After Chaos, Build-A-Bear Closes Lines At Willow Grove Mall

WILLOW GROVE, PA — The "pay your age" event at the Willow Grove Mall's Build-A-Bear has proven to be a little bit too popular, as it has elsewhere around the nation.

The company closed lines down for the event on late Thursday morning at all of its stores around the country, citing both crowd issues and "safety concerns."

"Per local authorities, we cannot accept additional Guests at our U.S. Build-A-Bear Workshop locations due to crowd and safety concerns," the company said.

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.

The promotion was part of a nationwide celebration of the company's launch of the Build-A-Bear "Count Your Candles" birthday experience.

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.

Build-A-Bear Workshop has more than 400 stores worldwide.

With additional reporting from Patch correspondents Dan Hampton and Feroze Dhanoa

Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Build-a-Bear