Report: Build-a-Bear Exploring Options

St. Louis, Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. has hired Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to consider strategic options, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The report said that takeover talk intensified recently when the retailer canceled an investment-conference appearance, sparking a flurry of options activity. Some hedge-fund managers, investors and analysts expect a private-equity bidder, others a rival retailer, the report said.