For food-and-games chains focused on family fun, the past 15 months have been anything but.
About three months after restaurants were forced to close their doors as the pandemic shut down the country, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese became the first major dining chain to declare bankruptcy.
By December, once-buzzed-about eatertainment concept Punch Bowl Social had also filed for Chapter 11 protection.
And last fall, rumors abounded that Dave & Buster’s might declare bankruptcy as well, sending its stock on a rollercoaster ride. It did not seek Chapter 11 protection, but the coronavirus crisis forced the chain to lay off hundreds of employees amid the slow reopening of its locations.
In short, the pandemic has been a nightmare for brands that are typically all about fun.
Reopening promotions
But as the U.S. slowly eases its way into reopening, eatertainment concepts are rolling out promotions, new menu items, enhanced safety protocols and more to win back families.
“Our sense of purpose is more meaningful than before,” said Chris Morris, CEO of food-and-games chain Main Event. “We want to bring guests together in a meaningful way.”
To that end, Main Event launched the “Every Reason to Celebrate” campaign, which is awarding a dozen people who went “above and beyond for friends, families and communities” during the pandemic a free year of game play, Morris said.
“You lost a year and we’re going to give you a year where you can come in and celebrate,” he added.
Main Event, which has 44 locations in 16 states, also debuted its first-ever summer pass, allowing unlimited game play for about $80 while kids are out of school.
“We’re very pleased with it,” Morris said, declining to release sales figures.
Dave & Buster’s this week trumpeted its summer of “DING DING DING” as part of its massive “We’re Back” marketing campaign on broadcast, digital and social channels.
As part of the promotion, Dave & Buster’s is rolling out a digital collectibles prize program that offers a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in its coin and card designs.
The chain is also adding seven new games to its roster and is greatly expanding its menu.
Chuck E. Cheese, which is looking to hire 5,000 new employees as it ramps up, recently announced its “Summer of Fun” event, featuring a multitiered season pass program for games, pizza, drinks and more.
“We spent time during the pandemic refocusing to understand clearly what guests wanted,” said Sherri Landry, the chain’s chief marketing officer. “We have come out strong. Where we are reopened, we are doing really well.”
Currently, more than two-thirds of the brand’s 556 locations have reopened in some capacity, Landry said.
Even the chain’s iconic Chuck E. Cheese mascot is expected to return to stores by mid-summer, and the company recently announced that its Chuck E. and Munch’s Make Believe Band would be embarking on its first-ever live tour of five cities across the U.S.
Chuck E. Cheese also launched a mobile app about two weeks ago, and “the downloads have exceeded expectations,” Landry said.
“We started thinking about mom’s experience,” she said. “How to make it easier for her to engage with us. To drive a loyalty program and mobility and personalization program. We started thinking through the strategy and how to execute it.”
Menu changes
When the pandemic hit, almost all restaurants (not just eatertainment chains) contracted their menus to manage supply issues, worker shortages and fluctuations in consumer demand.
But many of those menus are growing again.
In December, Dave & Buster’s launched a menu that was 33% smaller than its pre-COVID one, designed around operational simplicity, accelerated table turns and sales-boosting items.
As part of its summer promo, though, the chain sticking with its downsized menu, but it has added 28 new items.
"While it is still early, dishes like the IPA fish and chips, Hawaiian chicken sandwich, and Mushroom Stout Burger are big sellers on the menu and clearly resonating with our guests," COO Margo Manning told analysts this week.
Main Event partnered with 7-year-old social media influencer Leo King, aka The Shirley Temple King, to create a line of new kid-friendly drinks for the chain. Main Event also debuted a shareable S’mores Skillet dessert.
Photograph courtesy of Main Event
“During the pandemic, because of the supply chain, we flexed it down and made adjustments in different regions,” Morris said. “We’re proud of our food today, but we will continue to evolve.”
A growing category?
As stalwarts like Chuck E. Cheese and Dave & Buster’s work hard to regain their prepandemic footing, new brands continue to enter the food-and-games space—another potential sign of its recovery.
GC Lounge, which bills itself as “an interactive experience bringing together world-class golf and an innovative full-service bar and restaurant,” announced this week it’s opening its first location in Denver next month, with a second franchised unit slated to open near Phoenix next winter.
Photograph courtesy of GC Lounge
The menu is an updated twist on country club classics like club sandwiches with house-roasted turkey, roast chicken and crab cakes, the brand said in a release.
High-tech mini golf-global cuisine concept Puttshack last month announced it had secured $60 million in funding to open a number of new locations. The eatertainment brand opened its first U.S. unit in Atlanta in April, with plans to come to suburban Chicago this fall, followed by another operation in Miami. The growing chain has also signed a lease in Nashville. The chain was founded by the originators of food-and-games brand Topgolf and is currently helmed by Joe Vrankin, who was CEO of Topgolf for five years.
Not giving up off-premise
With their doors closed and their arcade games powered down, eatertainment chains had no choice but to make a major off-premise pivot during the pandemic.
Chuck E. Cheese, a birthday party mainstay for generations, started selling fun packs and party packs for delivery with goody bags of toys and dolls, as well as cake and gaming tickets for future visits.
The chain also notably launched virtual pizza concept Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings, which was bringing in up to 10% of all sales for parent company CEC Entertainment during the height of the pandemic.
Landry said Chuck E. Cheese is not giving up on Pasqually’s even as the chain fully reopens. The company recently hired a senior director to oversee the virtual concept and steer its growth, she said.
“It continues to perform well,” she said. “We think we can grow it and we’re going to focus on that.”
Similarly, Main Event said it has no plans to back away from the off-premise business it cultivated during the pandemic.
The Plano, Texas-based chain delivers food on third-party platforms under its own name, as well as quietly under the Burgers on Main and Local 44 monikers from most of its kitchens, Morris said.
“We really don’t spend a lot of time talking about it,” he said. “We saw an opportunity and we wanted to meet that need.”
With the country slowly reopening, though, eatertainment chains are eager to return to their primary mission of meddling fun times within their four walls.
Chuck E. Cheese recently undertook a major remodeling project at a 28,000-square-foot store in Brandon, Fla., with plans to renovate all units in the coming years, Landry said.
“We’re bringing new life, new energy and a new experience to our entire fleet,” she said.