For each accounting topic that is addressed in its own note, the description of the accounting policy may be found in the related note. The Company’s other significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements are as follows:

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts are eliminated in consolidation.

The Company operates on a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to January 31. The periods presented in these financial statements are fiscal 2024 (52 weeks ended February 1, 2025), fiscal 2023 (53 weeks ended February 3, 2024) and fiscal 2022 (52 weeks ended January 28, 2023). References to years in these financial statements relate to fiscal years or year-ends rather than calendar years.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash, money market funds, and short-term highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less held in both domestic and foreign financial institutions. In addition, the Company has a long-term deposit to satisfy contractual terms with the UK Customs Authority (unrelated to the matter discussed in Note 10 - Commitments and Contingencies). The Company also has deposits from franchisees under contractual agreements which are refundable. The long-term and franchisee deposits are considered restricted cash and disclosed within the supplemental disclosure within the consolidated statement of cash flows. Cash equivalents also include amounts due from third-party financial institutions for credit and debit card transactions. The carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents approximates fair value, given the short maturity of those instruments.

The majority of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents exceed federal deposit insurance limits. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts and management believes that the Company is not exposed to any significant credit risk on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash.

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost determined on an average-cost basis. Inventory includes supplies of $3.5 million and $4.1 million as of February 1, 2025 and February 3, 2024, respectively. A reserve for estimated shortage is accrued throughout the year based on detailed historical averages. The inventory reserve was $1.2 million as of February 1, 2025 and $1.1 million as of February 3, 2024.

Receivables consist primarily of amounts due to the Company in relation to wholesale and corporate product sales, franchisee royalties and product sales, tenant allowances, certain amounts due from taxing authorities, receivables due from insurance providers, and licensing revenue. The Company assesses the collectability of all receivables on an ongoing basis by considering its historical credit loss experience, current economic conditions, and other relevant factors. At the beginning of fiscal 2023, the Company adopted ASU No. 2016-13, “Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” This ASU requires entities to report “expected” credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit rather than the current “incurred loss” model. These expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date are to be based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. Upon adoption, the Company recognized a charge of $0.8 million to the opening balance of retained earnings which represents a reduction in its account receivable balance associated with expected credit losses.

Property and equipment consist of leasehold improvements, furniture and fixtures, computer equipment and software, building and land and are stated at cost. Leasehold improvements are depreciated using the straight-line method over the shorter of the useful life of the assets or the life of the lease ranging from one to ten years. Furniture and fixtures and computer equipment are depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated service lives ranging from three to seven years. Computer software includes certain costs, including internal payroll costs incurred in connection with the development or acquisition of software for internal use and is amortized using the straight-line method over a period of three to five years. New store construction deposits are recorded at the time the deposit is made as construction-in-progress and reclassified to the appropriate property and equipment category at the time of completion of construction, when operations of the store commence. Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred and improvements are capitalized. Gains or losses on the disposition of fixed assets are recorded upon disposal.

The majority of the Company's leases relate to retail stores, corporate offices, and storage locations. For leases with terms greater than 12 months, the Company records the related asset and obligation at the present value of lease payments over the term. Most retail store leases have an original term of five to ten-year base period and the term can be extended on a lease-by-lease basis with additional terms that are typically much shorter than the original lease term giving the Company lease optionality. The renewal options are not included in the measurement of the right of use assets and right of use liabilities unless the Company is reasonably certain to exercise the optional renewal periods. Some leases also include early termination options, which can be exercised under specific conditions. Additionally, the Company may operate stores for a period of time on a month-to-month basis after the expiration of the lease term. The Company's lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants. Certain leases contain incentives, such as construction allowances from landlords and/or rent abatements subsequent to taking possession of the leased property. These incentives reduce the right-of-use asset related to the lease and are amortized through the right-of-use asset as reductions of expense over the lease term.

The Company's leases typically contain rent escalations over the lease term and the Company recognizes expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company recognizes the related rental expense on a straight-line basis and records the difference between the recognized rental expense and amounts payable under the lease as part of the lease right-of-use asset. Some of the Company's leases include rent escalations based on inflation indexes and fair market value adjustments. Operating lease liabilities are calculated using the prevailing index or rate at lease commencement. Subsequent escalations in the index or rate and contingent rental payments are recognized as variable lease expenses. Certain leases contain contingent rental provisions that include a fixed base rent plus an additional percentage of the store’s sales in excess of stipulated amounts and certain leases may contain rental provisions that only include a provision for a percentage of a store's total sales, instead of a fixed base rent amount. Such rents based on a percentage of store's total sales are recorded as variable lease expenses.

The Company has elected the practical expedient allowed by the standard to account for all fixed consideration in a lease as a single lease component. Therefore, the lease payments used to measure the lease liability for these leases include fixed minimum rentals along with fixed operating costs such as common area maintenance and utilities.

Most of the Company’s leases do not provide a readily available implicit interest rate. Therefore, the Company estimates the incremental borrowing discount rate based on information available at lease commencement. The discount rates used are indicative of a synthetic credit rating based on quantitative and qualitative analysis and adjusted to estimate a secured credit rating. For non-U.S. locations, a risk-free rate yield based on the currency of the lease is used to adjust the estimate of the incremental borrowing rate.

Whenever facts and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of a long-lived asset (asset group) and right-of-use operating lease assets may not be recoverable, the carrying value of those assets is reviewed for potential impairment. If this review indicates that the carrying value of the asset (asset group) will not be recovered, as determined based on projected undiscounted cash flows related to the asset (asset group) over its remaining life, the carrying value of the asset (asset group) is reduced to its estimated fair value. The Company typically performs an annual assessment of its store assets in the DTC segment, based on operating performance and forecasts of future performance. For the purposes of evaluating store assets for impairment, the Company has determined that each store location is an asset group, inclusive of the right-of-use asset attributable to each store. In periods where the Company identifies indicators of impairment for its store fleet, the Company performs a recoverability test for these assets by comparing the estimated undiscounted future cash flows over the remaining useful life of the asset (asset group) to the carry value of the asset (asset group). The estimated undiscounted future cash flows involve expectations for future operations and projected cash flows, including estimates of revenue, operating expenses and market conditions. Based on this, the Company determines if certain stores had long-lived and right-of-use assets with carrying values that exceed their estimated undiscounted future cash flows for the remaining useful life of the respective assets.

An impairment charge is recognized to the extent the carrying value exceeded the fair value of the asset (asset group). The Company estimates fair values of these long-lived assets based on its discounted future cash flow analysis for the remaining useful life of the asset or its market rent assessment. An individual asset within an asset group is not impaired below its estimated fair value. Asset impairment charges are recorded within the cost of merchandise sold - retail expense within the Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income. The Company's analysis identified indicators of impairment at two retail locations and the Company incurred immaterial impairment charges during fiscal 2024 for long-lived assets in the Company's DTC segment.

The estimates, all of which are considered Level 3 inputs, used to calculate the fair value of the asset (asset group) include: the Company’s expectations for future operations and projected cash flows, including revenues, operating expenses including market rents, and market conditions. Changes in these estimates could have an impact on whether long-lived store assets should be further evaluated for impairment and could have a significant impact on the resulting impairment charge.

Other assets consist primarily of the non-current portion of prepaid income taxes and deferred costs related to franchise agreements, financing agreements, and capitalized film production costs. Deferred franchise costs are initial costs related to the Company’s franchise agreements that are deferred and amortized over the life of the respective franchise agreement. Deferred financing costs are the initial issuance costs and fees incurred in obtaining the Company's new credit agreement. The Company had no outstanding borrowings at the beginning of the facility or at of the date of the second amendment, therefore these costs and fees incurred for the original agreement and amendment were recorded as a deferred asset and the unamortized costs will be amortized over the length of the amended agreement. Film production costs include capitalizable direct costs, production overhead, interest and development costs and are stated at the lower of cost, less accumulated amortization, or fair value.

Costs of producing entertainment assets, which include direct costs, production overhead and development costs, are capitalized when incurred and are stated at the lower of cost, less accumulated amortization, or fair value. For film related costs, the Company expects assets to be monetized individually and are amortized using the individual film-forecast-computation method which amortizes such costs in the same ratio that current period actual revenue bears to the estimated remaining unrecognized total revenues (ultimate revenue). Ultimate revenue includes estimates over a period not to exceed ten years from the date of initial release of the film. Participation costs and residuals are accrued and expensed over the applicable product life cycle based upon the ratio of the current period's revenues to the estimated remaining total revenues for each production.

Costs of entertainment productions are subject to recoverability assessments, whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value of the film may be less than the unamortized cost, which for content predominantly monetized individually, involves comparing the estimated fair values with the unamortized cost. The fair value is determined based on a discounted cash flow analysis of the cash flows directly attributable to the entertainment assets. The discounted cash flow analysis includes cash flow estimates of ultimate revenue as well as a discount rate (a Level 3 fair value measurement). The discount rate used in the Company’s discounted cash flow model reflects the time value of money, expectations about variation in the amount or timing of the most likely cash flows, and the price market participants would seek for bearing the uncertainty inherent with the film asset. The amount by which the unamortized costs of entertainment assets exceed their estimated fair values are written off. As of February 1, 2025 and February 3, 2024, the Company had net capitalized entertainment production costs of $4.2 million and $4.7 million, respectively. The February 1, 2025 balance for entertainment production costs is comprised of unamortized, released assets and several in-development entertainment projects.

The main purpose of the Company's production assets is to drive consumer engagement with its own intellectual property, similar to a marketing campaign. As such, the amortization of production assets and any related impairment charges are recorded as advertising expenses with the Selling, general, and administrative line within the Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income and includes this expense in the financial information of the Commercial reportable segment presented in Note 15 - Segment Information. In November 2023, the Company released the film Glisten and the Merry Mission and recorded $1.0 million in film cost amortization during fiscal 2023 based on the individual film's production asset carrying value and its current period actual revenue as a percentage of the ultimate revenue estimate. Additionally, as of February 1, 2025, the Company performed a recoverability assessment of the Glisten and the Merry Mission assets and determined there were indicators of impairment. A discounted cash flow analysis was used to estimate the fair value of the asset and determined the carry value of the production asset was greater than its fair value. As a result, the Company recorded $0.3 million in film asset amortization. The Company recorded a total of $1.1 million in film costs amortization in fiscal 2024 and a total of $2.4 million in fiscal 2023.

Cost of merchandise sold - retail includes the cost of the merchandise, including royalties paid to licensors of third-party branded merchandise; store occupancy cost, including store depreciation; cost of warehousing and distribution; packaging; stuffing; damages and shortages; and shipping and handling costs incurred in shipment to consumers. Cost of merchandise sold - commercial includes the cost of the merchandise, including royalties paid to licensors of third-party branded merchandise; cost of warehousing and distribution; packaging; stuffing; damages and shortages; and shipping and handling costs incurred in shipment to consumers.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses include store payroll and related benefits, advertising, credit card fees, store supplies and store closing costs, as well as central office management payroll and related benefits, travel, information systems, accounting, insurance, legal, and public relations costs. It also includes depreciation and amortization of central office leasehold improvements, furniture, fixtures, and equipment. In addition, bad debt expenses and accounts receivable related charges are included. Further, it includes store preopening expenses which represent costs incurred prior to store openings, remodels and relocations including certain store set-up, labor and hiring costs, rental charges, payroll, government grants, marketing, travel and relocation costs and recoveries.

The costs of advertising and marketing programs are charged to operations in the first period the program takes place. Advertising expense was $21.0 million, $24.3 million and $19.6 million for fiscal years 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Income taxes are accounted for using a balance sheet approach known as the liability method. The liability method accounts for deferred income taxes by applying the rate, based on enacted tax law, that will be in effect in the period in which the temporary differences between the book basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities reverse or are settled. Deferred taxes are reported on a jurisdictional basis.

Tax positions are reviewed at least quarterly and adjusted as new information becomes available. The recoverability of deferred tax assets is evaluated by assessing the adequacy of future expected taxable income from all sources, including reversal of taxable temporary differences, forecasted operating earnings and available tax planning strategies. These estimates of future taxable income inherently require significant judgment. To the extent it is considered more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will be not recovered, a valuation allowance is established.

The Company assesses its total liability for uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis. The Company recognizes estimated interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. See Note 8—Income Taxes for further discussion.

Basic income per share is determined by dividing net income allocated to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted income per share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if options to issue common stock were exercised. In periods in which the inclusion of such instruments is anti-dilutive, the effect of such securities is not given consideration.

The Company has share-based compensation plans covering certain management groups and its Board of Directors. The Company accounts for share-based payments utilizing the fair value recognition provisions of ASC 718 Compensation - Stock Compensation. The Company recognizes compensation cost for graded-vested equity awards on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the entire award and forfeitures as they occur. See Note 12 — "Stock Incentive Plans" for additional information.

Comprehensive income is comprised of net income and foreign currency translation adjustments.

The Company maintains a Deferred Compensation Plan for the benefit of certain management employees. The investment funds offered to participants generally correspond to the funds offered in the Company’s 401(k) plan, and the account balance fluctuates with the investment returns on those funds. The fair value of the assets, classified as trading securities, and corresponding liabilities are based on unadjusted quoted market prices for the funds in active markets with sufficient volume and frequency (Level 1). As of February 1, 2025, the current portions of the assets and related liabilities of less than $0.1 million are presented in prepaid expenses and other current assets and accrued expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the non-current portions of the assets and the related liabilities of $0.9 million are presented in other assets, net and other liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of February 3, 2024, the current portions of the assets and related liabilities of less than $0.1 million are presented in prepaid expenses and other current assets and accrued expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, and the non-current portions of the assets and the related liabilities of $0.7 million are presented in other assets, net and other liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

For purposes of financial reporting, management has determined that the fair value of financial instruments, including cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, receivables, short term investments, accounts payable and accrued expenses, approximates book value at February 1, 2025 and February 3, 2024.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements requires management of the Company to make a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reported amount of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The assumptions used by management in future estimates could change significantly due to changes in circumstances, including, but not limited to, challenging economic conditions. Accordingly, future estimates may change significantly. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include the calculation of revenue from gift card breakage, valuation of long-lived asset for asset impairments, income tax valuation allowances on deferred income tax assets, and the determination of deferred revenue under the Company’s customer loyalty program.

The Company’s revenues in the consolidated statement of operations are net of sales taxes.

Assets and liabilities of the Company’s foreign operations with functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated at the exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date, while revenues and expenses are translated at average rates prevailing during the year. Translation adjustments are reported in accumulated other comprehensive income, a separate component of stockholders’ equity. Gains and losses resulting from foreign exchange transactions, including the impact of the re-measurement of the Company’s balance sheet, are recorded as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses. The Company recorded a loss of $0.2 million, $0.1 million and $0.6 million related to foreign currency in fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

At the end of fiscal 2024, the Company adopted ASU No. 2023-07, "Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures." This ASU updates reportable segment disclosure requirements primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures." This ASU expands the requirements for income tax disclosures in order to provide greater transparency. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024 and the amendments should be applied prospectively. Management is currently evaluating this ASU to determine its impact on the Company's disclosures.

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, "Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses." The amendment requires a public business entity (PBE) to disclose, on an annual and interim basis, disaggregated information about certain income statement line items in a tabular format in the notes to the financial statements. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027. Management is currently evaluating this ASU to determine its impact on the Company's disclosures.