overview

Our performance continues to reflect the success of our strategy which has allowed us to put the building blocks in place to develop a powerful platform to support our initiatives to deliver consistent profitable growth. We believe our elevated omnichannel business model, which includes a highly profitable e-commerce and experiential retail store base, complimented by diversified revenue streams and disciplined expense and balance sheet management, puts us in a solid position for continued future success. We delivered a full year pre-tax profit of $61.9 million, which was the highest in our company’s 25-year history. In response to a variety of external pressures including changes in consumer shopping habits resulting in the rapid rise of the digital economy and shifting mall traffic patterns, we remained focused on accelerating and expanding our key initiatives by investing in and executing plans to improve operations and profitability. We believe that the majority of our positive performance was driven by the disciplined execution of our strategic initiatives, including leveraging our financial management to invest in growth initiatives, to contribute to a 13.7% increase in total revenue to $467.9 million in fiscal 2022. We ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of $42.2 million with no outstanding borrowings on our credit facility. During the period of November 30, 2021 through April 10, 2023, we returned over $73 million in value to shareholders through $31.6 million in share repurchases and payments of a $20.2 million special dividend in fiscal 2021 and 2022 and a $21.6 million special dividend in fiscal 2023.

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, selected statement of operations data expressed as a percentage of total revenues, except where otherwise indicated. Percentages may not total due to immaterial rounding:

Fiscal Year Ended January 28, 2023 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022

Total revenues. Net retail sales were $446.2 million for fiscal 2022, compared to $397.7 million for fiscal 2021, an increase of $48.5 million or 12.2%, compared to the prior year. The components of this increase are as follows:

  The retail revenue increase was primarily the result of an increase in demand for our product and in-person interactive experience (partially offset by a decrease in digital sales), select strategic price increases, and lower promotional activity. The negative foreign currency translation effect is due to the British Pound weakening against the US Dollar during fiscal 2022. This negative foreign currency effect has, in turn, decreased European revenue compared to the fiscal 2021.

Commercial revenue was $18.5 million for fiscal 2022 compared to $11.5 million for fiscal 2021, an increase of $7.0 million or 61.0% primarily due to increased sales volume from our commercial accounts through our third-party retail model.

Revenue from international franchising was $3.2 million for fiscal 2022 compared to $2.3 million for fiscal 2021. This $0.9 million or 38.9% increase was primarily due to having more stores in operation in 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 when some franchisee locations were temporarily closed due to pandemic-related mandated government restrictions.

Retail gross margin. Retail gross margin was $234.7 million in fiscal 2022 compared to $211.3 million in fiscal 2021, an increase of $23.4 million or 11.1% As a percentage of net retail sales, retail gross margin decreased to 52.6% for fiscal 2022 from 53.1% for fiscal 2021, or 50 basis points as a percentage of net retail sales. The decrease in gross margin was the result of increased air and ocean freight costs throughout fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021.

Selling, general and administrative. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $183.9 million or 39.3% of consolidated revenue for fiscal 2022 as compared to $167.3 million or 40.6% of consolidated revenue for fiscal 2021. The increase in overall expense was driven by higher store labor costs to service the increased sales demand within the year. Additionally, the change reflects an increase in variable costs driven by sales growth initiatives inclusive of higher marketing spend, with an advertising expense increase of $3.2 million or 19.5% compared to fiscal 2021, and an increase in incentive compensation expense due to our financial performance. 

Interest expense (income), net. For fiscal 2022, we had an immaterial amount of interest expense compared to an immaterial amount of interest income in fiscal 2021, resulting in an immaterial difference in activity.

Provision for income taxes. The provision for income taxes was $13.9 million in fiscal 2022 compared to $3.4 million in fiscal 2021. The $10.5 million increase in the provision for income taxes for fiscal 2022 from fiscal 2021 is due to the full reversal of the Company’s tax valuation allowance in North America of $7.8 million in fiscal 2021. The 2022 effective rate of 22.5% differed from the statutory rate of 21% primarily due to state tax income expense. The 2021 effective rate of 6.8% differed from the statutory rate of 21% primarily due to the tax benefit resulting from the reversal of the $7.8 million valuation allowance in North America. 

Non-GAAP Financial Measure - Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization 

We believe that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("EBITDA") provides meaningful information about our operational efficiency by excluding the impact of differences in tax jurisdictions and structures, debt levels, and capital investment. Additionally, this measure is the metric used for portions of the Company's incentive compensation structure. This measure is not in accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP. The most comparable GAAP measure is income before income taxes, or pre-tax income. EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitution for analysis of our results as reported in accordance with GAAP. Other companies may calculate EBIT and EBITDA differently, limiting the usefulness of the measures for comparisons with other companies. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the components of EBITDA (dollars in millions):

EBITDA for fiscal 2022 was $74.4 million, compared to $63.0 million for fiscal 2021, an increase of $11.4 million compared to the prior year period. The overall increase in EBITDA was due to increased consolidated revenues, allowing for a leverage of fixed occupancy and payroll costs compared to the prior year. 

Liquidity and Capital Resources 

Our cash requirements are primarily for the opening, remodeling or reformatting of stores, installation and upgrades of information systems and working capital. Over the past several years, we have met these requirements through cash generated from operations.

Operating Activities. Cash flows provided by operating activities were $47.3 million and $28.1 million in fiscal years 2022 and 2021, respectively. Cash flows from operating activities increased in fiscal 2022 as compared to fiscal 2021 primarily driven by a decrease in cash spent on inventory purchases in fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021. 

Investing Activities. Cash flows used in investing activities were $13.6 million and $8.1 million in fiscal years 2022 and 2021, respectively. Cash used in investing activities in fiscal 2022 increased as compared to fiscal 2021 primarily driven by an increase in spending on capital expenditures related to information technology projects and new store openings.

Financing Activities. Financing activities used cash of $25.1 million in fiscal 2022 compared to $22.5 million in fiscal 2021. Cash used in financing activities in fiscal 2022 increased as compared to fiscal 2021, driven primarily by the repurchases of our common stock for $24.1 million throughout fiscal 2022, offset by the payment of a special cash dividend of $19.9 million in fiscal 2021.

Capital Resources. As of January 28, 2023, we had a cash balance of $42.2 million, of which 72% was domiciled within the U.S.

On November 21, 2022, we entered into a Second Amendment to the Revolving Credit and Security Agreement with PNC Bank, National Association, as agent. The Second Amendment amended the Revolving Credit and Security Agreement, dated as of August 25, 2020 as amended by the First Amendment, dated as of December 17, 2021. In light of the upcoming cessation of LIBOR, the Second Amendment (i) changed the interest calculation from a LIBOR based reference rate to secured overnight financing rate (“SOFR”) based reference rate, (ii) updated the mechanics to use a future reference rate in the event that SOFR is no longer available, (iii) updated various provisions regarding compliance with sanctions and anti-money laundering laws, and (iv) implemented certain other technical amendments.

Most of our retail stores are located within shopping malls and all are operated under leases classified as operating leases. Our leases in North America have shifted to shorter term leases to provide flexibility in aligning stores with market trends. Our leases typically require us to pay personal property taxes, our pro rata share of real property taxes of the shopping mall, our own utilities, repairs and maintenance in our store, a pro rata share of the malls’ common area maintenance and, in some instances, merchant association fees and media fund contributions. Many leases contain incentives to help defray the cost of construction of a new store. Typically, a portion of the incentive must be repaid to the landlord if we choose to terminate the lease prior to its contracted term. In addition, some of these leases contain various restrictions relating to change in control of our company. Our leases also subject us to risks relating to compliance with changing mall rules and the exercise of discretion by our landlords on various matters, including rights of termination in some cases. Rents are invoiced monthly and paid in advance.

Our leases in the U.K. and Ireland typically have terms of ten years and generally contain a provision whereby every fifth year the rental rate can be adjusted to reflect the current market rates. The leases typically provide the lessee with the first right for renewal at the end of the lease. We may also be required to make deposits and rent guarantees to secure new leases as we expand. Real estate taxes also change according to government time schedules to reflect current market rental rates for the locations we lease. Rents are invoiced monthly or quarterly and paid in advance.

Capital spending in fiscal 2022 totaled $13.6 million and was primarily used to support our ongoing omnichannel strategy and digital initiatives.

We have various contractual or other obligations, including operating lease commitments and obligations under deferred compensation plans. Additional information is provided in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. As of January 28, 2023, we had purchase obligations totaling approximately $87.5 million, of which $27.5 million are due in the next 12 months. We believe our operating cash flows are sufficient to meet our material cash requirements for at least the next 12 months.

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements as of January 28, 2023.

Inflation

The impact of inflation on the Company's business operations was seen throughout fiscal 2021 and continued to adversely affect our business in fiscal 2022, mainly in freight and other supply chain related costs. However, we continue to take mitigating actions, such as select strategic price increases on highly sought-after products, accelerated purchases of inventory, and leveraging occupancy and distribution costs. We expect the inflationary pressures experienced in fiscal 2022 to continue into fiscal 2023, specifically in supply chain costs and minimum wage increases but do expect to see a reduction of freight costs compared to the prior year. We continue to monitor the impact of inflation on our business operations on an ongoing basis and may need to adjust our prices further to mitigate the impacts of changes to the rate of inflation during 2023 or in future years. Future volatility of general price inflation and the impact of inflation on costs and availability of materials, costs for shipping and warehousing and other operational overhead could adversely affect our financial results. Inflationary pressures may be exacerbated by higher transportation costs due to war and other geopolitical conflicts, such as the current Russia-Ukraine conflict and tension between China and Taiwan. We cannot provide an estimate or range of impact that such inflations may have our future results of operations. However, if we are unable to recover the impact of these costs through price increases to our guests, or if consumer spending decreases as a result of inflation, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be adversely affected. In addition, ongoing inflation in product costs may result in lower gross margin rates due to the need to maintain higher inventory reserves.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires the appropriate application of certain accounting policies, which require us to make estimates and assumptions about future events and their impact on amounts reported in our financial statements and related notes. Since future events and their impact cannot be determined with certainty, the actual results will inevitably differ from our estimates. Such differences could be material to the financial statements.

We believe application of accounting policies, and the estimates inherently required therein, are reasonable. These accounting policies and estimates are periodically reevaluated, and adjustments are made when facts and circumstances dictate a change. Historically, we have found our application of accounting policies to be appropriate, and actual results have not differed materially from those determined using necessary estimates.

Our accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements, which appear elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We have identified the following critical accounting estimates:

Long-Lived Asset Impairments

In accordance with ASC 360-10-35, we assess the potential impairment of long-lived assets, which include property, plant and equipment and operating lease right-of-use assets (subsequent to the adoption of ASC 842, Leases) when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Management's judgments regarding the existence of impairment indicators are based on market conditions and financial performance. Recoverability is measured by comparing the carrying amount of an asset, or asset group, to expected future net cash flows generated by the asset, or asset group. If the carrying amount exceeds its estimated undiscounted future cash flows, the carrying amount is compared to its fair value and an impairment charge is recognized to the extent of the difference. For operating lease right-of-use assets, we determine the fair value of the lease right-of-use assets by comparing the contractual rent payments to estimated market rental rates. Fair value is calculated as the present value of estimated future cash flows for each asset group.

For purposes of evaluating store assets for impairment, we have determined that each store location is an asset group, inclusive of the right-of-use asset attributable to each store. Factors that we consider important which could individually or in combination trigger an impairment review include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) significant underperformance relative to historical or projected future operating results; (2) significant changes in the manner of our use of the acquired assets or the strategy for our overall business; and (3) significant changes in our business strategies and/or negative industry or economic trends. We assess events and changes in circumstances or strategy that could potentially indicate that the carrying value of long-lived assets may not be recoverable as they occur. Due to the significance of the fourth quarter to individual store locations, we assess store performance quarterly, using rolling twelve-month results (i.e. full fiscal year). We consider a historical and/or projected negative cash flow trend for a store location to be an indicator that the carrying value of that asset group may not be recoverable. Impairment charges related to this assessment are typically included in Store asset impairment as a component of income (loss) before income taxes in the DTC segment. See Note 4 - Leases and Note 6 - Property and Equipment, Net to our consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

During fiscal 2022, we recorded immaterial impairment charges. In fiscal 2021, we recorded no impairment charges on long-lived assets. As a measure of sensitivity for fiscal 2022, a hypothetical 10% decrease in the undiscounted future cash flows for the stores would have resulted in immaterial impairments for the year.

Additionally, we consider a more likely than not assessment that an individual location will close prior to the end of its lease term as a triggering event to review the store asset group for recoverability. These assessments are reviewed on a quarterly basis. When indicated, the carrying value of the assets is reduced to fair value, calculated as the estimated future cash flows for each asset group.

In the event that we decide to close any or all of these stores in the future, we may be required to record additional impairments, lease termination fees, severance and other charges. Impairment losses in the future are dependent on a number of factors such as site selection, general economic trends, public health issues (such as COVID), and thus could be significantly different than historical results. The assumptions used in future calculations of fair value may change significantly which could result in further impairment charges in future periods.

Revenue Recognition

For our gift cards, revenue is deferred for single transactions until redemption including any related gift card discounts. Three-quarters of our gift cards are redeemed within three years of issuance and over the last three years, approximately 60% of gift cards issued have been redeemed within the first twelve months. In addition, unredeemed gift cards or breakage revenue is recorded in proportion to our customers' redemption pattern using an estimated breakage rate based on historical experience. The Company utilizes historical redemption data to develop a model to analyze the amount of breakage expected for gift cards sold to customers and business partners. The Company reviews historical gift card redemption information and considers any changes in redemption patterns as a result of the current economic environment, to assess the reasonableness of projected gift card breakage rates and patterns of redemption. The Company continues to evaluate expected breakage annually and adjusts the breakage rates in the fourth quarter of each year, or other times, if significant changes in customer behavior are detected. Future gift card usage may be different than our historical experience and as a result our estimate of cards not expected to be redeemed is subject to inherent uncertainty. If actual redemption activity differs significantly from our historical experience, our gift card liability and results of operations could be materially impacted, given the significant dollar value of gift cards outstanding. As a matter of sensitivity, a hypothetical 1% change in our gift card breakage rate in fiscal 2022 would have resulted in a change in breakage revenue of $1.0 million. 

For certain qualifying transactions, a portion of revenue transactions are deferred for the obligation related to our loyalty program or when a material right in the form of a future discount is granted. In these transactions, the transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations based on the relative standalone selling price. The standalone selling price for the points earned for our loyalty program is estimated using the net retail value of the merchandise purchased, adjusted for estimated breakage based on historical redemption patterns. The revenue associated with the initial merchandise purchased is recognized immediately and the value assigned to the points is deferred until the points are redeemed, forfeited or expired. In regard to the consolidated balance sheet, contract liabilities for gift cards are classified as gift cards and customer deposits, and contract liabilities related to the loyalty program are classified as deferred revenue and other.

See Note 3 - Revenue for additional information.

Leases 

We determine if an arrangement is a lease at inception. The right-of-use assets and liabilities are recognized at the commencement date based on the present value of lease payments using a discounted cash flow analysis, considering lease terms and our internal borrowing rate, over the lease term for those arrangements where there is an identified asset and the contract conveys the right to control its use. Our lease term includes options to extend or terminate a lease only when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option.

The majority of our leases do not provide an implicit rate and therefore, we estimate the incremental borrowing discount rate on a periodic basis. The discount rates used are indicative of a synthetic credit rating based on quantitative and qualitative analysis and adjusted one notch higher to estimate a secured credit rating. For non-U.S. locations, a risk-free rate yield based on the currency of the lease is used to estimate the incremental borrowing rate.

Income Taxes

We recognize deferred tax assets resulting from tax credit carryforwards and deductible temporary differences between taxable income on our income tax returns and income before taxes under GAAP. Deferred tax assets generally represent future tax benefits to be received when these carryforwards can be applied against future taxable income or when expenses previously reported in our consolidated financial statements become deductible for income tax purposes. A deferred tax asset valuation allowance is required when some portion or all of the deferred tax assets may not be realized. We consider the weight of all available evidence, both positive and negative, in assessing the realizability of the deferred tax assets by each taxing jurisdiction. When evaluating if a valuation allowance is necessary, we evaluate the sustained profitability and three years of cumulative income in each jurisdiction and consider the Company’s ability to carry back its tax losses or credits for refunds, the availability of tax planning strategies, reversals of existing taxable temporary differences and projections of future taxable income. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, we performed an analysis of all available positive and negative evidence. As we had incurred a cumulative book loss in the U.K. over the three-year period ended February 2, 2019, we evaluated the realizability of our UK deferred tax assets and, accordingly, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, the Company recorded a $3.7 million valuation allowance on its U.K. deferred tax assets. Although as of January 28, 2023 the U.K. has three-year cumulative income, we have maintained a full valuation allowance in the U.K. due to a lack of sustained profitability and economic uncertainty in the country.

Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions. We establish accruals for uncertain tax positions when we believe that the full amount of the associated tax benefit may not be realized. In the future, if we prevail in matters for which accruals have been established previously or pay amounts in excess of reserves, there could be an effect on our income tax provisions in the period in which such determination is made. Tax authorities regularly examine the Company’s returns in the jurisdictions in which the Company does business. Management regularly assesses the tax risk of the company’s return filing positions and believes its accruals for uncertain tax benefits are adequate as of January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies for additional information.

Not applicable.

The financial statements and schedules are listed under Item 15(a)(1) and filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

None.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our President and Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), as of the end of the period covered by this report. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information we are required to disclose in the reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to management, including our certifying officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on the foregoing evaluation, our management, including the President and Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of January 28, 2023, the end of the period covered by this Annual Report.

 It should be noted that our management, including the President and Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived or operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

 Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the President and Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of January 28, 2023. Our management, with the participation of our President and Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, also conducted an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting to determine whether any changes occurred during the period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. All internal control systems have inherent limitations, including the possibility of circumvention and overriding the control. Accordingly, even effective internal control can provide only reasonable assurance as to the reliability of financial statement preparation and presentation. Further, because of changes in conditions, the effectiveness of internal control may vary over time.

 In making its evaluation, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013 framework). Based upon this evaluation, our management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting as of January 28, 2023 is effective.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting during the year covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and Subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting as of January 28, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 Framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and Subsidiaries (collectively, the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of January 28, 2023, based on the COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and Subsidiaries  as of January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income , stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended January 28, 2023, and the related notes and the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a) and our report dated April 13, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

St. Louis, Missouri

April 13, 2023

None.

Not applicable.

PART III

Information concerning directors, appearing in the sections titled “Directors,” “The Board of Directors and its Committees,” and “Committee Charters, Corporate Governance Guidelines, Business Conduct Policy and Code of Ethics” in our Proxy Statement (the “Proxy Statement”) to be filed with the SEC in connection with our Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled to be held on June 8, 2023, is incorporated by reference in response to this Item 10.

Business Conduct Policy

The Board of Directors has adopted a Business Conduct Policy applicable to our directors, officers and employees, including all executive officers. The Business Conduct Policy has been posted in the Investor Relations section of our corporate website at http://ir.buildabear.com. We intend to satisfy the amendment and waiver disclosure requirements under applicable securities regulations by posting any amendments of, or waivers to, the Business Conduct Policy on our website.

The information appearing in the section titled “Committee Charters, Corporate Governance Guidelines, Business Conduct Policy and Code of Ethics” in the Proxy Statement is incorporated by reference in response to this Item 10.

Executive Officers and Key Employees

Sharon Price John, 59, was appointed to the Board of Directors on June 3, 2013, in connection with her employment as Chief Executive Officer and Chief President Bear of the Company. Effective March 2016, she now holds the title of President and Chief Executive Officer. From January 2010 through May 2013, Ms. John served as President of Stride Rite Children’s Group LLC, a division of Wolverine Worldwide, Inc., which designs and markets footwear for children. From 2002 through 2009, she held positions of broadened portfolio and increased responsibility at Hasbro, Inc., a multinational toy and board game company, including as General Manager & Senior Vice President of its U.S. Toy Division from 2006 to 2008 and General Manager & Senior Vice President of its Global Preschool unit from June 2008 through 2009. Ms. John also founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Checkerboard Toys, served as Vice President, U.S. Toy Division with VTech Industries, Inc., and served in a range of roles at Mattel, Inc. She started her career in advertising, overseeing accounts such as Hershey’s and the Snickers/M&M Mars business. Ms. John serves on the Board of Directors of Jack in the Box Inc., a publicly traded restaurant company.

Eric Fencl, 60, joined Build-A-Bear Workshop in July 2008 as Chief Bearrister—General Counsel. Effective October 2015, Mr. Fencl now holds the title of Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Secretary. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Fencl was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Outsourcing Solutions Inc., a national accounts receivable management firm from August 1998 to June 2008. From September 1990 to August 1998, Mr. Fencl held legal positions at Monsanto Company, McDonnell Douglas Corporation and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP (formerly known as Bryan Cave LLP). Mr. Fencl began his career as an auditor with Arthur Young & Company.

J. Christopher Hurt, 57, joined Build-A-Bear Workshop in April 2015 as Chief Operations Officer. Effective June 2020, he now holds the title of Chief Operations and Experience Officer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Hurt was at American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. from 2002 to April 2015 in various senior leadership roles of increasing responsibility, including Senior Vice President, North America and Vice President/General Manager—Factory, Canada, Mexico Retail from 2011 to April 2015, and East Zone Vice President and Regional Director from 2002 to 2011. Before joining American Eagle Outfitters, Mr. Hurt held positions of increasing responsibility at companies including Polo Ralph Lauren and The Procter & Gamble Company.

Jennifer Kretchmar, 50, joined Build-A-Bear Workshop in August 2014 as Chief Product Officer and Innovation Bear. In March 2016, she became Chief Merchandising Officer and, effective June 2020, she now holds the title of Chief Digital and Merchandising Officer. Ms. Kretchmar serves on the Board of Directors of Mace Security International, Inc., a publicly traded personal security company. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Kretchmar was Senior Vice President of Product and Brand

Management with the Stride Rite Children’s Group of Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. where since 2004 she was responsible for the global product creation strategy for a diverse portfolio of children’s footwear brands, including Stride Rite, Sperry Top- Sider®, Saucony®, Keds®, Merrell®, Robeez®, Jessica Simpson® and Hush Puppies®. Before joining Stride Rite, Ms. Kretchmar held positions of increasing responsibility at The Timberland Company, Goldbug, and the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Service.

Voin Todorovic, 48, joined Build-A-Bear Workshop in September 2014 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Todorovic was employed at Wolverine Worldwide, Inc., a leading global footwear and apparel company, where since September 2013 Mr. Todorovic served as the head of finance and operations for its Lifestyle Group, which includes a portfolio of iconic brands such as Sperry Top-Sider®, Hush Puppies®, Keds®, and Stride Rite®. From 2011 to 2013 Mr. Todorovic was Vice President—Finance and Administration of the Stride Rite Children’s Group business, operating in wholesale, direct to consumer and international franchising, and from 2010 to 2011 Mr. Todorovic was Vice President of the Performance + Lifestyle Group. Prior to his tenure at Wolverine World Wide he held positions of increasing responsibility at Collective Brands, Inc. and Payless ShoeSource.

The information contained in the sections titled “Executive Compensation” and “Board of Directors Compensation” in the Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference in response to this Item 11.

The information contained in the section titled “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” in the Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference in response to this Item 12.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The information contained in the section titled “Related Party Transactions” in the Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference in response to this Item 13.

The information contained in the sections titled “Principal Accountant Fees” and “Policy Regarding Pre-Approval of Services Provided by the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in the Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference in response to Item 14.

(1) See cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash in Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies for further discussion.

See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) is a multi-channel retailer of plush animals and related products. The Company began operations in October 1997. The Company sells its products through its 350 corporately-managed locations operated primarily in leased mall locations in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and the U.K. along with its e-commerce sites. As of the balance sheet date, operations in foreign countries where the Company does not have corporately-managed locations are through franchise agreements. The Company also sold product through its "third-party retail" model at 70 stores in which it sells its products on a wholesale basis to other companies that then in turn execute the Company's retail experience.

The Company’s consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance U.S. GAAP. Certain amounts in prior fiscal periods have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation with no impact to the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income.

For each accounting topic that is addressed in its own note, the description of the accounting policy may be found in the related note. The Company’s other significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements are as follows:

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts are eliminated in consolidation.

Fiscal Year

The Company operates on a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to January 31. The periods presented in these financial statements are fiscal 2022 (52 weeks ended January 28, 2023) and fiscal 2021 (52 weeks ended January 29, 2022). References to years in these financial statements relate to fiscal years or year ends rather than calendar years. The Company notes that fiscal 2023 will contain an additional week, making it a 53-week fiscal year. The additional week will be reflected in the Company's fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. 

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Cash and cash equivalents include cash and short-term highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less held in both domestic and foreign financial institutions. In addition, the Company has a long-term deposit to satisfy contractual terms with the UK Customs Authority (unrelated to the matter discussed in Note 10 - Commitments and Contingencies). The Company also has deposits from franchisees under contractual agreements which are refundable. The long-term and franchisee deposits are considered restricted cash and disclosed within the supplemental disclosure within the consolidated statement of cash flows. Cash equivalents also include amounts due from third-party financial institutions for credit and debit card transactions.

The majority of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents exceed federal deposit insurance limits. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts and management believes that the Company is not exposed to any significant credit risk on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost determined on an average-cost basis. Inventory includes supplies of $4.7 million and $4.4 million as of January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, respectively. A reserve for estimated shortage is accrued throughout the year based on detailed historical averages. The inventory reserve was $1.1 million and $0.9 million as of  January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, respectively.

Receivables

Receivables consist primarily of amounts due to the Company in relation to wholesale and corporate product sales, franchisee royalties and product sales, tenant allowances, certain amounts due from taxing authorities, receivables due from insurance providers, and licensing revenue. The Company assesses the collectability of all receivables on an ongoing basis by considering its historical credit loss experience, current economic conditions, and other relevant factors. Based on this analysis, the Company has established an allowance for doubtful accounts of $5.9 million and $7.1 million as of  January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, respectively. 

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consist of leasehold improvements, furniture and fixtures, computer equipment and software, building and land and are stated at cost. Leasehold improvements are depreciated using the straight-line method over the shorter of the useful life of the assets or the life of the lease ranging from one to ten years. Furniture and fixtures and computer equipment are depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated service lives ranging from three to seven years. Computer software includes certain costs, including internal payroll costs incurred in connection with the development or acquisition of software for internal use and is amortized using the straight-line method over a period of three to five years. New store construction deposits are recorded at the time the deposit is made as construction-in-progress and reclassified to the appropriate property and equipment category at the time of completion of construction, when operations of the store commence. Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred and improvements are capitalized. Gains or losses on the disposition of fixed assets are recorded upon disposal.

Leases

The majority of the Company's leases relate to retail stores and corporate offices. For leases with terms greater than 12 months, the Company records the related asset and obligation at the present value of lease payments over the term. Most retail store leases have an original term of five to ten-year base period and the term can be extended on a lease-by-lease basis with additional terms that are typically much shorter than the original lease term giving the Company lease optionality. The renewal options are not included in the measurement of the right of use assets and right of use liabilities unless the Company is reasonably certain to exercise the optional renewal periods. Some leases also include early termination options, which can be exercised under specific conditions. Additionally, the Company may operate stores for a period of time on a month-to-month basis after the expiration of the lease term. The Company's lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants. Additionally, certain leases contain incentives, such as construction allowances from landlords and/or rent abatements subsequent to taking possession of the leased property. These incentives reduce the right-of-use asset related to the lease and are amortized through the right-of-use asset as reductions of expense over the lease term.

The Company's leases typically contain rent escalations over the lease term and the Company recognizes expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company recognizes the related rental expense on a straight-line basis and records the difference between the recognized rental expense and amounts payable under the lease as part of the lease right-of-use asset. Some of the Company's leases include rent escalations based on inflation indexes and fair market value adjustments. Operating lease liabilities are calculated using the prevailing index or rate at lease commencement. Subsequent escalations in the index or rate and contingent rental payments are recognized as variable lease expenses. Certain leases contain contingent rental provisions that include a fixed base rent plus an additional percentage of the store’s sales in excess of stipulated amounts. Certain leases contain rental provisions that only include a provision for a percentage of a store's total sales, instead of a fixed base rent amount. 

The Company has elected the practical expedient allowed by the standard to account for all fixed consideration in a lease as a single lease component. Therefore, the lease payments used to measure the lease liability for these leases include fixed minimum rentals along with fixed operating costs such as common area maintenance and utilities.

Most of the Company’s leases do not provide a readily available implicit interest rate. Therefore, the Company estimates the incremental borrowing discount rate based on information available at lease commencement. The discount rates used are indicative of a synthetic credit rating based on quantitative and qualitative analysis and adjusted one notch higher to estimate a secured credit rating. For non-U.S. locations, a risk-free rate yield based on the currency of the lease is used to adjust the estimate of the incremental borrowing rate.

Other Assets, net

Other assets consist primarily of the non-current portion of prepaid income taxes and deferred costs related to franchise agreements, financing agreements, and capitalized film production costs. Deferred franchise costs are initial costs related to the Company’s franchise agreements that are deferred and amortized over the life of the respective franchise agreement. Deferred financing costs are the initial issuance costs and fees incurred in obtaining the Company's new credit agreement. The Company had no outstanding borrowings at the beginning of the facility or at of the date of the second amendment, therefore these costs and fees incurred for the original agreement and amendment were recorded as a deferred asset and the unamortized costs will be amortized over the length of the amended agreement. Film production costs include capitalizable direct costs, production overhead, interest and development costs and are stated at the lower of cost, less accumulated amortization, or fair value. 

Long-lived Assets

Whenever facts and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of a long-lived asset (asset group) and right-of-use operating lease assets  may not be recoverable, the carrying value of those assets is reviewed for potential impairment. If this review indicates that the carrying value of the asset (asset group) will not be recovered, as determined based on projected undiscounted cash flows related to the asset (asset group) over its remaining life, the carrying value of the asset (asset group) is reduced to its estimated fair value. The Company typically performs an annual assessment of its store assets in the DTC segment, based on operating performance and forecasts of future performance. For the purposes of evaluating store assets for impairment, the Company has determined that each store location is an asset group, inclusive of the right-of-use asset attributable to each store. In periods where the Company identifies indicators of impairment for its store fleet, the Company performs a recoverability test for these assets by comparing the estimated undiscounted future cash flows over the remaining useful life of the asset (asset group) to the carry value of the asset (asset group). The estimated undiscounted future cash flows involve expectations for future operations and projected cash flows, including estimates of revenue, operating expenses and market conditions. Based on this, the Company determines if certain stores had long-lived and right-of-use assets with carrying values that exceed their estimated undiscounted future cash flows for the remaining useful life of the respective assets.

An impairment charge is recognized to the extent the carrying value exceeded the fair value of the asset (asset group). The Company estimates fair values of these long-lived assets based on its discounted future cash flow analysis for the remaining useful life of the asset or its market rent assessment. An individual asset within an asset group is not impaired below its estimated fair value. Asset impairment charges are recorded within the cost of merchandise sold - retail expense within the Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income. The Company's analysis identified indicators of impairment at one retail location and the Company incurred immaterial impairment charges during fiscal 2022 for long-lived assets in the Company's DTC segment. The Company incurred immaterial impairment charges during fiscal 2021 for long-lived assets.

The estimates, all of which are considered Level 3 inputs, used to calculate the fair value of the asset (asset group) include: the Company’s expectations for future operations and projected cash flows, including revenues, operating expenses including market rents, and market conditions. Changes in these estimates could have an impact on whether long-lived store assets should be further evaluated for impairment and could have a significant impact on the resulting impairment charge.

Entertainment Production Costs

Costs of producing entertainment assets, which include direct costs, production overhead and development costs, are capitalized when incurred and are stated at the lower of cost, less accumulated amortization, or fair value. For film related costs, the Company expects assets to be monetized individually and are amortized using the individual film-forecast-computation method which amortizes such costs in the same ratio that current period actual revenue bears to the estimated remaining unrecognized total revenues (ultimate revenue). Ultimate revenue includes estimates over a period not to exceed ten years from the date of initial release of the film. Participation costs and residuals are accrued and expensed over the applicable product life cycle based upon the ratio of the current period's revenues to the estimated remaining total revenues for each production.

Costs of entertainment productions are subject to recoverability assessments, whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value of the film  may be less than the unamortized cost, which for content predominantly monetized individually, involves comparing the estimated fair values with the unamortized cost. The fair value is determined based on a discounted cash flow analysis of the cash flows directly attributable to the entertainment assets. The discounted cash flow analysis includes cash flow estimates of ultimate revenue as well as a discount rate (a Level 3 fair value measurement). The discount rate used in the Company’s discounted cash flow model reflects the time value of money, expectations about variation in the amount or timing of the most likely cash flows, and the price market participants would seek for bearing the uncertainty inherent with the film asset. The amount by which the unamortized costs of entertainment assets exceed their estimated fair values are written off. As of  January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, the Company had capitalized entertainment production costs of $2.9 million and $0.8 million, respectively. The  January 28, 2023 balance for entertainment production costs is mostly comprised of several in-development entertainment projects.

In  October 2021, the Company released the film Honey Girls and began recording film cost amortization. The Company does not have any history with this type of entertainment transaction, therefore the Company made a reasonable estimate of ultimate revenues for the film in determining amortization of the capitalized entertainment production costs. The Company released an entertainment production that was not material to the Company in fiscal 2022. The Company recorded $0.3 million and $0.0 million in film cost amortization during fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021, respectively, within the Selling, general and administrative line in the Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income and includes it in the financial information of the Commercial reportable segment presented in Note 15 - Segment Information. 

Revenue

See Note 3 — Revenue for additional accounting information.

Cost of Merchandise Sold

Cost of merchandise sold - retail includes the cost of the merchandise, including royalties paid to licensors of third-party branded merchandise; store occupancy cost, including store depreciation; cost of warehousing and distribution; packaging; stuffing; damages and shortages; and shipping and handling costs incurred in shipment to consumers. Cost of merchandise sold - commercial includes the cost of the merchandise, including royalties paid to licensors of third-party branded merchandise; cost of warehousing and distribution; packaging; stuffing; damages and shortages; and shipping and handling costs incurred in shipment to consumers.

Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general, and administrative expenses include store payroll and related benefits, advertising, credit card fees, store supplies and store closing costs, as well as central office management payroll and related benefits, travel, information systems, accounting, insurance, legal, and public relations costs. It also includes depreciation and amortization of central office leasehold improvements, furniture, fixtures, and equipment. In addition, bad debt expenses and accounts receivable related charges are included. Further, it includes store preopening expenses which represent costs incurred prior to store openings, remodels and relocations including certain store set-up, labor and hiring costs, rental charges, payroll, government grants, marketing, travel and relocation costs and recoveries.

Advertising

The costs of advertising and marketing programs are charged to operations in the first period the program takes place. Advertising expense was $19.6 million and $16.4 million for fiscal years 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Government Grants

Income Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for using a balance sheet approach known as the liability method. The liability method accounts for deferred income taxes by applying the rate, based on enacted tax law, that will be in effect in the period in which the temporary differences between the book basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities reverse or are settled. Deferred taxes are reported on a jurisdictional basis.

Tax positions are reviewed at least quarterly and adjusted as new information becomes available. The recoverability of deferred tax assets is evaluated by assessing the adequacy of future expected taxable income from all sources, including reversal of taxable temporary differences, forecasted operating earnings and available tax planning strategies. These estimates of future taxable income inherently require significant judgment. To the extent it is considered more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will be not recovered, a valuation allowance is established.

The Company assesses its total liability for uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis. The Company recognizes estimated interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. See Note 8—Income Taxes for further discussion.

Income Per Share

Basic income per share is determined by dividing net income allocated to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. In periods of net loss, no effect is given to the Company’s participating securities as they do not contractually participate in the losses of the Company. Diluted income per share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if options to issue common stock were exercised. In periods in which the inclusion of such instruments is anti-dilutive, the effect of such securities is not given consideration.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company has share-based compensation plans covering certain management groups and its Board of Directors. The Company accounts for share-based payments utilizing the fair value recognition provisions of ASC 718 Compensation - Stock Compensation. The Company recognizes compensation cost for graded-vested equity awards on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the entire award and forfeitures as they occur. See Note 12 — Stock Incentive Plans for additional information. 

Comprehensive Income 

Comprehensive income is comprised of net income and foreign currency translation adjustments.

Deferred Compensation Plan

The Company maintains a Deferred Compensation Plan for the benefit of certain management employees. The investment funds offered to participants generally correspond to the funds offered in the Company’s 401(k) plan, and the account balance fluctuates with the investment returns on those funds. The fair value of the assets, classified as trading securities, and corresponding liabilities are based on unadjusted quoted market prices for the funds in active markets with sufficient volume and frequency (Level 1). As of January 28, 2023, the current portions of the assets and related liabilities of $0.1 million are presented in prepaid expenses and other current assets and accrued expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the non-current portions of the assets and the related liabilities of $0.7 million are presented in other assets, net and other liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of January 29, 2022, the current portions of the assets and related liabilities of $0.4 million are presented in prepaid expenses and other current assets and accrued expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the non-current portions of the assets and the related liabilities of $0.6 million are presented in other assets, net and other liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Sales Tax Policy

The Company’s revenues in the consolidated statement of operations are net of sales taxes.

Foreign Currency

Assets and liabilities of the Company’s foreign operations with functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated at the exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date, while revenues and expenses are translated at average rates prevailing during the year. Translation adjustments are reported in accumulated other comprehensive income, a separate component of stockholders’ equity. Gains and losses resulting from foreign exchange transactions, including the impact of the re-measurement of the Company’s balance sheet, are recorded as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses. The Company recorded a loss of $0.6 million and $0.5 million related to foreign currency in fiscal 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements – Adopted in the current year

In March 2020 and January 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting" and ASU 2021-01, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope", respectively. The ASUs provide optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") or another reference rate expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform, if certain criteria are met. The expedients and exceptions provided by the guidance do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2024, except for hedging relationships existing as of December 31, 2024, that an entity has elected certain optional expedients for and that are retained through the end of the hedging relationship. On November 21, 2022, the Second Amendment to the Company's Credit Agreement changed the reference rate from LIBOR to SOFR. The adoption of this ASU did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements – Pending adoption

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, “Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” This ASU requires entities to report “expected” credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit rather than the current “incurred loss” model. These expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date are to be based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts. This ASU will also require enhanced disclosures relating to significant estimates and judgments used in estimating credit losses, as well as the credit quality. As the Company is currently filing as a Smaller Reporting Company, this ASU is not effective until the fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company will adopt this ASU on January 29, 2023, and the ASU adoption will not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

We have reviewed all other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements and do not expect the future adoption of any such pronouncements will have a material impact on our financial condition or the results of our operations.

Nearly all of the Company’s revenue is derived from retail sales (including e-commerce sites) and is recognized when control of the merchandise is transferred to the customer. The Company accounts for revenue in accordance with Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The Company's disaggregated revenue is fully disclosed as net sales to external customers by reporting segment and by geographic area (See Note 15 — Segment Information for additional information). The Company's direct-to-consumer reporting segment represents nearly 95% of consolidated revenue. The majority of these sales transactions are single performance obligations that are recorded when control is transferred to the customer.

The following is a description of principal activities from which the Company generates its revenue, by reportable segment.

The Company’s direct-to-consumer segment includes the operating activities of corporately-managed stores, other retail-delivered operations and online sales. Direct-to-consumer revenue is recognized when control of the merchandise is transferred to the customer and for the Company’s online sales, control generally transfers upon delivery to the customer. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration, including any discounts or incentives, the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring the merchandise. Product returns have historically averaged less than one-half of one percent due to the interactive nature of sales, where consumers customize their own stuffed animal. The Company has elected to exclude from revenue all collected sales, value add and other taxes paid by its customers.

For the Company’s gift cards, revenue is deferred for single transactions until redemption including any related gift card discounts. Three-quarters of gift cards are redeemed within three years of issuance and over the last three years, approximately 60% of gift cards issued have been redeemed within the first twelve months. In addition, unredeemed gift cards or breakage revenue is recorded in proportion to the customer’s redemption pattern using an estimated breakage rate based on historical experience. Breakage rates are calculated annually at the end of the fiscal year and are used to record gift card breakage over the next fiscal year until the annual breakage rate update is performed. In regard to the consolidated balance sheet, contract liabilities for gift cards are classified as gift cards and customer deposits.

Subsequent to stores reopening following shutdowns caused by COVID, the Company has experienced lower redemptions of its gift cards for all periods of outstanding activated cards compared to pre-pandemic redemption patterns (fiscal year 2019 and earlier), which impacts the gift card breakage rate. The Company does not believe that the redemption pattern experienced in fiscal 2022 and 2021 reflects the pattern in the future and has adjusted the historical redemption data used to calculate the breakage rate. The Company utilizes historical redemption data to develop a model to analyze the amount of breakage expected for gift cards sold to customers and business partners. The Company continues to evaluate expected breakage annually and adjusts the breakage rates in the fourth quarter of each year, or other times, if significant changes in customer behavior are detected. Changes to breakage estimates impact revenue recognition prospectively.  Further, given the magnitude of the Company's gift card liability, the changes in breakage rates could have a significant impact on the amount of breakage revenue recognized in future periods. For the fifty-two weeks ended January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022, net retail sales included gift card breakage revenue of $5.1 million and $6.5 million, respectively.

For certain qualifying transactions, a portion of revenue transactions are deferred for the obligation related to the Company’s loyalty program or when a material right in the form of a future discount is granted. In these transactions, the transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations based on the relative standalone selling price. The standalone selling price for the points earned for the Company’s loyalty program is estimated using the net retail value of the merchandise purchased, adjusted for estimated breakage based on historical redemption patterns. The revenue associated with the initial merchandise purchased is recognized immediately and the value assigned to the points is deferred until the points are redeemed, forfeited or expired. The Company issues certifications daily for those loyalty program members who have earned 100 or more points in the previous day in North America and 50 points or more in the U.K. with certifications historically expiring in six months if not redeemed. The Company assesses the redemption rates of its certifications on a quarterly basis to update the rate at which loyalty program points turn into certifications and the rate that certifications are redeemed. In regard to the consolidated balance sheet, contract liabilities related to the loyalty program are classified as deferred revenue and other.

The Company’s commercial segment includes transactions with other businesses and are mainly comprised wholesale sales of merchandise, supplies and fixtures, licensing the Company’s intellectual properties for third-party use, and revenues generated from entertainment activities. Revenue for wholesale sales is recognized when control of the merchandise or fixtures is transferred to the customer, which generally occurs upon delivery to the customer. The license agreements provide the customer with highly interrelated rights that are not distinct in the context of the contract and, therefore, have been accounted for as a single performance obligation and recognized as licensee sales occur. If the contract includes a guaranteed minimum, the minimum guarantee is recognized as licensee sales occur over the guarantee term until such time as royalties earned through licensee sales exceed the minimum guarantee. The Company classifies these guaranteed minimum contract liabilities as deferred revenue and other on the consolidated balance sheet. Entertainment revenue is generated through the sale of entertainment assets directly to customers or through licensing agreements.

The Company’s international franchising segment includes the activities with franchisees who operate store locations in certain countries and includes development fees, sales-based royalties, merchandise, supplies and fixture sales. The Company’s obligations under the franchise agreement are ongoing and include operations and product development support and training, generally concentrated around new store openings. These obligations are highly interrelated rights that are not distinct in the context of the contract and, therefore, have been accounted for as a single performance obligation and recognized as franchisee sales occur. If the contract includes an initial, one-time nonrefundable development fee, this fee is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the franchise agreement, which may extend for periods up to 25 years. The Company classifies these initial, one-time nonrefundable franchise fee contract liabilities as deferred revenue and other on the consolidated balance sheet. Revenue from merchandise and fixture sales is recognized when control is transferred to the franchisee which generally occurs upon delivery to the customer.

The Company also incurs expenses directly related to the startup of new franchises, which may include finder’s fees, legal and travel costs, expenses related to its ongoing support of the franchisees, and employee compensation. Accordingly, the Company’s policy is to capitalize the finder’s fee, an incremental cost, and expense all other costs as incurred.  Additionally, the Company amortizes these capitalized costs into expense in the same pattern as the development fee's recording of revenue as described previously.

The table below presents information related to the lease costs for operating leases for the periods presented (in thousands).

(1) Variable lease costs consist of leases with variable rent structures, which are intended to increase flexibility in an environment with expected high sales volatility and provide a natural hedge against potential sales declines.

Other information

The table below presents supplemental cash flow information related to leases for the periods presented (in thousands).

Operating cash flows for operating leases for fiscal 2022 decreased from the operating cash flows for operating leases for the same periods in fiscal 2021, as the Company made payments related to lease deferrals in fiscal 2021 that were negotiated in fiscal 2020 during the pandemic.

As of January 28, 2023, the weighted-average remaining operating lease term was 4.1 years and the weighted-average discount rate was 6.2% for operating leases recognized on the consolidated balance sheet.

The Company recorded immaterial impairment charges during fiscal 2022 against its right-of-use operating lease assets in the Company's DTC segment. The Company recorded no impairment charges for fiscal 2021 on its right-of-use lease assets.

Undiscounted cash flows

The table below reconciles the undiscounted cash flows for each of the first five years and total remaining years to the operating lease liabilities recorded on the balance sheet (in thousands).

As of January 28, 2023, the Company had an additional executed lease that had not yet commenced for one retail location with operating lease liabilities totaling $3.6 million that will commence in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 with a lease term of ten years. 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consist of the following (in thousands):

(1) Prepaid occupancy consists of prepaid expenses related to non-lease components.

(2) Prepaid merchandise consists of prepaid purchase orders of inventory that are not in transit as of fiscal year end.

(3) Prepaid taxes consist of prepaid federal and state income tax.

(4) Other consists primarily of prepaid expenses related to IT maintenance contracts and software as a service.

Other non-current assets consist of the following (in thousands):

(1) Other consists primarily of deferred financing costs related to the Company's credit facility.

Property and equipment, net consist of the following (in thousands):

For fiscal 2022 and 2021, depreciation expense was $12.5 million and $12.3 million, respectively.

The Company recorded immaterial impairment charges during fiscal 2022 for long-lived assets in the Company's DTC segment. The Company recorded no impairment charges during fiscal 2021 for long-lived assets. 

Accrued expenses consist of the following (in thousands):

For fiscal 2022 and 2021, defined contribution expense was $1.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively, included within Accrued wages, bonuses and related expenses.

The Company’s income before income taxes from domestic and foreign operations (which include the U.K., Canada, Ireland, China, and Denmark (prior to its closing in January 2021)), is as follows (in thousands):

The components of the income tax expense are as follows (in thousands):

The provision for income taxes was $13.9 million in fiscal 2022 compared to $3.4 million in fiscal 2021. The 2022 effective rate of 22.5% differed from the statutory rate of 21% primarily due to state income tax expense. The 2021 effective rate of 6.8% differed from the statutory rate of 21% primarily due to the tax benefit resulting from the reversal of the $7.8 million valuation allowance in North America.

Temporary differences that gave rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):

As of January 28, 2023, the Company had gross net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards of approximately $11.1 million, most of which relate to the U.K. where NOLs have no expiration date.

The Company continues to assert its investments in foreign subsidiaries are permanent in duration and it is not practical to estimate the income tax liability on the outside basis differences.

As of January 28, 2023, the Company had total unrecognized tax benefits of $0.1 million, of which approximately $0.1 million would favorably impact the Company’s provision for income taxes if recognized. As of January 29, 2022, the Company had total unrecognized tax benefits of $0.3 million, of which approximately $0.3 million would favorably impact the Company’s provision for income taxes if recognized. The Company reviews its uncertain tax positions periodically and accrues interest and penalties accordingly. Accrued interest and penalties included within other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets were less than $0.1 million for both years ended as of  January 28, 2023 and January 29, 2022. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of the provision for income taxes within the consolidated statement of operations. For the years ended  January 28, 2023 and  January 29, 2022, the Company recognized a benefit of less than $0.1 million for interest and penalties.