Cheese even launched, Bushnell sold Atari, including the Chuck E. Cheese tokens, that's where people are spending 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: Those games accounted for 40% to 50% of Chuck E. Gustavo Schwed: Restaurants tend to be low-margin businesses, and those games are very profitable. People would stay, popping in quarter after quarter into those 75 arcade games. They could lure people in with a few free tokens with each meal. And the 20 minute window waiting for pizza was a gold mine for the arcade. Cheese's could fit over 400 guests, way more than any other pizzerias. The first restaurant opened up in 1977 in San Jose, California.Īnd the concept blew up. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater was born, with the rat mascot front and center. Kate: But pretty quickly it became clear that kids are the ones who actually enjoy being around animatronic animals. ![]() It was kind of like an adult night out.Ĭhuck E. He smoked a cigar, he had a Jersey accent. Cheese was originally almost more geared towards adults. So they agreed on calling the mascot Chuck. First he thought of changing the restaurant's name to Rick Rat's Pizza, but his team convinced him that having rat in the restaurant's name wasn't the best idea. It turned out to be a rat, and Bushnell decided to run with it. So he ordered what he thought was a coyote costume for his lead animatronic. Narrator: Originally, Bushnell planned to name the restaurant Coyote Pizza. But clearly it has worked over the years. And I think that I can bring animatronics into the world of pizza.' Which is kind of a crazy idea. ![]() Kate: He was not someone who was coming from this from a pizza angle. So while customers waited for their pies, they could play arcade games. He once told Fast Company, "I wanted to add a dimension of fun "to the act of having a meal." So he put video games into a restaurant, and he served pizza. He felt there was something lacking in restaurants. Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of the video game company, Atari, came up with the idea for Chuck E. It had about 15,000 employees and over 600 locations across the globe.īut with nearly a billion dollars in debt and a 21% drop in sales in the first quarter of 2020, Chuck E. ![]() Narrator: Through the decades it became a behemoth of a brand. Kate: Kind of like living your seven-year-old dream to just roll around in a ball pit and play some arcade games. Narrator: It was a huge success from the start. Narrator: With its infamous pizza, iconic games, and this guy. Kid: When my mom asked me where to go for my birthday, I said, 'Chuck E. Cheese was once the go-to spot for birthday parties, marketing itself as a place where a kid could be a kid. Cheese ♪ ♪ When you're hungry for fun ♪ ♪ It's Chuck E. It often indicates a user profile.įollowing is a transcription of the video. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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