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Sharon Price John is the successing Build-A-Bear Workshop CEO starting in June 2013 to current times to Maxine Clark.

Sharon Price John
Sharon-John
Sharon Price John in a Build-A-Bear Workshop Store.

Status

CEO

Years Active

2013-

BizJournal Bio[]

Sharon Price John arrived at Build-A-Bear Workshop’s Overland-based headquarters in June 2013, on the heels of a nearly $50 million loss in 2012.

Tapped to succeed Founder and former Chief Executive Bear Maxine Clark, it’s now up to John to execute the company’s turnaround, while regaining investor confidence and filling Clark’s shoes. “Saying and executing are different,” she said. “Some of the toughest things to do are reversing trends, particularly trends that have been hanging around for a while.”


Challenge: Training the bears to perform profitably


At 49, John has experience in both turnarounds and the branded toy business, having worked on products like Barbie at Mattel and Transformers at Hasbro. Most recently, as president of the kids’ shoe store chain Stride Rite Children’s Group, she led a turnaround of that business, a division of Wolverine Worldwide, by closing lackluster stores, improving inventory and boosting the licensing and wholesale business.

Her current task requires “putting a sharp pencil” to the company’s expenses and returning the company to profitability, according to one investor. Founded in 1997, Build-A-Bear Workshop struggled with underperforming stores starting in 2008 and hit a low in 2012 when 22 percent of stores were unprofitable, and sales per square foot fell to $350, from $445 in 2008. Indeed, the company “has a history of inconsistent, and mostly disappointing, sales and earnings performance,” analyst Gerrick Johnson of BMO Capital Markets wrote in a research note last year.

The company’s turnaround plan, unveiled by Clark and the board in 2012, calls for closing underperforming stores around the country — from 289 in 2012 to about 250 in 2014 , reducing discounts and curtailing expenses. Build-A-Bear Workshop also unveiled a tech-focused “store of the future” design and is slowly converting stores to the new model. The plan is showing early signs of taking hold. At a Jan. 15 investor conference, John said the number of profitable stores increased to 247 in 2013, up from 222 in 2012. In its recent third quarter earnings, Build-A-Bear Workshop narrowed its loss to $1.4 million, compared with $4.3 million in the prior year period. “We’re thrilled with the changes that have happened and excited to see more unfold,” said investor Jason Stankowski, a partner at Clayton Partners LLC, based in San Francisco.

Still, the work’s not done. Preliminary numbers show that sales per square foot grew 9 percent to $380 in 2013, from $350 in 2012, and John is looking for $450 to $500 sales per square foot, she said during the investor conference. And where stores averaged $1.1 million in average annual sales last year, she’s eying a target of $1.2 million to $1.4 million.

“Although we’re starting to see positive results, we haven’t accomplished our complete goal of returning to profitability,” John said. “That still must be my core focus.”

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