Borders Partnership with Build-A-Bear

Big book retailers have been devoting shelf space to toys and other non-book items for years, but yesterday’s news that Borders will start selling Build-A-Bear toys next month has drawn criticism from literati on the blogs and Twitter like never before.


According to Chief Executive Officer Michael Edwards, Most of Borders’ more than 500 stores will create sections next month dedicated to Build-a-Bear, the maker of kits kids can use to craft stuffed animals.  Industry insider response, while mixed, hasn’t somewhat more measured.


The Teddy Bear clearly isn’t the harbinger of change for big box bookstores.  More telling is the amount of shelf-space devoted to non-books over the past few years, the closure of Barnes & Noble’s flagship Lincoln Center store, plus the increase in volume of books sold at discount retailers like Costco.


We might just want to take the Teddy Bear News for the cuddly industry meme it is.