St. Louis — Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., an interactive entertainment retailer of customized stuffed animals, has named Chris Hurt to the position of chief operations officer, effective April 15, 2015. He joins the company from American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.
Hurt will lead the Build-A-Bear Workshop retail and operations teams to drive sales and profits, while promoting ongoing growth for the business. He will oversee all business operations, including the corporate strategy and structure for stores.
Hurt will work closely with the marketing, merchandising and store teams to ensure continued customer satisfaction and engagement levels across Build-A-Bear Workshop. He will report to Sharon Price John, chief executive officer.
“Throughout his career, Chris has been dedicated to advancing the retail experience from sales growth and store operations to exceeding guest expectations,” says John. “His joining our ranks is a positive and exciting move for our leadership team.”
Hurt is a veteran operations professional with more than 20 years of retail experience in senior leadership roles. He most recently held the position of senior vice president of North America at American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. and held the responsibility for creating and implementing a plan to grow overall revenue and contribution in over 1,000 retail stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Prior to joining American Eagle Outfitters, Hurt spent 10 years with Polo Ralph Lauren where he held many positions including senior director of stores and regional manager.
Founded in St. Louis in 1997, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. has approximately 400 stores worldwide, including company-owned stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and Mexico. For more information, visit www.buildabear.com.
SOURCE: Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.