St. Louis, MO (2805 Target Dr)

St. Louis, MO (2805 Target Dr) (Store #741) 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 that would be removed and converted later on. The exact games that were present in the store at this time is unknown, but we do know that they had the Billy Bob Merry Go Round.^[3]

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 1989, 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. The Sports Room was probably removed around this time if they ever received this remodel. Its unknown if they ever received the ShowBiz Pizza Campground as well.

1990’s

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, while the ShowBiz Pizza signage on the exterior was replaced with the Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza signage. 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]

At an unknown point after August 13, 1991, Munch Jr would be removed from the 3-Stage. The whereabouts of the animatronic is currently unknown.^{[3] [4]}

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.

In the late 90’s, the location would begin their Phase 2 (1997) remodel. This involved the installation of the Skytubes, the removal and replacement of the original Concept Unification artwork, the checkers around the store being painted over and presumably the overhaul of the entire exterior. Which would be repainted white, have red awnings installed above the front entrance and windows, and the installation of the new Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza signage to replace the original one. Their new 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.

2000’s

This was presumably the time period that the show would start to fall into disrepair. 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 most likely 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. This would most likely be the final time that the location would ever be shown to still be open, as they would close shortly after these events took place on an unknown month and date.^[1]

Closure

At an unknown point in Spring 2006, 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.

Shortly after closure, the building would be turned into a Shoe Warehouse, which resulted in the Chuck E. Cheese’s roadsign being modified and repainted, the sign pole would be kept the same shade of green, though. This store doesn’t seem to have lasted long, as its shown to be abandoned on seemingly every Street View picture showcasing it. The building would then 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 door 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