The new stores will include a number of technology platforms to improve the traditional bear-making experience.
Guests who visit the new stores will see an interactive storefront that is enabled by Microsoft’s Kinect technology and interactive touch elements. Guests can also play games and view the latest product offerings as they enter the store.
The ‘Love Me’ station at the new stores allows guests to customise their furry friends with special personality attributes displayed as emoticons on an interactive table. Using Samsung’s SUR40 with Microsoft PixelSense technology, guests can add unique traits – like brave, silly, and smart – to their red satin heart, which is added to their stuffed animal during the Stuff Me process.
The Hear Me station at new stores will feature an assortment of quality sounds that can be added to stuffed animals. Using an interactive touch screen, guests can select and load popular hits from current music, sounds, or their own voice onto a chip to further personalise their stuffed animal.
The ‘Fluff Me’ station at new stores will feature a digital bath tub enabled by Samsung’s SUR40 with Microsoft PixelSense technology, while at the ‘Name Me’ station, guests can use a viewfinder or bear-o-scope to reveal the special attributes they added to their stuffed animal.
The retailer will open its first three stores in 2013 at Mall of Georgia in metro Atlanta on 26 April, Orland Square in metro Chicago on 3 May, and at Northshore Mall in Peabody on 10 May.
In 2012, the company opened six newly imaged stores in select markets across the US.
