Name: The Rise And Fall Of Chuck E. Cheese
Uploaded: 2021-05-25T05:36:16.000Z
Duration: 11 min 35 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Narrator: Chuck E. Cheese was once the go-to spot

for birthday parties, marketing itself as a place

Kid: When my mom asked me where to go for my birthday,

I said, 'Chuck E. Cheese's!' (kids cheering)

Narrator: With its infamous pizza, iconic games,

Narrator: It was a huge success from the start.

Kate: Kind of like living your seven-year-old dream

Narrator: Through the decades it became a behemoth

In 2019 Chuck E. Cheese saw $913 million in revenue.

but with nearly a billion dollars in debt

and a 21% drop in sales in the first quarter of 2020,

Chuck E. Cheese declared bankruptcy in June.

the co-founder of the video game company, Atari,

came up with the idea for Chuck E. Cheese.

He felt there was something lacking in restaurants.

So while customers waited for their pies,

Kate: He was not someone who was coming from this

And I think that I can bring animatronics

into the world of pizza.' Which is kind of a crazy idea.

But clearly it has worked over the years.

So he ordered what he thought was a coyote costume

First he thought of changing the restaurant's name

but his team convinced him that having rat

in the restaurant's name wasn't the best idea.

So they agreed on calling the mascot Chuck.

Kate: Chuck E. Cheese was originally almost

He smoked a cigar, he had a Jersey accent.

that kids are the ones who actually enjoy

Narrator: And thus, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater

was born, with the rat mascot front and center.

Chuck E. Cheese's could fit over 400 guests,

And the 20 minute window waiting for pizza

They could lure people in with a few free tokens

People would stay, popping in quarter after quarter

Narrator: Those games accounted for 40% to 50%

that's where people are spending most of their money,

to get the tokens, to play the arcade games,

to kind of have this party experience, not so much on pizza.

Narrator: Now before Chuck E. Cheese even launched,

Bushnell sold Atari, including the Chuck E. Cheese concept,

So in '78, Bushnell bought back Chuck E. Cheese

and he quickly expanded into new locations.

Narrator: Chuck E. Cheese's success caught the attention

and he signed on to franchise more than 200 locations.

But that same year, Brock ended up canceling the deal,

and launching a family restaurant chain of his own.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

The Rise And Fall Of Chuck E. Cheese

pandemic

resilience

iconic

concept