Why is the Gender Wage Gap in America not Closing (Essay Sample)

Name
Professor
Course
Date
Maxine Clark and Build-A-Bear
Maxine Clark founded Workshop Build-A-Bear in 1997. She was a president of Payless Shoe Source Inc. until 1992. As aamp veteran in the retail industry, she already developed an ability to spot emerging selling trends that will profit and suits the desire of the American consumers. Clark was at the age of 47 when she left the company because she was not satisfied. It started when she and her 10-year-old friend Katie Burkhardt shopped a famous bean bag toy Beanie Babies. Sadly, all of the bean bag toys from different stores are sold out and the kid became very disappointed. Clark said that those toys can be easily made so she ran back to her house and get some materials and everything came out to be Workshop Build-A-Bear which became one of the most popular toy stores up until now. Her retailing experience and her lost childhood interests put the concept of creating toys for children into reality.
With more than 200 stores across the United States that time, Build-A-Bear Workshops became one of the well-known stuffed animal store where you can dress and put accessories on them. For Clark and for the company, every new owner should put a heart on every stuffed animal they choose to like how they put a heart in creating the organization. The company went public in 2000 and in 2001 they experienced a 35 percentage growth rate every year. In 2005, Workshops Build-A-Bear receive its franchise also to Denmark, Australia, France, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom and reached a $27.3 million net income and $358.9 million net retail sales while Clark was inaugurated as a Hall of Fame in the Junior Achievement National Award the same year. It was not that long when she faced one of the greatest challenges being a female business owner. She said that people are not convinced that dealing with stuffed animal cannot hold her position and success for long. But instead of giving up, she proved them wrong. In 2008, Clark became one of 25 people, who are the most influential in Retailing followed by stepping the company up to be named in so-called Fortune Best Companies to Work For. As a challenged businesswoman, the company’s founder claimed that she learned many lessons along the road. She wrote then a book under the name The Bear Necessities of Business, claiming that mistakes make you a better pers...