Build-A-Bear opens three specialty shops inside its Orlando ICON Park location November 5Petco Love launches eight-pet blind-box plush line at Petco stores starting October 26Fold Hill Launches Two Christmas Gift Boxes Under Ruffingtons at £10 and £15Halstrum Acquires FullBucket Health, Combining Joint and Digestive Supplement LinesSubaru Donated $25,000 to the ASPCA Through iHeartMedia's Ad-Spend Partnership ProgramNulo Lands Hollywood Feed's 179 Stores Starting November 2Phillips Pet Food Consolidated Northeast Distribution and Added 8,000 SKUs in One MoveBurgess Pet Care Launched a White-Label Dry Food Line for Independent RetailersBuild-A-Bear opens three specialty shops inside its Orlando ICON Park location November 5Petco Love launches eight-pet blind-box plush line at Petco stores starting October 26Fold Hill Launches Two Christmas Gift Boxes Under Ruffingtons at £10 and £15Halstrum Acquires FullBucket Health, Combining Joint and Digestive Supplement LinesSubaru Donated $25,000 to the ASPCA Through iHeartMedia's Ad-Spend Partnership ProgramNulo Lands Hollywood Feed's 179 Stores Starting November 2Phillips Pet Food Consolidated Northeast Distribution and Added 8,000 SKUs in One MoveBurgess Pet Care Launched a White-Label Dry Food Line for Independent Retailers
On the ShelfBy The PetRetailNews Desk3 min readOctober 20, 2026
Build-A-Bear opens three specialty shops inside its Orlando ICON Park location November 5
The multi-level location carries the brand's first Pokémon shop, its fourth Hello Kitty collaboration, and a Promise Pets adoption zone.
Build-A-Bear is opening a multi-level Orlando location at ICON Park on November 5 carrying three distinct specialty shops under one roof: the brand's first Build-A-Bear x Pokémon Workshop, its fourth collaboration with Hello Kitty and Friends, and a new Promise Pets zone.
The format question
Build-A-Bear's ICON Park location will feature what the company describes as fully themed spaces with exclusive product, custom fixtures, and immersive storytelling. Each specialty shop operates as a separate environment inside the larger store.
The Pokémon zone is Build-A-Bear's first specialty shop for the franchise and will carry exclusive plush, apparel, and what a Pokémon Company International representative described as photo-worthy experiences designed for Trainers. The Hello Kitty zone is the brand's fourth collaboration shop with Sanrio and will feature Hello Kitty and Friends plush exclusive to the ICON Park store. Promise Pets, Build-A-Bear's proprietary line, gets an adoption-style environment centered on what the company calls nurturing play.
Chris Hurt, Build-A-Bear's CEO, positioned the location as "the future of Build-A-Bear, where storytelling and emotional connection come to life in bigger, more meaningful ways."
What the announcement leaves out
Build-A-Bear did not report square footage allocated to each specialty shop, construction cost, expected traffic splits between the three zones, or performance benchmarks that would trigger rollout to additional stores. The company also did not disclose whether the IP holders are paying for the dedicated space, sharing revenue on zone-specific sales, or operating under Build-A-Bear's standard wholesale terms.
Jill Koch, Sanrio's Chief Brand Officer, said the company is expanding its relationship with Build-A-Bear after opening three Hello Kitty collaboration stores, but the announcement did not include sales figures or performance comparisons for those locations.
Our read: the shop-in-shop is the negotiating asset
The format Build-A-Bear is testing gives IP holders something most specialty retailers do not: a controlled, branded environment where performance can be measured zone by zone rather than SKU by SKU on a shared floor. If the Pokémon shop performs, The Pokémon Company has data to pitch dedicated zones at other retailers. If it does not, Build-A-Bear has a floor-plan problem and the IP holder has a distribution question.
For Build-A-Bear, the format lets the company run its proprietary line alongside licensed franchises in separate branded spaces. Kim Utlaut, the company's Chief Brand Officer, called Promise Pets one of the brand's most successful original concepts and said the ICON Park location lets the company demonstrate its owned IP next to major licensed properties. The shop-in-shop format gives each brand its own space rather than competing for attention on a shared floor.
The risk is operational. Three specialty shops inside one location means managing three distinct environments. If the zones work, the format extends the visit. If they compete for the same customer's time, the complexity costs more than it returns.
Build-A-Bear said it will announce grand opening details in the coming weeks but did not say whether it will report performance data for the individual zones or announce rollout plans. The company operates more than 650 locations globally and reported $529.8 million in total revenue for fiscal 2025, its fifth consecutive year of record results, so it has the balance sheet to test formats that do not immediately scale.
For a brand operator pitching specialty retail, the ICON Park location becomes a reference point: if your IP performs in a dedicated zone, you have a case for similar placement elsewhere. For a store owner, the format matters if Build-A-Bear releases performance data and rolls the model to other markets.
The November 5 opening puts the format in front of customers through the holiday season.
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