Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. operates as a multi-channel retailer of plush animals and related products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Direct-to-Consumer, Commercial, and International Franchising. The company's merchandise comprises various styles of plush products to be stuffed, pre-stuffed plush products, and sounds and scents that can be added to the …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Consistently Above PeersGross margin at 55.8% (top 14%) and operating margin at 12.5% (top 14%) indicate strong pricing power.
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.94), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
Key risks
Revenue Volatility Signals Weak StickinessRevenue volatility is high (stability score 0.37), suggesting weak customer stickiness.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. ranks #3 of 52
scored companies in Specialty Retail by moat score — the top 6%.
The widest moat in the group is Winmark Corporation (WINA)
at 83/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near BBW in Specialty Retail
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 60
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 63
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 80
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 74
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 82
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (BBW) scores 76 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #3 of 52 scored companies in Specialty Retail, the top 6%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 51 companies in Specialty Retail. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (89/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (60/100).
How does Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. compare with other Specialty Retail companies?
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. ranks #3 of 52 scored companies in Specialty Retail by moat score. The widest moat in Specialty Retail is Winmark Corporation (WINA) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM) at 82 just above it and AutoZone, Inc. (AZO) at 75 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 51 companies in Specialty Retail. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and BBW scores: Pricing Power (89), Cost Advantage (60), Customer Stickiness (63), Capital Efficiency (80), Resilience (74), Scale & Market Position (82). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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