Chuck E. Cheese
| |
| Chuck E. Cheese | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 17, 1977 (Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theatre) 1978 (Pizza-Time Theatre) December 1979 (ShowBiz Pizza Place) 1987 (ShowBiz Pizza) 1987 (Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza) March 1994 (Chuck E. Cheese’s) 1998 (CEC Entertainment, Inc.) 2019 (Chuck E. Cheese) 2020 (CEC Entertainment, LLC) |
| Headquarters | Irving, Texas, USA |
| Key people | Nolan Bushnell, founder |
| Industry | Restaurant arcades |
| Products | Restaurant arcades |
| Number of people | Not disclosed |
| Website | https://www.chuckecheese.com/ |
Chuck E. Cheese, trading as CEC Entertainment, is an American company that operates a chain of restaurant arcades.
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theatre
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theatre was founded on May 17, 1977 by Nolan Bushnell through another company he founded, Atari.
Name
Influenced by the Country Bear Jamboree and Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland, Nolan Bushnell wanted to have an animatronic show set up for the restaurants.
The name was tentatively Coyote Pizza, but the coyote character that was delivered was a rat, so Bushnell suggested Rick Rat's Pizza instead. The marketing team didn't like the name, so Chuck E. Cheese was chosen instead, and the rat character became the company's mascot.
Pizza-Time Theatre
In 1978, Nolan Bushnell acquired Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theatre for $500,000 USD and founded Pizza-Time Theatre, Inc.
ShowBiz Pizza Place
In 1979, Robert L. Brock formed an agreement with Pizza-Time Theatre to open as many as two-hundred eighty Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theatre franchise locations across sixteen states.
Shortly after Brock signed the agreement he discovered that animatronics that were more sophisticated than Pizza-Time Theatre's were available at the time from Creative Engineering. Despite being assured by Bushnell at signing that the animatronics would continue to evolve, Brock voided the agreement.
Brock formed a partnership with Creative Engineering, forming ShowBiz Pizza Place in Irving, Texas in December 1979. The Brock Hotel Corporation owned eighty percent of the company, and Creative Engineering owned the remaining twenty.
ShowBiz Pizza Time
In 1984, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza declared bankruptcy. Its assets were acquired by Brock Hotel Corporation in May 1985. ShowBiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza were merged into ShowBiz Pizza Time. Both restaurant chains continued to operate independently after the merger.
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theatre locations were simplified as simply Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza locations in 1987.
ShowBiz Pizza Time goes public on the stock exchange
In 1989, ShowBiz Pizza Time became a public company after it entered the New York stock exchange. In 1990, the company severed ties with Creative Engineering.
Chuck E. Cheese's
In March 1994, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza franchises were shortened into Chuck E. Cheese's locations. All remaining ShowBiz Pizza Place locations were rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese's franchises.
CEC Entertainment, Inc.
ShowBiz Pizza Time was renamed CEC Entertainment, Inc. in 1998 to reflect its focus and moved its stock to the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CEC.
Chuck E. Cheese
The franchise locations were shortened from Chuck E. Cheese's to Chuck E. Cheese in 2019
CEC Entertainment, LLC
CEC Entertainment, Inc. was renamed CEC Entertainment, LLC in 2020.