Build-A-Bear’s ‘Pay Your Age’ sale creates unbearable lines

Chapel Hills Mall in Colorado Springs was flooded with an estimated 10,000 people following Build-A-Bear Workshop’s first “Pay your Age” deal Thursday.

The bargain was too good to pass up for many parents who braved the lines, which snaked throughout the mall and out the door.

The store opened their doors to the public at 10 a.m. but families were lined up hours before that. Some were there as early as 1 a.m.

“You have to prepare yourself to come in and do it regardless of money. So to come in and do it for $5? Sure I’ll put in the effort. Why not,” said Valerie Franks, a mother of one.

But the experience and chaos proved too difficult for some, including Rianan Barnhart.

“It was fine until about 8:30 this morning and then everything went haywire,” she said.

Other parents describing the day as ‘mad chaos’. Even employees say Thursday’s job wasn’t easy.

“I saw the line and I was like, ‘Do I really need a job today?'” said Morgan Harper.

Despite the mayhem, thousands of kids went home with a new stuffed animal and smile.