Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company CEC Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020.
The family entertainment chain has been plotting a comeback since exiting bankruptcy and spending more than $300 million to entertain the newest generation.
Sustaining the growth won't be easy. Like all restaurants, the chain has to win over consumers who are eating out less often as costs rise. Chuck E. Cheese also has to draw the attention of children and parents in a fragmented media market. Those changes came from McKillips, a former Six Flags executive. He joined the company in January 2020, just months before lockdowns would temporarily shutter all of its locations. By April 2021, the company raised $650 million in bonds, which it's been spending on its restaurants.
The chain also redid its menu, upgrading to scratch-made pizzas. Kidz Bop became an official music partner. Other kid-friendly brands, like Paw Patrol, Marvel and Nickelodeon, became partners for its games."We found one glaring opportunity for us … active play," McKillips said. He added that growth in the family entertainment category is largely coming from activity-based businesses, like trampoline parks and rock-climbing walls.
"You come in around three years old, you leave around eight or nine and you don't come back for 15 years. We had to go and speak to a whole new generation of kids, and we were off-air during Covid. We had to build all that," McKillips said. Over the summer, Chuck E. Cheese launched a two-month tiered subscription program that offered unlimited visits and discounts on food, drinks and games. The membership encouraged families to visit more often than the typical two or three annual visits. The subscription starts at $7.99 a month, with additional tiers at $11.99 and $29.99 that promise steeper discounts and more games played.
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