Crowds Cause Chaos At Build-A-Bear Stores, Including Indiana's

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — 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, including its Indianapolis location at Castleton Square Mall, 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.

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.

"We have closed lines in our U.S. stores. We understand some of our Guests are disappointed and we will reach out directly as soon as possible," the store said in a release.

Build-A-Bear Workshop has more than 400 stores worldwide. In addition to its Indianapolis location, Indiana's spots include Evansville, Merrillville, Greenwood and Mishawaka.

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 @jediofdisney tweeted, "My build-a-bear tweets were all fun and games until the castleton mall got so busy because of them that I now have to come in 7 hours early."

In another state, 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.

Another user complained her children were upset when they were turned away.

"This is great that parents get their kids excited to go to your store and yet an hour before they open you cancel it?Figure out a different way to organize the event if you can't even open the store. I have 3 upset kids and a ruined day," tweeted user @danielle_lemons.

Patch reporter Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this article.

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