Pay-Your-Age Build-A-Bear Promotion In Deptford Shut Down

DEPTFORD, NJ — If you haven’t already visited the Build-a-Bear at the Deptford Mall to “pay your age,” it’s too late.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, inundated with hours-long lines stretching out of the store, is no longer accepting additional guests at its U.S. stores Thursday due to what it called "crowd and safety concerns." The toy company was offering quite the deal: Any "Make-Your-Own" furry friend available in the store could be bought for the price of a kid's age, as long as the child was in the store.

A call to the Deptford store early Thursday afternoon was met with a busy signal. Stores nationwide were overwhelmed, and the decision to end the promotion early drew anger locally. The store posted an announcement about the early end on Facebook Thursday.

"**Urgent Alert: Lines Closed for Pay Your Age Day Event Per local authorities, we cannot accept additional Guests at our locations due to crowds and safety concerns," the alert reads. "We have closed lines in our U.S. and Canada stores. We understand some Guests are disappointed and we will reach out directly as soon as possible."

“Eighty percent of children who came to get a bear today were sent to the back of a ridiculous line and told it’s first come first serve(which is fair) but to wait and possibly not get a bear and for hours,” one South Jersey resident posted on Facebook. “Extremely disappointed that you were not prepared for the volume of people expected to come.”

The promotion was part of a nationwide celebration of the company's launch of the Build-A-Bear "Count Your Candles" birthday experience. But the promotion seemingly worked too well. Photos posted on social media showed lines stretching out the door at stores across the country. Some said they had been waiting in lines for hours, prompting Build-A-Bear to take action.

Social media users complained that the so-called "Pay your age" promotion was poorly executed. Some said that if it's held again in the future, changes would have to be made, including possibly implementing a lottery system, designating pickup times or passing out numbers.

Twitter user @aussieroo7 tweeted there were "hundreds of kids lined up all through the second floor of the mall" at his build a bear location. "I've never seen so many kids," he tweeted.

The below video was taken at the Deptford Mall Build-a-Bear Thursday.

Photo credit: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Build-a-Bear