2. Revenue

Currently, most of the Company’s revenue is derived from direct-to-consumer ("DTC") retail sales (including from its e-commerce sites) and is recognized when control of the merchandise is transferred to the customer. The Company's disaggregated revenue is fully disclosed as net sales to external customers by reporting segment and by geographic area (See Note 11 — Segment Information for additional information). The Company's direct-to-consumer reporting segment represents 91% of consolidated revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. The majority of these sales transactions were single performance obligations that were recorded when control of merchandise was transferred to the customer.

The following is a description of principal activities from which the Company generates its revenue through three reportable segments.

The Company’s direct-to-consumer segment includes the operating activities of corporately-managed stores, other retail-delivered operations and online sales. Direct-to-consumer revenue is recognized when control of the merchandise is transferred to the customer and for the Company's online sales, control generally transfers upon delivery to the customer. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration, including any discounts or incentives, the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring the merchandise. Product returns have historically averaged less than one-half of one percent due to the personalized and interactive nature of sales, where consumers customize their own stuffed animal. The Company has elected to exclude from revenue all collected sales, value add, and other taxes paid by its customers.

For the Company’s gift cards, revenue is deferred for single transactions until redemption including any related gift card discounts. Approximately 80% of gift cards issued are redeemed within three years of issuance and over the last three years, approximately 65% of gift cards issued have been redeemed within the first twelve months. In addition, unredeemed gift cards or breakage revenue is recorded in proportion to the consumers’ redemption pattern using an estimated breakage rate based on historical experience. Following the reopening of stores after the pandemic, the Company experienced lower gift card redemption rates for all periods of outstanding activated cards compared to historical redemption patterns observed prior to fiscal year 2020, which impacted the gift card breakage rate. Management believes that the redemption behavior observed during the pandemic was not indicative of long-term customer behavior and accordingly adjusted the historical redemption data used to calculate the breakage rate. In more recent periods, gift card redemption patterns have generally returned to levels consistent with pre-2020 experience. The Company continues to evaluate expected breakage annually and adjusts the breakage rates in the fourth quarter of each year, or at other times if significant changes in consumer behavior are detected. Changes to breakage estimates impact revenue recognition prospectively. Further, given the magnitude of the Company's gift card liability, the changes in breakage rates could have a significant impact on the amount of breakage revenue recognized in future periods. As a matter of sensitivity, a hypothetical 1% change in our gift card breakage rate in fiscal 2025 would have resulted in a change in breakage revenue of $1.3 million.

For certain qualifying transactions, a portion of revenue transactions are deferred for the obligation related to the Company’s loyalty program or when a material right in the form of a future discount is granted. In these transactions, the transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations based on the relative standalone selling price. The standalone selling price for the points earned for the Company’s loyalty program is estimated using the net retail value of the merchandise purchased, adjusted for estimated breakage based on historical redemption patterns. The revenue associated with the initial merchandise purchased is recognized immediately and the value assigned to the points is deferred until the points are redeemed, forfeited or expired. Loyalty program points expire if there is no qualifying account activity for a period of 12 months. The Company issues certificates daily to loyalty program members who have earned 100 or more points in North America and 50 points or more in the United Kingdom (the "U.K.") with certificates historically expiring in four months if not redeemed. The Company assesses the redemption rates of its certifications on a quarterly basis to update the rate at which loyalty program points turn into certifications and the rate that certifications are redeemed. The Company classifies contract liabilities related to the loyalty program as deferred revenue and other on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.

The Company’s commercial segment includes transactions with other businesses and is mainly comprised of  wholesale sales of merchandise, supplies and fixtures, licensing the Company's intellectual properties for third-party use, and revenues generated from entertainment activities. Revenue for wholesale sales is recognized when the control of the merchandise or fixtures is transferred to the customer, which generally occurs upon shipment to the customer. The license agreements provide the customer with highly interrelated rights, including the Build-A-Bear retail operations proprietary process, that are not distinct in the context of the contract and therefore, have been accounted for as a single performance obligation and recognized as licensee sales occur. If the contract includes a guaranteed minimum, the minimum guarantee is recognized on a straight-line basis over the guarantee term until such time as royalties earned through licensee sales exceed the minimum guarantee. The Company classifies these guaranteed minimum contract liabilities as deferred revenue and other on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Entertainment revenue is generated through the sale of entertainment assets directly to customers or through licensing agreements. 

The Company’s international franchising segment includes the activities with franchisees who operate store locations in certain countries and includes development fees, sales-based royalties and merchandise, including supplies and fixture sales. The Company's obligations under the franchise agreements are ongoing and include operations and product development support and training, generally concentrated around initial store openings. These obligations are highly interrelated rights that are not distinct in the context of the contract and, therefore, have been accounted for as a single performance obligation and recognized as franchisee sales occur. If the contract includes an initial, one-time nonrefundable development fee, this fee is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the franchise agreement, which may extend for periods up to 25 years. The Company classifies these initial, one-time nonrefundable franchise fee contract liabilities as deferred revenue and other on its condensed consolidated balance sheet. Revenue from merchandise and fixture sales is recognized when control is transferred to the franchisee, which generally occurs upon delivery.

The Company also incurs expenses directly related to the startup of new franchises, which may include finder’s fees, legal and travel costs, expenses related to its ongoing support of the franchises and employee compensation. Accordingly, the Company’s policy is to capitalize any finder’s fee, as an incremental cost, and expense all other costs as incurred. The Company amortizes these capitalized costs into expense in the same pattern as the development fee as described previously. These capitalized costs for the thirteen weeks ended May 2, 2026 are not material to the financial statements. 

The Company reserves for “expected” credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit rather than the “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.  For the thirteen weeks ended May 2, 2026 and May 3, 2025, the Company's accounts receivable are net of $4.1 million and $7.0 million, inclusive of the allowance for credit losses and the reserve for the UK's customs authority "HMRC" matter of $0.6 million and $3.6 million, respectively.  See Note 12 for further discussion of the HMRC matter. 

On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling striking down certain tariffs previously imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA"). Further, on March 4, 2026, the Court of International Trade ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection must refund the IEEPA tariffs that were collected. Based on these court rulings affirming the Company's legal right to recover IEEPA tariffs, the Company determined that it is entitled to a tariff refund of approximately $13.2 million, which was recorded in receivables, net on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. For the thirteen weeks ended May 2, 2026, the Company recorded a $10.4 million benefit for these tariffs in cost of merchandise sold-retail on the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income and reduced the carrying value of inventory by $2.8 million on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of May 2, 2026.