The agreement handed Brock exclusive franchising rights for opening Pizza Time Theatres in sixteen states across the Southern and Midwestern United States, while also forming a company subdivision, "Pizza Show Biz", to develop the Pizza Time Theatres. To expand beyond California and the west coast, Bushnell began to franchise, resulting in a co-development agreement between himself and Robert Brock of Topeka Inn Management in June 1979. Its animatronics were produced fully in-house by PTT employees. By late 1979, there were seven PTT locations, all in California. Gene Landrum then resigned from Atari and was made the restaurants' president and chief operating officer. In 1978, when Atari's then-corporate parent Warner Communications refused to open additional locations, Bushnell purchased the rights to the concept and characters from Warner for $500,000. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater opened in San Jose, California, in 1977. The company adopted the rat as their mascot. His marketing team believed this name would not be appealing to customers and proposed "Chuck E. When his first animatronic show was being assembled, Bushnell learned the costume he had bought for his main character, a coyote, was actually a rat, prompting him to suggest changing the name from "Coyote Pizza" to "Rick Rat's Pizza". I chose pizza because of the wait time and the build schedule-very few components, and not too many ways to screw it up." His experience in the amusement park industry, and his fondness for Disneyland's Country Bear Jamboree, influenced his concept for Pizza Time Theatre. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre was founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, who sought to expand video-game arcades beyond adult locations like pool halls to family friendly venues. The announcement was coordinated with 47 states and 16 countries including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and India.Ī girl playing in the now-removed SkyTubes play area.Ĭhuck E. The COVID-19 pandemic put significant financial strain on the company, and CEC Entertainment filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition under Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas on June 25, 2020. states, four Canadian provinces, and 3 cities in Puerto Rico. Parent company ShowBiz Pizza Time also became CEC Entertainment in 1998.Īs of June 25, 2020, CEC Entertainment owned 611 Chuck E. which began unifying the two brands in 1990, renaming every location Chuck E. The merger formed a new parent company, ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. It was the first family restaurant to integrate food with arcade games and animated entertainment.Īfter filing for bankruptcy in 1984, the chain was acquired in 1985 by Brock Hotel Corporation, parent company of competitor ShowBiz Pizza Place.
Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. The chain's name is taken from its main character and mascot, Chuck E. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, each location features arcade games, amusement rides, and character stage shows in addition to serving pizza and other food items former mainstays included ball pits, crawl tubes, and animatronic shows. Cheese's) is an American family entertainment center and pizza restaurant chain founded in 1977 by Atari's co-founder Nolan Bushnell.
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