
Chuck E. Cheese’s, Silicon Valley Startup (2013) - duck
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/chuck-e-cheeses-silicon-valley-startup-the-origins-of-the-best-pizza-chain-ever/277869/?single_page=true
======
jayjay71
I find the history of Atari and all things connected to it fascinating, but
this was particularly insightful in terms of marketing to your audience:

"The reason for doing the animals, believe it or not, was not for the kids. It
was meant to be a head fake for the parents. Kids are really smart at knowing
how to play their parents. and the kids knew that if they said, 'I want to go
to Chuck E. Cheese and play the games' the parents would just see themselves
spending money. But if they said, 'I want to go see Chuck E. Cheese
entertainment -- and it's free,' they'd be good to go," Bushnell said. "The
other thing was that we wanted the parents to have something to amuse
themselves while the kids were in the game room. If you listened to the
dialogue, it was fun, edgy stuff, kinda like Toy Story, written as much for
the parents as the kids."

~~~
joezydeco
The other angle, which isn't mentioned here but is mentioned in Steve Kent's
book _The Ultimate History of Video Games_ is that a lot of communities had
banned pool halls and arcades.

By wrapping the arcade in a family restaurant, Bushnell and Atari were able to
open more locations for their games and eventually work against the arcade
bans in those communities.

------
dankohn1
Here's a hilarious WSJ article about how the badly the alcohol served at Chuck
E. Cheese's mixes with the kid's entertainment:
[http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2145637/posts](http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2145637/posts)

'In Brookfield, Wis., no restaurant has triggered more calls to the police
department since last year than Chuck E. Cheese's.

Officers have been called to break up 12 fights, some of them physical, at the
child-oriented pizza parlor since January 2007. The biggest melee broke out in
April, when an uninvited adult disrupted a child's birthday party. Seven
officers arrived and found as many as 40 people knocking over chairs and
yelling in front of the restaurant's music stage, where a robotic singing
chicken and the chain's namesake mouse perform.

Chuck E. Cheese's bills itself as a place "where a kid can be a kid." But to
law-enforcement officials across the country, it has a more particular
distinction: the scene of a surprising amount of disorderly conduct and
battery among grown-ups.

"The biggest problem is you have a bunch of adults acting like juveniles,"
says Town of Brookfield Police Capt. Timothy Imler. "There's a biker bar down
the street, and we rarely get calls there."

It isn't clear exactly how often fights break out at Chuck E. Cheese's 538
locations. Richard Huston, executive vice president of marketing for the
chain's parent company, CEC Entertainment Inc. of Irving, Texas, describes
their occurrence as "atypical," saying he has heard of "four or five
significant adult altercations" this year. But in some cities, law-enforcement
officials say the number of disruptions at their local outlet is far higher
than at nearby restaurants, and even many bars. "We've had some unfortunate
and unusual altercations between adults at these locations," Mr. Huston says.
"Even one is just way too many."'

~~~
joezydeco
There a CEC near Chicago that was recently shut down by the corporation after
300 calls and 2 arrests in the last 6 years:

[http://wgntv.com/2016/12/08/chuck-e-cheese-leaving-oak-
lawn-...](http://wgntv.com/2016/12/08/chuck-e-cheese-leaving-oak-lawn-after-
multiple-violent-incidents/)

IMO, and I worked in this business for a while, the problems have less to do
with alcohol being served than the fact that CEC lets birthday parties mix
with the rest of the public during operating hours. You can't place the games
in a separate room for kids to play during parties, and parents want to feel
like they should get some exclusivity for what they paid (when, in reality,
you're just reserving space at the tables to eat pizza together). Tensions
easily flare up in these situations.

~~~
67726e
I'm waiting for our local CECs to get shut down. Every six months or so it
seems there's another dust up, and we've even had several(!) shootings[0][1]
at our two local joints.

[0] - [http://counton2.com/2016/05/28/one-person-injured-in-
north-c...](http://counton2.com/2016/05/28/one-person-injured-in-north-
charleston-chuck-e-cheese-shooting/)

[1] - [http://www.postandcourier.com/archives/calls-reveal-panic-
fe...](http://www.postandcourier.com/archives/calls-reveal-panic-fear-as-
shots-rang-out-wounded-by/article_ad5c9406-7fdf-5a67-b0f2-9c8bd38540bc.html)

------
loganfrederick
Wonder if original poster posted this story since news broke a few days ago
that Chuck E Cheese is going public?

[http://fortune.com/2017/01/18/chuck-e-cheese-public-ipo-
apol...](http://fortune.com/2017/01/18/chuck-e-cheese-public-ipo-apollo-
global-management/)

------
Deckard256
My first job was here at the Chuck E. Cheese here in Albuquerque. I learned an
incredible amount from that job, which was good because the job started me at
$4.25 an hour and worked me like a horse. Building a place that sucked in kids
to play video games was a great idea, and it worked like a charm. The change
machines brought in about half of our revenue. It's been twenty years since I
worked there but recently went to another one and was surprised to see that
the place is run almost exactly how I remember it. I can confirm what others
have said about the behavior of parents, generally they were OK but we ended
up limiting beer to two after two parties got in a fight with each other. I
can see how some places would attract some consistent riff raff. It was a
great first job for a sixteen year old.

------
kelukelugames
Has anyone ever taken a date to Chuck E. Cheese's? Is it fun for people in
their 20's/30's?

~~~
brianwawok
I'm not even sure you can get in without a kid? Not totally sure the policy,
but they at least discourage adults to keep evil scary men away from the kids.
Something like a Dave and Buster's is a much better adult venue.

~~~
adventurer
I'm pretty sure you can go in without a kid, but it's not like the food is
great.

------
codecamper
Sounds like a short. I loved Atari. The latest from restaurants however is bad
news.

------
adrian271
This has the makings of a hilarious screenplay

