The head of Build-a-Bear Workshop is apologizing after a special “pay your age” sale drew “extreme crowds” to malls and shopping centers, forcing the company to close lines during the promotion and turn away customers across the U.S, Canada and the U.K. “There was really no way for us to have estimated those crowds,” CEO Sharon Price John said Friday on the “Today” show. “We were fully stocked, fully staffed. If I could do it over though — if there was a way to extend the day to just make sure we service everyone, I would have loved to have seen everyone get a bear.” The popular kids’ toy store on Thursday offered customers the chance to pay their age for any stuffable animal. But after kids and adults flocked to their local workshops in hopes of getting a customizable animal for cheap, Build-a-Bear said local authorities asked it to shut down lines and stop accepting new customers over safety concerns.
The severe weather threat for South Florida is over, but Miami-Dade County will get some more rain before the skies clear up, the National Weather Service said Wednesday.
There are still a few lingering showers over the region, and some thunderstorms above the Atlantic, but the worst is over, said Brad Diehl, a weather service meteorologist.
Most of the shower activity for Wednesday is expected over Miami-Dade, he said. There may be an isolated thunderstorm and some gusty winds from time to time as crews clean up debris and damage from a moderate tornado that hit Broward County on Tuesday night. Florida Power & Light said 570 people in Broward and 690 people in Miami-Dade were without power.
"It's going to be pretty dreary," he said.
Diehl said the showers are ahead of a dry cold front, which will pass over South Florida Wednesday night and early Thursday.
During the cold front, temperatures in the metro areas of Miami-Dade and Broward counties were expected to get around the mid60s, while in Palm Beach County metro area it could get to 60 degrees. Thursday the temperatures are expected to be in the upper 70s to 80s, and during the night temperatures it will be near 60 or the low 60s, he said.
After that, it's a gradual warm up for the weekend, he said.
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"It will still remain a little cooler than normal," Diehl said, with temperatures near 80 or the low 80s.
For the lower Keys and Key West the worst weather is also over, said Jon Rizzo, a NWS warning coordination meteorologist.
He said there was street flooding in Key West, where several neighborhoods are impassable.
Officials have also asked drivers to drive slowly through the flooding, or just stay off the road, as the waves may flood homes too. In Key West, the city is also pumping water in places where it doesn't drain well, he said.
The Monroe County School District, the Florida Keys Community College and Monroe County courthouse offices were closed Wednesday, while the government offices closed at 10:30 a.m. The Key West bus services have been suspended.
On Thursday, the Keys were expected to reach about 80 degrees during the day and 65 to 70 during the night hours.
For more information please click on our interactive radar, severe weather alerts and weather forecasts.
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