I accompanied a friend and her nephew to one of these things, and the first thought that crossed my mind was "What a rip off".
The bears aren't even very cute! Or soft, or cuddly, or anything! But the children seem to love it, so that's good marketing, I suppose.
Although I do think the part where they put a little soft heart in the bear along with the stuffing before stitching it all up is adorable. Helps kids anthropomorphise the bears better, and I fully support the anthropomorphisation of stuffed toys!
The sales people are great with the kids, but really ill-prepared to deal with interested adults, which I find a little funny. They can't seem to switch out of the patronizing kid-tone when talking to the adult customers! read more