The Bear Necessities Apparently Don’t Include Profits – BBW a One-Hit Wonder
A couple of weeks ago, Build-A-Bear (BBW – $6.06) reported earnings for Q4 2009. The company has now reported 17 straight quarters of comp store sales declines versus the prior year and its full year EBIT margin has now dipped into the -2.1% range.
The company’s Chief Executive Bear (get it), Maxine Clark, has been at the helm since 1997 and has now watched the company’s comp store sales decline -61.0% in fiscal Q4 over the past 9 years.
The 2 charts below may qualify as the most dismal charts for a company that has yet to file Chapter 11 in the retail sector history.
Yet, when you take a look at the book on Amazon.com… here’s part of the book’s overview:
Build-A-Bear Workshop® is one of the most successful retailing concepts in recent history. Starting with just one location in 1997, the company now operates more than 200 stores worldwide.
Yep, it actually says that. While the book was published in April 2006 and the company was just coming off an 11.8% EBIT margin year in FY 2005, it’s been all downhill since.
In our view, BBW is the Toni Basil (“Mickey”) or Falco (“Rock Me Amadeus”) of retail. The company was a one-hit wonder when it appeared on Oprah in FY 2004 and then opportunistically decided to go public. It’s been a death march ever since.
It’s amazing how a company and a CEO that experienced basically 5 fiscal quarters of positive comp store sales over the course of an entire decade (40 fiscal quarters) could be so revered. This company is in dire need of fresh blood, ASAP!
Barring a miraculous new source of top-line growth, this will end badly. It’s already ended badly for the many investors that bought into this concept over the past 5-6 years.
By the way, you can get the hardcover cheap. It’s $18.96, marked-down from $24.95. But, hurry! There’s only one copy left!
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Commentary.
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The Bear Necessities Apparently Don’t Include Profits – BBW a One-Hit Wonder
A couple of weeks ago, Build-A-Bear (BBW – $6.06) reported earnings for Q4 2009. The company has now reported 17 straight quarters of comp store sales declines versus the prior year and its full year EBIT margin has now dipped into the -2.1% range.
The company’s Chief Executive Bear (get it), Maxine Clark, has been at the helm since 1997 and has now watched the company’s comp store sales decline -61.0% in fiscal Q4 over the past 9 years.
The 2 charts below may qualify as the most dismal charts for a company that has yet to file Chapter 11 in the retail sector history.
Yet, when you take a look at the book on Amazon.com… here’s part of the book’s overview:
Build-A-Bear Workshop® is one of the most successful retailing concepts in recent history. Starting with just one location in 1997, the company now operates more than 200 stores worldwide.
Yep, it actually says that. While the book was published in April 2006 and the company was just coming off an 11.8% EBIT margin year in FY 2005, it’s been all downhill since.
In our view, BBW is the Toni Basil (“Mickey”) or Falco (“Rock Me Amadeus”) of retail. The company was a one-hit wonder when it appeared on Oprah in FY 2004 and then opportunistically decided to go public. It’s been a death march ever since.
It’s amazing how a company and a CEO that experienced basically 5 fiscal quarters of positive comp store sales over the course of an entire decade (40 fiscal quarters) could be so revered. This company is in dire need of fresh blood, ASAP!
Barring a miraculous new source of top-line growth, this will end badly. It’s already ended badly for the many investors that bought into this concept over the past 5-6 years.
By the way, you can get the hardcover cheap. It’s $18.96, marked-down from $24.95. But, hurry! There’s only one copy left!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.