Chuck E. Cheese

American pizza restaurant chain

Chuck E. Cheese is a franchise of arcades and restaurants. Their restaurants have small rides, pizza (a central focus), and arcade and skill games. It was previously called Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (1977–1991).

Chuck E. Cheese
CEC Entertainment
Formerly
  • Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (1977–1990)
  • ShowBiz Pizza (1987–1989)
  • Chuck E. Cheese's (1989–1993)
  • Chuck E. Cheese's (1994–2019)
Company typeSubsidiary
NASDAQ: CHKY (1981–1984)
Industry
FoundedMay 17, 1977; 47 years ago (1977-05-17)
San Jose, California, U.S.
FounderNolan Bushnell
Headquarters,
U.S.
Number of locations
568
Area served
North American, South America, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia
Key people
  • Gene Landrum (original president and COO)
  • David McKillips (president and CEO)
ProductsPizza
Chicken wings
"Cheesy bread"
BrandsPasqually's Pizza & Wings[1]LankyBox Kitchen
ServicesArcade games
Birthday parties
Kiddie rides
OwnerApollo Global Management (2014–2020)
Monarch Alternative Capital (2020–present)
Parent
  • Atari, Inc. (1977–1978)
  • Pizza Time Theatre, Inc. (1978–1985)
  • ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. (1985–1998)
  • CEC Entertainment, Inc. (1998–2020)
  • CEC Entertainment, LLC (2020–present)
SubsidiariesPeter Piper Pizza
Websitechuckecheese.com Edit this at Wikidata

In most of their stores, they operate animatronic robot characters that sing songs and play instruments.

Created in 1977 in San Jose, California, by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, it started out as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. In 1984, CEC got bought out by then-competitor ShowBiz Pizza Place from Topeka, Kansas, and changed their corporate name to "ShowBiz Pizza Time.". In 1989, Brock Hotel Management (then owners of SPT) sold its "Monterrey's Tex-Mex Cafe" brand to them and spun off SPT into a separate company. In 1991, all ShowBiz and Pizza Time stores were rebranded as "Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza," and in 1998, SPT changed its corporate name to "CEC Entertainment.". In 1999, CEC bought out their primary competitor, Discovery Zone, and in 2014, they bought the "Peter Piper's Pizza" chain. In 2013, CEC was bought by Apollo Global Management as it was put up for sale.

CEC's headquarters are in Irving, Texas, and they have 590 CEC store locations worldwide.

In September 2020, it was announced that Chuck E. Cheese is developing a live-action movie and an animated television series.[2]

References

change
  1. Cite error: The named reference fw was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  2. "Chuck E. Cheese is Getting His Own Movie and TV Show". 25 September 2020.