Glad to see that we can now view the rates for our reviews. Maybe next time Ciao should test the new...
Glad to see that we can now view the rates for our reviews. Maybe next time Ciao should test the new system before installing it?
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You’ll never guess where I went at the weekend – only the Bear Factory at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre that’s where! I did manage not to buy anything, as I do have a houseful of bears and they were quite expensive, but I just had to tell you about them!
This is an amazing shop where you get your very own bear made and dressed just for you.
There are eight stages to this procedure so here we go……
Stage one – Choose your furry friend. ---------------------------------------------- Although the shop is called the bear factory, all the inhabitants are not necessarily bears. You can choose from a range of bears in different colours including a polar bear, or you can choose a cat, dog, tiger, pig, rabbit or monkey. These cost £14.99 each and are just shells – what I mean to say is they are unstuffed (I just knew the spell check wouldn’t like that!).
Stage two – Choose him a voice. ---------------------------------------- There is a selection of pre recorded voices for your new friends, stocked in a chest of numbered and labelled drawers. There are numbered buttons on a shelf at the front of the chest, so if you want to hear what the voice in drawer number one, labelled ‘growl’ sounds like press button number one and so on. The choices at this
stage include growl, bark, meow, tiger roar, pig snort, Brahms Lullaby, I Love You, Happy Birthday and more. These cost a further £1.99 each.
There are also booths where you can record your own voice for the bear. There are full instructions on how to make your recording, although I don’t know whether they are more expensive than the pre-recorded ones or not – sorry!
Stage three – They stuff him for you. --------------------------------------------- We didn’t actually see any bears being stuffed while we were in the shop today but we saw the stuffing machine! There was a tube leading into the top and we could see fluffy white stuffing going along the tube and falling into the big container ready to be squeezed out into an unsuspecting bear! That must make his eyes water!
Stage four – They sew him for you. ------------------------------------------- At the top of the store there are two ladies who have the job of stuffing the bears, inserting their voices and then sewing them up. Now there’s a chat up line in a night-club when someone asks what you do for a living! The answer ‘I’m a bear stuffer and sewer up’ must be quite a conversation stopper!
Stage five – They fluff him for you. ------------------------------------------- Now if the stuffing bit brought the tears to his little teddy eyes the fluffing bit will bring a big smile to his face! His fur is fluffed up with a warm blast from a hair dryer (ooer missus!) and there he is – your new friend.
Stage six – You dress him. -------------------------------- Now this is the stage that I am not so sure about, should bears stay ‘as nature intended’? There are various outfits to choose from including both satin and striped pyjamas, a graduation cap and gown, a golf outfit, a bride and groom, superman (or should that be superted?), an Aran jumper and a pink fairy outfit to name but a few. These range from £6.99 up to £14.99. There are also accessories for your friend such as spectacles (£3), a deckchair (12.99), sandals (£5.99) and a baseball cap (£4.99) and so the price of your new friend is increasing with every stage…..
Stage seven – You name him. ------------------------------------ If you’re going to have a new friend you have to give him a suitable name don’t you?
Stage eight – You take him home. ----------------------------------------- Your new friend is put in a carrying box similar to a pet carrier except that his head sticks out of the side so that he can see what’s going on and he doesn’t suffocate in the box.
So there you have it – your own customised furry friend. Only please don’t dress him in a pink fairy Outfit – he has his street cred to consider you know.
When I first entered the shop and saw the price of £14.99 above the baskets of empty (?) bears I thought that was the total price. When you add the whole thing up, complete with an outfit and maybe accessories, you’re looking at more like £30 to £40 which I think is rather expensive, even though they are custom made and absolutely gorgeous!
There is also a website at www.bearfactory.co.uk giving information about the various styles, prices and location of the stores. The eight stages of making a bear are documented here too, complete with some very good bear caricatures.
If you can bear it (sorry I had to put that in somewhere didn’t I?) you can have a Bear Party.
A Standard Party would be held in a ‘unique venue’ (whatever that means) with activities, stories, presents, a guided tour of the factory and a chance to meet Ted the Tailor. Each child will get to make their own bear and will also receive a goodie bag. This will cost £25 per child. The Premier Party is exactly the same except that each child also gets to choose an outfit for their new bear and the cost is £35 per child.
I enjoyed looking round the store and maybe the temptation will get too much one day and I’ll just have to have a bear – but for now I think they’re just a bit too expensive for me.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
IT is a very sweet and well written review, which actually helped me with a decision of making my own teddy to cuddle when I go to sleep, because I'm too used to hug one - but mine stayed in Brasil!!
This reviews gives details of all the procedures in the shop, prices, ideas, so I consider it really exceptional as it is! And the person who wrote seems to be really intelligent and nice, with funny comments!
ellie_lezcano 01.04.2003 23:13
I bought one of these, it was great! I was treated like a kid as they made me shout apple and banana when I was stuffing it!
Advantages: Novel, great ranges of clothing & bears, Genuinely sweet Disadvantages: Expensive, Stores are few and far between, Girl bears look like Trannies!!!
Fishbulb 02.06.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Bear Factory (Shop)
Advantages: Undercover shopping, Modern, Mix of Designer Shops and High-Street Fashion. Disadvantages: Can Get Very Crowded on Weekends, You Have to Walk a Long Way Round to Go Up or Down to Next Level, Can get Quite Hot in Shops.
HannahBoo 21.02.2006 (21.02.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of West Quay - Southampton
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (98%):
