Chuck E. Cheese Pizza

Nolan Bushnell, who had worked as a games division manager of an amusement park, developed the video game called Pong in 1971. The following year, Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded Atari, which was sold to Warner Communications in 1976. While working for Warner Communications, Bushnell created Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre, the first of which opened in 1977 in San Jose, California. It featured pizza, 100 video games, and animated entertainment with life-sized robots, such as Chuck E. Cheese with his trademark cigar.
Bushnell eventually left Atari and bought Pizza Time Theatre from Warner Communications. He began marketing the Pizza Time Theatre concept and by 1983 there were more than 200 outlets in the United States. Robert L. Brock, president of Topeka Inn Management, signed a co-development agreement with Bushnell that gave Brock exclusive franchising rights for Pizza Time Theatres in several states. Topeka Inn Management created a subsidiary called Pizza Show Biz to help launch the new franchises.
Brock declared the co-development agreement void and in 1980 opened the ShowBiz Pizza Place in Kansas City, Missouri. It was similar to Pizza Time Theatre. Bushnell sued Brock for breach of contract. The lawsuit was settled out of court, with ShowBiz paying Pizza Time Theatre a portion of its profits for 14 years.
During the late 1970s, both Pizza Time and ShowBiz enjoyed success and both restaurants rapidly expanded their operations. However, in the 1980s Pizza Time’s profits plunged and in 1984 the company filed for bankruptcy; ShowBiz Pizza Place bought it out. During 1986 profits began to increase and ShowBiz outlets were remodeled to resemble Chuck E. Cheese characters. The company changed its name to CEC Entertainment. Inc. and it is now headquartered in Irving, Texas. As of 2005, there were 498 Chuck E. Cheese outlets, which operate in 48 states and four countries.
Golden Arches: The Architecture of American Chain Restaurants (New York: Knopf, 1986); Chuck E. Cheese Web site: www.chuckecheese.com

Chuck E. Cheese mascot.