St. Louis, MO (2805 Target Dr)

St. Louis, MO (2805 Target Dr) was a Chuck E. Cheese’s location that opened on September 30, 1981 as a ShowBiz Pizza Place with a Classic Stage, and closed as a Chuck E. Cheese’s with a Concept Unification Stage at an unknown date in Spring 2006.^[1]

History

The Target Drive ShowBiz Pizza Place opened its doors on September 30, 1981, neighboring the Children’s Palace and Target stores, which is where the street gained its name from.^[11] Unfortunately, there is little to no documentation of this location during this time. What we do know is that the store featured The Show Room, Sports Room and a Kiddie Area, with either one or both of them being removed and converted later on. The amount of games they had to offer at the time of their opening was 60 total. Their exterior at this time looked like the typical ShowBiz Pizza Place locations of the era. One interesting thing to note, however, is that the logo that was installed on the front overhang was a singular sign instead of being split into three pieces of signage, including each word in the logo respectively^[12].

At some point presumably after the early 80’s, Beach Bear’s blonde hair would be removed, as its shown to be gone by a photo that was most likely taken in the late 80’s.^[12]

The first incident that we know of would occur at some point in 1984, where a man stole money from several businesses. The ShowBiz Pizza Place on 2805 Target Drive was one of them, where he stole $61 dollars. The Police would later catch and arrest him following the theft.^[6]

In the late 80’s, they would presumably receive the SPT 1980's Remodel Program , which resulted in the entire building being repainted white and dark green along with checkers being added around the building, both inside and presumably outside. The stuff that would be removed included older artwork, and the old ShowBiz Pizza Place signage on the exterior being removed and replaced with the new logo. As indicated by a photograph of Stage Left from the late 80’s, they had also received the ShowBiz Pizza Campground^[12], but it’s unknown if it was added before or after the remodel, as red seats can be seen by the tables in one of the other images from the same time period.

1990’s

Most likely by the very early 90’s, the location would receive a Pizza Time Theatre Chuck E. Cheese walkaround costume, specifically the red vest variant.^[12]

At some point in 1991, the location would undergo Concept Unification, which involved the Rock Afire Explosion being retrofitted into the Concept Unification Stage. Strangely, while the stage was still in the process of being installed, the buildings on Center Stage would be placed in the incorrect positions.^[7] The ShowBiz-era artwork with the Rock Afire Explosion would be removed and replaced with newer decor, and the Sports Room was removed as well. On the exterior, the ShowBiz Pizza signage was replaced with the Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza signage, presumably the three-dimensional letter variant. One interesting thing to note, however, is that the Billy Bob Merry Go Round would be kept following the remodel with little to no modifications.^[3]

Between 1992 and 1993, the location would receive an early version of the SPT 1990's Remodel Program. This involved the installation of the Sky Crawl, which would later be renamed to Skytubes, the addition of etched glass in the Show Room walls, the checkers being painted over on the interior and most likely the exterior, red awnings and unique fixtures that didn’t make it into the final version of the remodel, such as a couple sports props.^[12] The exterior would receive a major overhaul as well. Which would be repainted white, have red awnings installed above the front entrance and windows, and the installation of new signage to go along with the Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza signage. Said signage was also unique, as they had an alternate version of the Chuck E. logo. Instead of his Coach design, the artwork used for the Show Room signage with Chuck wearing his Pizza Time Theatre attire was used. A few minor changes were also done to the 3-Stage, such as the organ front on Munch’s organ most likely being replaced around this time.^[4] This would be the last remodel that the location would ever receive.

In 1994, another incident would occur. This time, the amount of cash that would be stolen was $81 dollars. The man that was allegedly behind the theft would later be caught and arrested.

As shown in footage from February 9, 1997, the Chuck E. animatronic still had his Tux attire and Concept Unification mask by this point. They had most likely just received the Phase 2 (1997) upgrade, as Rubble Bubble is shown^[13].

At an unknown point after February 9, 1997, Munch Jr would be removed from the 3-Stage. The whereabouts of the animatronic is currently unknown.^{[13] [4]}

2000’s

This was presumably the time period that the show would start to fall into disrepair. As shown in footage from 2000^[12], Pizzacam’s nose and one of Helen’s pigtails would fall off. As for movements, Munch’s mouth and one of his arms would go out to name a few. Its unknown what Chuck looked like at this time, since the only piece of footage thats available was recorded during a Chuck E. Live performance, where the curtains on Stage Right were closed. However, it can be presumed that his Tux attire had been replaced with his Cool attire at this point. The walkaround they had during this time period was quite similar to the regular Cool Chuck one, though the head was missing its tooth and seemingly its eyelashes as well. The head also had a Tuxedo bowtie attached to it, but with the red cap instead of the derby. The rest of the attire included the blue Cool Chuck shirt, jeans instead of the usual khaki shorts, and red shoes.^[4]

The older style entrance doors would also most likely be removed and replaced with the typical Chuck E. Cheese’s entrance doors somewhere around this time frame as well.

On March 13, 2006, possibly Target Drive along with all of the other Chuck E. Cheese’s locations would participate in a mid-March coupon drop. They would presumably once again participate in a similar coupon promotion on April 2 that same year. These would most likely be the final times that the location would ever be shown to still be open, as they would close shortly after these events took place.^[1]

Closure

At an unknown point in Spring 2006, presumably at some point in May^[14], Target Drive would close their doors for good. The store would be cleaned out, along with all of the animatronics and stage props being removed. On the exterior, not only would the signage and awnings be removed, but the facade extension that was added for the Chuck E. logo would be taken down as well. The animatronics would either be sent to another location for spare parts, sent to the distribution center or destroyed.

On May 27, 2006, the building would be sold for $450,000 dollars^[14].

Months after closure, the building would be turned into a shoe store named 12-12^[12], with the earliest known mention of it being on a property record card from November 3, 2006^[16]. Said store would modify the Chuck E. Cheese’s roadsign, but the sign pole would be left untouched. The same can be said for the interior, which was still recognizable as a Chuck E. Cheese’s, albeit repainted^[12]. Judging by Google Earth satellite imagery and said card, the business seems to have operated at least from late 2006 to August 12 the following year.^[15] By September 2, 2011, the building would be converted to something else once more with the old Chuck E. Cheese’s doors being repainted purple. This store would last until at least 2013, when it was taken over by Deja Vu Cafe. This business would last for quite a while, as it wouldn’t close until 2020 or 2021.^[2] It would remain vacant for a little while before becoming Phoenix Restaurant & Bar, this would be the most major change to the building at the time since its Chuck E. Cheese’s and ShowBiz Pizza Place days, as the building would be entirely repainted to black and red. A proper sign frame was installed on the facade as well.^[9] Later on, the building would finally become Renee’s Restaurant & Bar, with the building and doors being repainted black and blue.^[2]

Despite all of these changes, there are still quite a few remnants of Chuck E. Cheese’s left behind. The aforementioned roadsign and entrance doors are two of them, but the others include a few of the kitchen doors. One of which is at the former prize counter, which is now the main bar area, the moulding around the walls, and most notably the former 3-Stage, which has been converted into a stage for people to perform on.^[8] As of 2025, the former location remains like this.

Animatronics

Attractions