We just hosted our daughter's birthday party here, and it was a hit! With 20 kindergarteners, we were a bit nervous about logistics, but the team made it seamless. A huge shout-out to our party leaders, Rowan and Stevie. They were fantastic--energetic, patient, and kept all the kids engaged and happy from start to finish. The heart ceremony was a truly special and memorable moment for everyone. The party package was great, and seeing each child leave clutching their new, beloved furry friend was priceless. Our only small suggestion for an already stellar operation would be to have a back-up stuffer machine available for larger groups of young kids. It would help move that fun but busy step along just a touch faster. Thank you, Rowan, Stevie, and the Oakridge BaB team, for giving us a joyful celebration. read more

Whether it's for our loved one or for yourself, this place will surely bring a smile to anyone's face. An even bigger smile to those receiving the stuffed animal. I have not been to a Build-A-Bear in many years. Tess will turn 21 in 2 weeks and Gavin will turn 14 in September, so I had no need however, I was thinking of creative ways to show my uncle that I love him and that I am with him. He was heathy and active, even had his bloodwork (physical) done in November 2024 only to fall ill and discovered 2 types of leukemia in his body. He is going through painful and harsh chemotherapy. I have not seen him in 3 weeks because he's been at the hospital. We are following his dr's order so none of us have had a chance to visit him, even to contact him because he is incredibly weak. Anyway. I decided to get him the Star Wishes Teddy Bear. You can name your own star and register through Star Registry - a forever gift. The only con is that you need to wait a week to get that registration information. https://www.buildabear.com/star-wishes-teddy-bear/033341.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US_StandardShopping_Branded_Products-All&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22387344950&gclid=CjwKCAjw9anCBhAWEiwAqBJ-c2wZwUEWvSno0kLZG2ImYnyy8z0us1BWYIdYqFWj7S8b-LJAxqa9ARoCyBQQAvD_BwE Because I did not receive my link and code, I emailed. It took Build-A-Bear less than 3 hours to respond back to me with the Star Registry Code. Awesome and speedy service. Once I saved it, I went to Kinko's to print it on matte paper, and framed it... I was able to pass on the bear and the star certificate to my uncle. Store itself is much smaller than the one at Valley Fair Mall, but service was great. You can record your own voice for $9.99 which I opted for that. Gavin did the heart thing (rub it, blow on it, etc.) so it was cute seeing him and staff interacting for that. All in all, it's pretty pricey but it's a priceless gift and I am so glad I did it. read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

We brought our daughter here for the first time today for her pay your age first birthday bear. She enjoyed herself, being so little, she can only participate so much but the lovely girl who helped us stuff her bear was very sweet and great with her. They have a huge selection of bears and other animals. Plus a ton of fun clothes and other items. I can see how being here can get expensive, but since she's so young, she didn't go around picking anything out. I'm sure next year she will! I also qualified for a $10 gift card for $5, so I bought it for next time. I look forward to bringing her for her birthday for years to come. read more

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A beary big thank you to Rosemary who helped us build a birthday bear . She was so kind, patient and understanding of my son's sensory needs. You made us feel welcomed and seen in an empathetic way. 10/10 would come in again read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

Go in when Shelby is working! She is literally one of the nicest employees and spent so much time with my kids. She made sure my birthday boy felt special and was so kind to my big kids! My daughter needs some space and she respected her boundaries. I will come back to this location again, because of her amazing customer service. read more

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Back on the 30th of November, came here with my bestie to get her pumpkin kitty stuffed before December. We later came back after watching Wicked to get Binx's outfit, and now Binx is defying gravity! Shout out to all the staff, thank you SO much, and a special shout out to Shelby! Kudos to you, I'm still so touched you remembered us and Binx couldn't have gotten the perfect outfit without your help! read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

I took my daughter for her 4th birthday. It was great going during the week. Not busy, no line. She felt really special because the staff was so sweet and friendly. read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Took my 4 year old for her birthday - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

I have registered for their rewards program and came to know about Count Your Candles. It is like we have to pay the age the kid is turning for a Birthday Treat Bear. So, today I have visited this store and lady at the counter helped me patiently with everything. As my son is turning one, I ended up paying just 1$ for the birthday bear. And also they have a special offer a 10$ gift card for just 5$, I just took it as it is 50% off. I just cant wait to visit this store again. read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Birthday Treat Bear - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

Omg I can't believe how much this place change. The price went up. I ended up getting a dinosaur for my son. They seriously try to sell you on everything in front your your kid. $5 for a roar, $5 for a beating heart and if the heart or roar stops working it's not free to replace anymore. You would have to pay another $5. The price of the clothes is crazy. And now they change .75 cent for a box, the one to carry your build a bear in. That was once free. This was all for my son for his birthday so of course I would do anything for him. Not sure if we will be back anytime soon. read more

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Love going to this BAB. They are not busy during the weekdays, and they are wonderful with kids. We have gotten all of our Eevee-evolutions from this Build a Bear. Wonderful staff! read more

I really love coming to this location for my kids. They always have such cute plushies available as well as outfits. This past time we came because it was our youngest daughters birthday and we had heard about the deal they had for the birthday treat bear. Upon seeing it in person we decided not to get it just because it wasn't too extravagant and my daughter ended up wanting an Olaf plushy anyway. But I do really like that they have the birthday of the month deal, however old your child is that's how much the birthday treat bear costs. The staff that works here is always very friendly and patient with our kids, I love the little ritual they have for the hearts that go inside the bears. They seem to enjoy doing it just as much as the kids do and I really appreciate the effort they put into making this such a special thing for our kids. This past time I think we really outdid ourselves, we ended up getting the Pikachu plushy and Santa hats for them. We got an Olaf plushy with a happy birthday sash for the birthday girl, I saw they had an Eevee Pokémon plushy so I got that along with the Pikachu Christmas hoodie that Evie was wearing. It's absolutely adorable. When we were purchasing I noticed a grinch plushy on the other counter so I had asked the employee about it and she said it was the last one available so I had to buy it of course lol we love the grinch in this house! The amount of voice boxes they have typically varies but on any given trip that we've taken here it seems like they have a good 4 to 5 options. They always have the scent bears in stock, they have strawberry, gumball, birthday cake, cotton candy, peppermint- they open it up and rub it all over the plushy that you are getting and then insert it where are you ask them to, usually the head or belly. read more

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I gotta say we had a very good experience here yesterday for my daughter's birthday. We were lucky enough to get the girl that works there on the weekends and works at a preschool during the week. Thank you for being so sweet to our 3 children for my daughters special day. They were VERY happy with the different animals and outfits they all chose. It is not cheap , especially when kids add all the accessories but that's what my daughter wanted to do for her birthday and she and my niece left very happy with their new stuffies. I paid almost $300 for 3 animals with all the accessories and did not need an appointment. read more

Every time you go to this location they say you qualify for a $10 gift card for your next visit at checkout. They never once mention they are charging you $5 for it. If you look at your receipt, it will show the extra charge. Shoppers beware and don't accept it. And if they charge you make sure you ask them to refund you before heading out the store. read more

We all know how build a bear works so I'm not going to go into too much detail in that regard but this is more for the staff. I wanted to make a bear with my grandmother's voice in it after she passed away. Being an adult alone in build a bear I felt kinda stupid going and doing the little routine with running the teddy bear heart on my chest, arms, etc but Shelby (at least I think that was their name?) had such a positive energy that she brought to the table that I didn't feel nearly as silly and it really brought more joy to the experience than I expected. They really set the standard for the BAB Brand and that sort of thing deserves a shout out and some recognition thank you so much for helping me with this project read more

Had a lovely experience, this was my first time to a Build-A-Bear! Came at 10:15am on a Saturday. My some is autistic so planning outings needs to be very specific & can either be amazing or very overwhelming for him. We chose to come early because we figured it would be the least busy - we were right! So if you have children with special need, I highly recommend going early to avoid the crowd. We were the only family in here for most of our visit so our son could explore without the normal 'parent guilt.' The staff was great! She picked up immediately that our son was sensitive to sound so she made sure to warn him that stuffing our new bear-friend was going to be loud & if he needed to plug his ears, he could (SUPER COOL!). She was also guiding the convo with our 3.5yo so well. She really made the experience so special for him - & us, to be honest, haha! We got a pretty generic bear with a spider man outfit & the total was $50. I can't complain because my son loved the process, he hasn't stopped talking about & loves his bear so much. They have so many outfits & types of animals (not just bears!) to pick from. Cats, dogs, Dinos, Pokemon, sparkle bears, sparkle fairy bears, and way more! The outfits are amazing; nurses, doctors, Captain America, Halloween outfits, all different types of shoes, etc. I can't want to come back again! read more

Very helpful staff and a great collection of animal friends and accessories. My grand daughter loved the experience!

My friend and I played hookie from work to go to Build-a-Bear today, and we had a great time! The employees were so helpful and super friendly. I appreciate them so much for helping us place a special order that had to be shipped. We will be back very soon!!! read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

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I brought my son for his first birthday bear and we had a great experience. The store employee stuffed the bear while my son got to watch and put the little heart in. It's still one of his favorite stuffies. The best part being that it was only $1 for their birthday club deal:) read more

Such a amazing staff! Brought in all my Bears for a re-stitch an re-fluff an they came out absolutely phenomenal. You can tell their staff really care about their jobs an make sure everyone leaves with a smile. Their stitching skills are a 10 outta 10. They have been re stitching my big bird for 8 years now! read more

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Shane in particular was super kind, respectful, and helpful. The place was an overall good vibe and all the employees were nice and helpful with answering our questions. read more

Shane was great and helped us and was very knowledgeable about everything that we needed to know and this location is located inside of oakridge read more

06/27/2023: Visited store with my children to the Build-A- Bear workshop for a gift present for my kids to take with them for the visiting time I had with them at the mall. Store was surprisingly crowded at this time around noon. Store associate was helpful to provide the walk through process for this gift building for my children. I had so much fun, and so grateful. Visiting I had hoped to be longer. - Christina read more

My girls had a great time their little bears are so cute and their Customer service is bomb I was very pleased. The workers had a lot of patience and knew how to work with kids. read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

Three cheers for the Team at Build A Bear Oakridge who helped me today. I visited with my two small toddlers (who are full of energy after being stuck indoors for a year!) and we picked out two reasonably priced stuffed animals. I went to check out with my two squirming children and suddenly I was aware that I had no wallet- one of my little angels has hidden it somewhere in my house. Luckily the kind cashier was able to help me through this stressful situation and it all got taken care of- but I don't know what I would have done without their kindness and 5 star customer service. read more

My kids had so much fun here - here is the shirt video I made when we visited. https://youtu.be/2DHdlRIo2Kw read more

went in right before closing today because we wanted to get our daughter her birthday bear and the staff member who helped us was SO friendly!! we had a great experience and baby girl loves her bear. thanks for the star treatment! read more

This review is for the employee Case. Case took care of my sister and I when I took her in yesterday. He was absolutely amazing with her, helping her with her rainbow sloth. He took the time to get to know my sister, and helped her pick out a jacket for her sloth and everything. He made the experience extremely fun, and enjoyable. read more

Came in last night maybe around 7:30pm or so and the 2 employees working were wonderful! Went in to get my son a birthday build a bear and they were awesome with the whole process. Love this location. read more

It was a great experience for my seven year old. She found out about it online, watching her YouTube videos. We had to take her there last Sunday. She picked a kitty and clothes for it. Maybe it is a little pricier than we thought. But overall it was a great experience for her and me. I really like a toy that she got. It is a good quality stuffed animal toy. read more

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Kitty with a dress and shoes - Toy Stores Near Me - San Jose, California

My review is specifically for today the 'pay your age' day. If I could give zero stars I would .My mom was nice enough to take my kids for me around 3pm because I was still at work. When I got there to relieve her it was about 7:20 and there was still about 30 people in front of us. I understand this was the first time they tried the 'pay your age' day but it was one of the worse experiences ever. The manager Case or Casi did a horrible job at having things organized. He made a quiet(nobody could hear him) announcement around 7:50 that in an hour they would not let anyone else in because the mall was going to close at 9. Immediately after his announcement he closed the store for about 20 to 30 mins to clean and organize the store (big mistake and a waste of time) Around 8:25 they reopened and began to let people in again. The entire time they were taking their sweet time to help customers and had no sense of urgency. It was around 8:45 and I knew we most likely wouldn't make it in. What made it worse is the poor decision by the manager Case to let a huge family of about 15 people in, when he had multiple witnesses letting him know they had cut earlier in the day and to which he replied 'unfortunately I didn't see them cut so I can't do anything'. This poor excuse for a manager couldn't even own up to the fact that he messed up instead he ran back into his store and locked the door. This action caused a bit of confusion to the others in line because they had no clue as to what was going on because his original message was so quiet. He then came out again with his District Mangers name and number on a piece of paper saying 'this is who we can call if we want to make a comment/complaint' This man should not be a manager because he was so unorganized, closed the store in the middle of business hours and closed 10 mins before the business hours all these should be a red flag that this man is incompetent and incapable of being manger. Please make this right to the people who waited 5 plus hours to get a build a bear for their children. read more

Disappointing experience. This was my second time at a Build a Bear, but my first time at the Oakridge location. These plush animals are expensive ($100 for two is pretty darn pricey!), but we had a gift certificate and part of what you pay for is the experience. Except we got very little experience. The lady helping us out just stuffed the bear and struggle to get it closed up. Took about 10 minutes to stuff and when she wasn't able close the stitching, she sent us to the register to have the cashier do it. Bear stuffed and someone telling us not to forget our certificate was the experience. No shower, no brush, no heart, no customization other than pick something then go pay for it. If I didn't have a gift certificate, I would have refused to pay. I suggest this location provide more training to its staff. The experience at the other location was WAY better. Too bad. read more

Had such a great experience!!! Cash was super helpful and informative. My kids all 5 of them can be a handful in an over stimulating store like this and everyone there was so understand and playful with the kids and tried to help with them!!! Would definitely go back! Everyone truest looking like they enjoyed their jobs! read more

We had an awesome time here! Went on 2 different days and Khalis is AMAZING! She had wonderful suggestions about when to come in and ways to make the experience better for our kids with sensory issues. I wanted to fill out the Build a Bear survey but had discarded the receipt already. The kids still talk about how much fun they had and their cat and spongebob plush are holding up really well considering they're being dragged around EVERYWHERE!! Thank you build a bear staff at Oakridge Mall! read more

Two people went to lunch and left one lady all by herself so it took forever just to find out that I can't get a bear without my two year old there. I told her that I couldn't get my daughter and it was the end of the month and she couldn't of cared less. Won't be going back. read more

Ignore the bad reviews from a year ago. The staff is awesome! Had a blast making bears with my Husband for Valentine's Day. The lady who helped us, I think her name was Gabrielle was super sweet. They helped my Husband pick out the cutest pink outfit for the kitty he made for me and definitely made sure we got what we wanted. read more

We had my daughter's 6th birthday party here this weekend. The reservation process was easy - you put down a $50 deposit when making the reservation, then they email you a $50 Build a Bear gift card that can be used toward paying for your party. The nice thing about having your party here is that the minimum number of guests for a party is only 5 people. We wanted to keep our party small, so this worked well for us. We bought some Build a Bear gift cards from Costo (paid $80 for $100 worth of gift cards) and used them to pay for the party and saved a little money. We had a Build a Bear employee dedicated to helping just our party. I appreciate that she pulled out samples of just the animals that were included in our party package so we didn't have to worry about kids wanting to choose one of the more expensive animals. They did a cute little heart ceremony, where my daughter's friends put these little paper hearts into a fabric heart which then went into her bear. Our party leader led the kids in a couple activities, but I was hoping she would have done a bit more. It seemed like she ran out of ideas for entertaining the kids, because she ended up giving them a big box of crayons and some Build a Bear pictures to color (the kids didn't seem to mind, though, and enjoyed coloring). The party reservations are for 2 hours. If your group is small or your guests don't take too long choosing their bears and outfits, you'll have a lot of extra time. We had a group of six 5 and 6 year olds and it only took them about 40 minutes to make their bears, play the games led by the party leader, and do some coloring. The kids killed some time by running around and playing hide & seek in the store while we waited for our food to arrive (our party was first thing in the morning, so the store was empty most of the time). This particular store has a little area in the back where we were able to serve pizza and cupcakes. The space is VERY small - about the size of a fitting room in a clothing store. They put a little table and six chairs in this fitting room/party space. My daughter and her friends are little and just barely fit. If your guests are older, it'll be a very tight squeeze. The light bulb in the fitting room/party space was burned out - it wasn't dark, but it would have been nice to have it a little brighter. We were given some upside down tubs (like large Rubbermaid tubs) for us to put our food on. My husband and I basically stood in the little hallway just outside this fitting room/party space. We weren't able to invite our guests' parents to stay for lunch because there would not have been any room for them (the parents were fine leaving their kids to go shopping or do errands during the party). You'll also need to bring your own plates, forks, food, etc (I highly recommend getting a cheap disposable table cloth from the dollar store). We ordered pizza from one of the restaurants in the mall and brought cupcakes and drinks from home. Even though the set up was not the greatest, it was much easier (and less expensive) than trying to get the kids over to the food court or some other restaurant in the mall. Despite the small party space and wishing for more party games, I'd still recommend this place for a birthday party. Everyone had a lot of fun and it was a very special day for my daughter. read more

I hate to agree with the masses about the negativity in this store, but it's true. Both my twins scored 100 on their spelling test so I decided to surprise them with a bear. They've done it before at the Livermore mall and had a great experience. The employee that helped my kids out was rude and disengaging. He looked like he just wanted to be quick about the process, which is not the point. He kept on up selling my kids with little pointless items. This is were I got upset as he should be asking me, the one who's going to pay for everything. I felt like I didn't want to disappoint my boys but also didn't want to be bullied into buying extras that they didn't need. In the end I had to put my foot down and say no to some items like the 16 dollar heart beat. The guy was like it's part of the experience Sir and my kids were sad that I couldn't get it for them. It's not that I didn't want to is that I just couldn't afford it. It was a bad experience and I didn't even want to do the certificate as I didn't have the patience to be there anymore. I don't recommend coming here. For how much they charge for a plush friend, I would go elsewhere and have a better experience. It also might not have been as bad if I picked someone else to help out. If an employee with a Pokémon bracelet comes up to you, avoid at all cost. read more

A BIG Thank You to Isabella!!! She did a great job helping us arrange 8 bears within 30 minutes during this crazy Black Friday shopping day. All the employees at this store gave us superior customer service. Great job!!! read more

It's a cute concept. My two and a half year old son had a good time here. He picked out a Chase from Paw Patrol. Then he went to fill Chase with stuffing. The store employee had very little enthusiasm when reciting the heart ceremony. I almost checked her for a pulse because she seemed so disinterested. It's also a little pricey but it's more about the experience. read more

I have had a wonderful experience at the Oakridge Build A Bear Store. Each trip, with a different grandson, Ariel was amazing with each boy. They already had a Build A Bear but were given gift cards to buy accessories for their bear/dragon/dog. She was so patient, suggesting different items. We were not rushed at all. Two of my grandsons found exactly what they wanted. The third had looked for 30 minutes and could not find just the right thing. Brendan noticed another dragon, he already had Pete's dragon. Hookfang was on sale for $25-just the amount of the gift card. Ariel went through all the wonderful steps of his pumping the stuffing, warming the heart, printing the birth certificate, and getting a box (home) for it. Brendan was absolutely thrilled. He walked out so proudly from the store and insisted on a photo of him in the mall with both dragons. This ceremony has so impressed the boys that these bears are their favorite toy and they REALLY take care of them. Their ages are 7, 6, and 4. Thank you, Ariel. read more