Borders® Enhances Customer Experience to Include Build-A-Bear Workshop® Branded Products In-Store

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Borders® today announced it is teaming with Build-A-Bear Workshop® to bring the popular teddy bear to life in more than 500 Borders superstores nationwide.

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Borders will feature the Build-A-Bear Workshop book "Holly & Hal Moose™: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure", "Holly & Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure" DVD and Hal Moose™, a Build-A-Bear Workshop plush toy, in stores. Borders will encourage customers to purchase the furry friend, book, and DVD and donate the items to the company's holiday book drive. Borders hosts several book drives each year to benefit needy children. Borders will also carry "Build-A-Bear Workshop" Make and Play Kits, available Nov. 1, 2010.

"We are excited to partner with Borders this holiday season to offer fun make and play kits and Holly & Hal Moose products," said Maxine Clark, Build-A-Bear Workshop founder and chief executive bear. "We anticipate that the Build-A-Bear Workshop Make and Play Kits in Borders stores will encourage creativity and imaginative play for kids of all ages."

Borders will host a free Build-A-Bear Workshop themed party on Nov. 13 in stores nationwide to celebrate the partnership.  Activities will include singing, dancing and coloring.

"This relationship with Build-A-Bear Workshop further emphasizes our focus on expanding our retail offerings beyond books, and delivering as much consumer choice as possible," said Mike Edwards, CEO of Borders. "Our customers are creative, and Build-A-Bear Craftshop products provide an opportunity for them to express themselves in Borders retail stores in new, fun ways. We're committed to delivering an excellent customer experience—it'll be exciting to see just how creative our community can be."

About Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is the only global company that offers an interactive make-your-own stuffed animal retail-entertainment experience. The company currently operates more than 400 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide, including company-owned stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France, and franchise stores in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and Mexico. Founded in St. Louis in 1997, Build-A-Bear Workshop is the leader in interactive retail. Brands include make-your-own Major League Baseball® mascot in-stadium locations, and Build-A-Dino® stores. Build-A-Bear Workshop extends its in-store interactive experience online with its award winning virtual world Web site at buildabearville.com®. The company was named to the 2009 and 2010 FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® lists. Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) posted total revenue of $394.4 million in fiscal 2009. For more information, call 888.560.BEAR (2327) or visit the company's award-winning Web site at buildabear.com®.

About Borders Group, Inc.

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., through its subsidiaries, Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is a leading specialty retailer of books as well as other educational and entertainment items. The company employs approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders(R) and Waldenbooks(R) stores. Online shopping is offered through borders.com. Find author interviews and vibrant discussions of the products we and our customers are passionate about online at facebook.com/borders, twitter.com/borders and youtube.com/bordersmedia. For more information about the company, visit borders.com/media.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. One can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "expects," "planning," "preparing," "possibility," "opportunity," "goal," "will," "may," "intend," "anticipates," "working toward" and other words of similar meaning. One can also identify them by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements are likely to address matters such as the company's future financial condition and performance (including earnings per share, liquidity, cash flows, debt levels, market share growth and other sales information, inventory levels and capital expenditures), its strategic initiatives such as the expansion of product categories, including eBook content and eReaders and contemplated strategic partnerships. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the company's forward-looking statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, consumer demand for the company's products, particularly during the holiday season, which is believed to be related to general economic and geopolitical conditions, competition and other factors; the availability of adequate capital – including vendor credit – to fund the company's operations and to carry out its strategic plans; adverse litigation results or other claims; the performance of the company's information technology systems; the anticipated impact of our Borders Rewards and Borders Rewards Plus programs; with respect to eBook content and eReaders, the availability to the company of anticipated content levels and a variety of competitive devices; and, with respect to strategic partnerships, the ability to identify and reach agreements with acceptable partners.

The company's periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission contain more detailed discussions of these and other risk factors that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements, and those discussions are incorporated herein by reference. The company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Borders

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