Pandemic takes a bite, Chuck E. Cheese files for bankruptcy
Chuck E. Cheese - where kids could be kids while parents nursed headaches - is filing for bankruptcy protection. The 43-year-old chain, which drew kids with pizza, video games and a singing mouse mascot, was struggling even before the coronavirus pandemic. Chuck E. Cheese got its start in 1977, when Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell opened Chuck E. Cheeses Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. The pandemic was a final straw, hammering restaurants like Chuck E. Cheese that relied on dine-in traffic and weren't set up to do takeout. Chuck E. Cheese will certainly not be the last pandemic-inflicted bankruptcy, but it will definitely be one of the most interesting to follow, he said.
Parent company of Chuck E. Cheese files for bankruptcy
The parent company of Chuck E. Cheese has filed for bankruptcy. CEC entertainment filed for bankruptcy Thursday blaming financial strain caused the global coronavirus pandemic. Nearly half of its 555 Chuck E. Cheese locations are now open and they plan to reopen more locations weekly. The company, which also owns Peter Piper Pizza, employs over 16,000 people. It has lost money in four of the past five years losing over 28 million just last year.