Chuck E. Cheese's

Chuck E. Cheese (Formerly known as Chuck E. Cheese's, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre) is the continuation of the original Pizza Time Theatre company after its first bankruptcy on March 28, 1984, and subsequent merger with ShowBiz Pizza Place on May 31, 1985, which is still around to present day.

CEC operates family entertainment centers focused on live entertainment, birthday parties, arcade games, animatronics, and a menu centered around pizza offerings. The company has around 600 Chuck E. Cheese stores across North America and other countries, alongside over 120 Peter Piper Pizza locations in the United States.^[1]

General History

Detailed History & Events

2023

October

On the 17th CEC would announce a collaboration with Raging Waters Sacramento Water Park to have a CEC branded section of the waterpark be made to debut in the parks re-opening as California Dreamin'. The site planned to include branded water rides, slides, and splash zones. An on-site arcade, CEC branded retail shop, and Pasqually's Pizza physical location would also be in the area. All current walkarounds, including Pasqually and Bella, would be seen at the park. Additional cross-promotions with Sacramento and Northern California CEC stores would also be planned.^[2]

November

The Chuck E. Cheese and Friends Party Cookbook would receive a cover and be available for pre-order on November 3rd.
In early November the Hot Topic Chuck E. Cheese Token Pin and BoxLunch CEC Portrait Ringer T-Shirt would be spotted selling in-stores and online.
From the 5-7th, CEC would attend the Global Restaurant Leader's Conference in Miami, FL.^[3]
On the 7th Mark Kupferman would be appointed Chief Insights & Marketing Officer. Like other corporate executives at the company, he would be a former Six Flags Entertainment executive.^[4]
On the 27th Chuck E. Cheese Winter Show 2023 would go live, featuring a revamped birthday show that included new support for American Sign Language.

2024

January 2024

On the 11th, CEC would announce plans to open a location in Australia with company Royale Hospitality.
On the 16th they announced a gameshow collaboration with the company Magical Elves based around adults playing on supersized arcade machines.
North Las Vegas, NV (755 W. Craig Rd Suite 144) would open on January 19th.

February 2024

Valley Stream, NY (750 Sunrise Highway Suite 105) would open on February 5th.
Sheik Zayed City (Royal Mall), Egypt would open on February 10th.

March 2024

Arlington, TX (2216 S Fielder Rd) would close on March 17th after 44 years of service.
Fargo, ND (1202 Nodak Dr) would close on March 18th after 40 years of service.
Metairie, LA (7008 Veterans Blvd) would open on March 20th.
On the 25th, Mark Kupferman would post a survey on Reddit for customers and fans of CEC to vote on the future of the company. Thousands of submissions from fans would make it in by just the first few days.
Sioux Falls, SD (2600 Louise Ave) would close on March 30th after 22 years of service.
Monroeville, PA (3800 William Penn Hwy) would close on March 30th after 31 years of service.
Joplin, MO (101 N Range Line Rd) would close on March 30th after 20 years of service.

April 2024

Bridgewater, NJ (600 Promenade Blvd) would close on April 7th after 24 years of service.
Hagerstown, MD (17618 Valley Mall Blvd) would close on April 7th after 18 years of service.
Davenport, IA (903 E Kimberly Rd) would close on April 7th after 43 years of service.
On the 12th, CEC employees would receive an exclusive discount for CEC shirts sold on 80sTees.
Some time in early April, Florida locations would be instructed to remove all napkin holders from tables, presumably to cut costs. Napkins would still be available in other parts of the store. This would then be rolled out to more locations during the month.
In early April low volume stores would be told to reduce their hours of operation and to cut their salad bar indefinitely.^[5]^[6]
On the 15th, CEC would announce a partnership with the American Society for Deaf Children to provide a more inclusive experience for deaf guests. This would include more American Sign Language support media, staff training, fundraisers, and various helpful programs for deaf kids.^[7]
On the 18th CEC would post a survey on its website for a new redesign of the Ticket Blaster.
The annual Summer of Fun event would begin on April 29th. From then through September 2nd, CEC employees would be allowed to wear any Summer of Fun T-shirts or appropriate generic Hawaiian shirts at work. The new Strawberry Lemonade drink would be added permanently to the lineup. The first new food item of 2024 would be included, the limited-time Summer of Fun item of Strawberry Lemonade Cotton Candy.

May 2024

On the 5th Tallahassee, FL (2810 Sharer Rd), one of the last stores holding a Concept Unification Stage, would receive the CEC 2018 2.0 Remodel replacing the animatronics. Only 3 more stages would remain after this.
On the 11th CEC would announce the CEC 2018 2.0 Remodel Program would be wrapping up by the end of 2024. Only one other store with animatronics would be kept other than Northridge, CA (8425 Reseda Blvd), that being Nanuet, NY (250 West Route 59)- a Studio C Beta store with a Chuck E. Cheese 16m (Animatronic).^[8] Employees being interviewed for the announcement were told they were prohibited from mentioning anything positive about the animatronics to prevent bad press about their removal.^[9] In the same article CEC would also mention the stamps used to mark visitors for safety would instead soon be replaced with pictures taken of the family as they entered the establishment.
On the 12th, Mark Kupferman would answer a few questions about the prior announcement. He would confirm Nanuet, NY (250 West Route 59) would be a "hybrid store" like Northridge, CA (8425 Reseda Blvd), not any of the themed stores from the previous month's survey. On a question on if the Nanuet Studio C Beta bot would be worked on to finally be compatible with Navori System shows, Mark would sidestep the answer to instead say that CEC had "something cool planned" for the store. He would finally state that Nanuet being chosen does not have any affect on what future stores may also be chosen.^[10] Kupferman would also later clarify that Nanuet was chosen after the survey results were submitted. He would then go on to express that Corporate is listening to the fans, however "other considerations" are involved.^[11]
On the 13th Altoona, PA (3415 Pleasant Valley Blvd), one of the last stores holding a Concept Unification Stage, would receive the CEC 2018 2.0 Remodel replacing the animatronics. Only 2 more stages would remain after this.
On the 18th, additional clarification from Mark Kupferman would state that the "something cool planned" for Nanuet was not related to any programming of the Studio C Beta stage.^[12]
On the 23rd, David McKillips would announce that Mark Kupferman was visiting the Charlotte, NC (7701 Pineville-Matthews Rd) location to make final decisions on their next remodel, implying it may get the same hybrid-store treatment as Northridge and Nanuet. This would be one of the highest voted shows in the 2024 CEC Future Planning Survey.^[13]
On the 24th, CEC would announce that it would be saving three more animatronic locations, being Charlotte, NC (7701 Pineville-Matthews Rd) with a Concept Unification Stage, Hicksville, NY (Delco Plaza 11-15 Hanover Place) with a 1-Stage, and Springfield, IL (2369 McArthur Ave) with a Concept Unification 1-Stage.^[14] Mark Kupferman would later remark that this was the last stages the company would be keeping the animatronics at- from the highest voted locations in the 2024 CEC Future Planning Survey.^[15] The CEC Pop-Up Shop for employees would also open, featuring four new items. The shop would be planned to run until June 9th.

June 2024

On the 1st, Mark Kupferman would tease the upcoming Ninja Run concept to be coming to a few U.S. stores.^[16]
On the 11th, CEC would make a post to its stores confirming that the Nanuet, NY (250 West Route 59) location would be a "100% retro store", which would include "retro nights". The retro nights wouldn't be explained, but said they would focus around the early 2000's era of CEC.^[17]^[18]
On the 12th, CEC would announce the Ninja Run, being a test addon to the Trampoline Zone. The announced test store would be Grand Prairie, TX (2760 W I-20), but the Medford, OR (293 E Barnett Rd), Buffalo, NY (2638 Delaware Ave) and an unnamed Colorado location would also be rumored to receive it.^[19]^[20]
On the 16th, the first Ninja Run would be confirmed to open at the Grand Prairie, TX (2760 W I-20) store.^[21]
On the 18th, a Pizzacam animatronic was sent to Charlotte, NC (7701 Pineville-Matthews Rd) from the Showbiz Pizza Time Distribution Center (Topeka, KS) for installation. This animatronic was previously from the Laurel, MD (936 Fairlawn Ave) store and had been sitting in the warehouse for 2 years and 10 days.^[22]
On June 26th, Blank Tag Co. would produce a set of CEC stickers featuring Avenger era artwork with new colors and shading.^[23]
On June 28th, CEC would announce internally that the Hicksville, NY (Delco Plaza 11-15 Hanover Place) CEC Legacy Location would reopen on July 19th.^[24]

References

[1] ttps://www.chuckecheese.com/investor-relations/

[2] ttps://www.pizzamarketplace.com/news/chuck-e-cheese-inks-deal-with-california-water-park/

[3] ttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/chuck-e-cheese-franchising_grlc2023-chuckecheese-restaurantindustry-activity-7118218817616453634-0vhk?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

[4] ttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cec-entertainment-appoints-mark-kupferman-as-new-chief-insights--marketing-officer-for-chuck-e-cheese-brand-301977544.html

[5] File:Lowvolumesignageimage.png

[6] File:Riptothesaladbarsmh.png

[7] ttps://www.chuckecheese.com/blogs/inclusive-fun-chuck-e-cheese-x-asdc/

[8] ttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/11/business/chuck-e-cheese-animatronic-band.html

[9] File:Interviewlogmay11.png

[10] ttps://youtu.be/hkUMv4EqH6E?si=rmH5jkbpdO-IJjSE

[11] ttps://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17Jzs0lmEr0ZciI47xb3Zk_Rmyu9YXjoXDR4PiMocdjQ/edit#slide=id.p

[12] ttps://youtu.be/gWzic7feqv0

[13] ttps://www.instagram.com/dmckill/p/C7UPaoNxuLp/

[14] ttps://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/business/chuck-e-cheese-band-animatronic.html

[15] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/chuckecheese/comments/1czku6q/comment/l5h9zoa/

[16] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/chuckecheese/comments/1d5sqoi/comment/l6oa433/

[17] File:The newsiest moment 1.png

[18] File:The newsiest moment 2.png

[19] File:Ninjarunmoment1.png

[20] ttps://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkxrm1JllGnzx166xa9OX4QnFkkd3TJ1wAa

[21] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/chuckecheese/comments/1dhdxvx/the_new_ninja_run_at_grand_prairie_via_david/

[22] File:Pizzacamatpinervillen.png

[23] ttps://www.instagram.com/blanktagco/reel/C8sSavnSFaf/

[24] File:Hicksvilleifitwasactuallyarealplace.png

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