Lines out the door at ocean county mall for build-a-bear promotion

TOMS RIVER-It was a promotion by the Build-A-Bear Workshop nationwide, with a location at the Ocean County Mall gone wrong. Thousands lined up for the “Pay Your Age” promotion as the mall opened, but by the afternoon, the company shut down things down.

“Per local authorities, we cannot accept additional guests at our locations due to crowd safety concerns,” the company said. “We have closed lines in our stores. We understand some guests are disappointed and we will reach out directly as soon as possible.”

Build-A-Bear Workshop’s Pay Your Age Day event generated an overwhelming response, resulting in long lines, extensive waits and disappointed guests.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216949539198874&set=p.10216949539198874&type=3&theater

“We feel it is important to share that, based on the information available to us before the day began, we could not have predicted this reaction to our Pay Your Age Day event,” the company said. “We understand that many guests were turned away as, due to safety concerns created by the crowds, authorities in certain locations closed Build-A-Bear stores and, in other locations, we were forced to limit the line. Unfortunately, given these circumstances, we were unable to serve all of our Guests for the Pay Your Age Day event.”

While lines were out the doors at the Ocean County Mall, the company has offered customers who did not get to participate in the event, a consolation voucher.

“In response, we distributed vouchers to guests, who were present in lines, to be redeemed for a future purchase,” they said. “We are now making vouchers available to our Build-A-Bear Bonus Club members in the U.S. and Canada who log into their account by midnight on July 15, 2018.”

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Vouchers related to this event will be honored through August 31, 2018. It is our sincere desire for all of our huests to enjoy the best Build-A-Bear experience possible.

“Our goal with the voucher extension is to enable us to better flow traffic to the stores over the next several weeks to avoid long lines and wait times as much as possible,” the press release continued. “Therefore, we strongly encourage guests to consider delaying their trip to Build-A-Bear, and we appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience in this matter. Build-A-Bear Workshop takes seriously the privilege of providing our valued Guests with an opportunity to make a furry friend.”

Photo posted by Melissa Johnson, Facebook.

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