I am interested in starting a retail business where the customer
selects a stuffed animal and then stuffs it on site.  I would like to
know where I can buy unstuffed bears, other unstuffed animals and
stuffed animal clothing at wholesale prices preferrably from an
overseas supplier.

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Clarification of Question by dstuver-ga on 02 Aug 2002 05:31 PDT

I am interested in starting a retail business where the customer
selects a stuffed animal and then stuffs it on site.  I would like to
know where I can buy unstuffed bears, other unstuffed animals and
stuffed animal clothing at wholesale prices preferrably from an
overseas supplier. Please provide at least 6 wholesalers/manufacturers.

That's a very interesting business concept. We are also starting a
teddy bear business but are not doing what you propose. I have
provided both general links to overseas suppliers and some specific
links to companies advertising unstuffed plush bears. If you don’t
mind a suggestion, because of various costs, quality control issues,
and problems with materials which may not be considered safe by the
government, a single store would probably not be a big enough buyer to
justify actually importing directly from overseas manufacturers. The
overseas contacts listed below are highly reputable and would be a
good source if the domestic suppliers don’t meet your needs.

You don’t specify but I am making the assumption that by overseas you
mean outside the United States of America and after the U.S. sources,
therefore I have supplied the contact information for some prominent
British supply vendors who you should find easy to work with. I know
that at least some of them will sell unstuffed bears, as well as their
usual line of stuffing and plush materials. The only problem might be
if your initial order is not large enough to qualify for wholesale
treatment but some companies specify quite low minimum order
requirements.

Toy Directory is a wholesale Web site which advertises both stuffing
machines and unstuffed bears.
http://www.toydirectory.com/Teddy/

A primary source from that site is:
Teddy Bear Stuffers
P.O.Box 1349 Agoura Hills CA 91376
Fax: 818-874-1322
Email: stan1215@earthlink.net

There are a large number of suppliers and manufacturers listed on this
page:
http://www.toydirectory.com/L2_201.htm

Another prominent company on that site, D&F Corp., Monterey, CA, is a
contract manufacturer and will even produce unstuffed bears to your
specifications. An important consideration is this statement, “Our
Products meet the International Safety Laws, such as ASTM 963 and
EN71.”
http://www.dfplush.com/

A good place to begin, advertise for what you need, or obtain more
information would be The Cyberspace Doll and Teddy Bear Show at:
http://www.wwvisions.com/craftbb/cyber/bbsupply.html

The following overseas suppliers who sell into the United States and
Canada are taken from "Complete Book of Teddy-Bear Making ….", ISBN
0-7624-0349-7

CHRISTIE BEARS
92 The Green
Kings Norton
Birmingham B38 8RS, UK
Phone: 011 44 121 459 8847
Email: christiebs@aol.com 

OAKLEY FABRICS LTD.
8 May Street
Luton, Beds.
LU1 3QY, UK
Phone: 011 44 1582 734733 or 455274

TEDI BACH HUG
In care of 1 Blandford Road
Ipswich, Suffolk
IP3 8SL, UK

Search Strategy:

Google: unstuffed teddy bear wholesale
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=unstuffed+teddy+bear+wholesale

http://www.toydirectory.com/Teddy/


I hope this information provides what you need to get your business
off to a great start. If it isn’t exactly what you need please ask for
a clarification but if this is what you were looking for I hope you
will take a minute to give this answer what you feel is a fair rating.

Sorry if this comes a bit late, but you should know there is a place
that already offers this service/product.  Admittedly, it's in
Newcastle upon Tyne, in the UK and I don't know if it's part of a
chain or just a single shop.  I can't remember what it's called
either!  It's in the Eldon Square shopping centre in the centre of
Newcastle upon Tyne.  Try www.yell.com or something similar, and you
might find it.  Good luck!  Dominic Minett

There is a chain of stores that do this in the US as well.  They are
usually located in malls and are always packed with adults and
children.  It's a great concept, especially since the bulk of their
sales come not from the bears and other animals themselves, but from
the clothing and accessories to go with them.

Build-A-Bear Workshop
http://www.buildabear.com


CSIgirl

The company is called The Bear Factory and it has several shops in the
UK. It's very popular and is expanding.